Ontario Native Women’s Association celebrates its 50th anniversary

By Rick Garrick

THUNDER BAY — The Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) celebrated its 50th anniversary on Oct. 22 with the kickoff of its latest She is Wise magazine featuring Indigenous leaders from across the country.

“The magazine has been phenomenal — we began with our board asking us to create a magazine for Indigenous women by Indigenous women,” says Cora McGuire-Cyrette, executive director at ONWA. “You can see five editions later and thousands of subscriptions to it that it really is meeting the needs of telling our story, telling the story of leadership of Jody Wilson-Raybould and Dr. Dawn Lavell-Harvard, and so many leaders and really role modelling for youth — here’s role models in our community.”

Dawn Lavell-Harvard, president at ONWA, says it is important to celebrate how Indigenous women are thriving and to recognize that ONWA has supported more than 50,000 people with services over the past year.

“But what’s most important is we have never lost touch with our vision,” Lavell-Harvard says. “We are here as a group of grassroots women working in grassroots families and communities around kitchen tables and backyard fires to make our lives better, and we have never lost sight of that because that is our foundation, our culture, our language, and who we are. And one of the other most important things that we have never lost sight of is that we accept everyone. This is for all of our Indigenous sisters, all of our mothers, grandmothers, aunties, cousins, daughters, and all of our families because we are inclusive and we are about bringing everybody in.”

Lavell-Harvard, who announced that she is stepping down as president after serving for 18 years, says it is “amazing to see the strength and power” of young Indigenous women leaders.

“They are so strong and they are so articulate,” Lavell-Harvard says. “They’re really solid on their political opinions and they want to see things done and they have so much energy and so much strength, and they’re really politically astute now. So to see these young women leaders out there, I can only imagine the great things they are going to achieve once they are in control because they are miles ahead of where we were at that stage.”

Ingrid Green, contributing editor at She is Wise, says the concept behind the She is Wise magazine is about enabling Indigenous women to see stories about themselves.

“I think that is one of the best things we’ve heard about the magazine is that Indigenous women are mirroring, they’re being able to see their strength in these stories,” Green says. “I love sharing these stories that Indigenous women tell because they’re medicine. They help each and every one of us heal, and there is a message in it for everyone.”

ONWA currently focuses on eight areas: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, child welfare, family violence, sexual violence, justice, health, human trafficking, and housing and homelessness.

“ONWA has listened to Indigenous women for half a century now,” McGuire-Cyrette says. “We know the priorities and needs of our community and we continue to lead the way in creating solutions to address them. While our work is far from over, the love, resilience, and strength that Indigenous women hold is creating healing for themselves and their communities.”

McGuire-Cyrette says ONWA plans to continue asking Indigenous women about what their needs are and what issues they are facing.

“And to continue to tell the truth,” McGuire-Cyrette says. “A lot of people don’t believe the truth of what is happening so we’re going to continue that advocacy, we’re going to continue to fight to be recognized. Indigenous women have a right to be safe in our communities because our community isn’t safe if Indigenous women aren’t safe.”