Chiefs at odds with women's association

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Alberta chiefs of treaties six, seven and eight took issue with the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) at a recent special assembly where they passed a resolution calling for the federal government to reduce funding to the women's organization.

The resolution supports legal action against NWAC. The chiefs want the organization to prove it has the mandate and authority to represent Indian women. The resolution also states that the Alberta chiefs do not believe that NWAC represents the women of their territories. The resolution asks for funds from NWAC to be redirected to Indian women as represented by the chiefs of Alberta First Nations.

The mover of the resolution was Chief Joyce Metchewais of the Cold Lake First Nation.

"I was given the resolution by the Advisory Council of Treaty Women of Alberta," she said.

"What they are getting at is that they get so little funding and they do a lot of work, and I can speak as a chief that I know the amount of work that they do.

"They are the best advisory group to the chiefs. Any time there is a new bill coming up that is going to affect us they critique it and they do a super job of it," she said.

Assembly of First Nations (Alberta) Regional Chief Jason Goodstriker sees the issue as one of a lack of support for NWAC from the grassroots level.

"Under Aboriginal regimes there is no reporting mechanisms that tie into the Alberta chiefs, which is where I see the central difficulty in this situation in Alberta," said Goodstriker. "Until some sort of protocol agreement is in place there is going to be a difference of opinion on how funding reaches the various organizations that are out there," he said.

Helen Gladue is a spokesperson for the Advisory Council of Treaty Women of Alberta. Gladue contends NWAC does not really have anybody who sits at the national level from Alberta.

"That is what our members have stated over and over again to us," she said.

No one from the NWAC national office could be reached for comment, but Ruth Kidder, the president of the Alberta Aboriginal Women's Society, the NWAC affiliate in the province, spoke with Windspeaker. Kidder sits on the national board of NWAC representing Alberta. Kidder's office is located in Peace River, and she volunteers her time to the society.

Kidder said her women's association receives funding totaling $241,000 from NWAC, which it uses to fund education and job training for urban Aboriginal women in Alberta.

Kidder said women applying for the funding include members from treaties six, seven and eight, as well as Metis and non-status Aboriginal women.

"When we get a phone call from a First Nation person, we don't ask if they are from treaty seven, six or eight; we don't do that," said Kidder. "We represent all Aboriginal women in Alberta."

Kidder said funding from NWAC is based on the population of the province.

"It's a pitiful amount when you consider the work we have to do," she said .