Native women at bottom of totem pole

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Native women are still at the bottom of the totem pole, a Native leader told an International Women's Day (IWD) workshop.

"Native women are pressured from all sides -- from Greenpeace lobbying against a way of life, by governments withholding dollars and tightening welfare policies and in terms of jobs," said Doris Ronnenburg.

She called on governments in Canada to settle long-standing issues with their own aboriginal people before concentrating on international issues and for Native women to be more politically active to break the pattern of apathy.

Ronnenburg said it's very difficult for women to give up their roles of nurturer and being the "heart of the home" even in the face of abuse in hunting and gathering society.

Although Native women were the first small business people in Canada due to the barter system they established, new technology demands new skills for them to successfully compete in the 1990s, she said.

Meanwhile, Muriel Stanley-Venne of Women of the Metis Nation said Native women face a double whammy since they not only must deal with sexism, but also with the negative stereotypes non-Native society has about them.

During IWD celebrations at Canada Place in Edmonton March 11, she expressed concern with the low level of participation of Native women in the event.

She sees the need for a grassroots movement to encourage Native women to restore themselves. "We've tried attacking the problem from the top down and it didn't work, so now we need to work from the bottom up."