Jason Forrest
KAGAWONG—Political activist and feminist Gloria Steinheim said it best, “International Women’s Day (IWD) is all about celebration, reflection, advocacy and action; whatever that looks like globally at a local level. IWD has been occurring for over a century and is growing annually from strength to strength.”
Kagawong’s Eighth Annual International Women’s Day, Sunday March 6, was held at the Park Centre. The event was hosted by Seeds of Joy and Manitoulin Family Resources (MFR). Kerri Latimer and Tammy Albers shared master of ceremony duties for the day. MFR provided desserts and fruit platters.
Linda Willson, a member of Seeds of Joy, read a letter and thanked the team of volunteers on behalf of Cianne Strickland and introduced the “wacky” MCs for the day.
“The Seeds of Joy team has put together another exciting program to celebrate our 8th annual Women’s Day. They are a wonderful group of volunteers who work very hard to create opportunities for women to get together in celebration of themselves and each other,” Ms. Willson said. “Seeds of Joy would not be the way it is without them.”
Leslie Neshkiwe, a singer/songwriter originally from Wikwemikong, sang ‘This Song Will Last Forever,’ an original song she wrote before moving to Little Current seven years ago.
“I was going through a hard time and I knew I was going to be a single mother, so I wrote this song. I know music is what gets me through hard times and being here today, I know everything is going to be okay,” Ms. Neshkiwe said. Before singing her second song, a cover of ‘Stand By Me’ she added, “before I moved, there was a group of women I had known for awhile and it’s really good to have other women to surround yourself with and turn to as a resource, especially when you are alone.”
Ms. Lattimer spoke of the sisterhood dolls that anyone could make out of the balls of yarn provided, along with instructions to follow. Ms. Albers drew a large tree for anyone to hang a dove with the name of a person they’ve lost written on it.
Ms. Lattimer and Ms. Albers spoke about serious issues surrounding oppressed women, gender equality and consent; they explained trigger warnings and early trauma and offered confidential support to any woman seeking it. Ms. Lattimer also read a spoken word piece she wrote.
They also brought light and laughter to the Park Centre. “I’m a clown professionally and I went and did some clown tours last week and I asked the children if anyone knew what consent meant. A shy seven-year-old came up and said, ‘it’s when two people make an agreement.’ Well, that’s the best definition of consent I’ve ever heard,” Ms. Lattimer said.
“The first International Women’s Day was in 1909 in New York. It commemorated a garment worker strike from the previous year; the first strike ever won by women. It has become a worldwide event, and in some countries it is a statutory holiday,” Ms. Albers said. “I like the thought of spending the day hanging out in my pajama’s honouring myself.”
Ms. Albers went on to mention other important dates for women, like February 14, which has brought attention to missing and murdered aboriginal women for over 20 years. “Finally, we have a prime minister that acknowledges that and does not say that is not on our radar.”
Ms. Albers and Ms. Lattimer introduced Michelle Hrynyk, who spoke about relationships and connections.
“Having a relationship is about connecting; it’s about recognizing, about having a relationship with, not power over,” Ms. Hrynyck said. “The myths we see through our culture like television and movies are all about getting something but not necessarily recognizing its value; not living with.”
“Part of being a mother, to me, has been about the little girl that I have and having to relearn every step of her growth. Who she was as a little baby changed when she started to crawl and then when she started to talk,” said Ms. Hrynyck. “All of a sudden she’s a different kid but I had to keep relearning her so I could respect her; so I could be with her.”
“Anybody who has been in a long term marriage gets that the person they met 20 years later is not who you married. You both changed, you both have grown. That’s part of what a relationship is; it’s monitoring that growth, being ‘with’ in a big way,” continued Ms. Hrynyck.
Ms. Hrynyck brought in some cross-cultural pre-Judaic goddess symbols in to show the group. She also had everyone stand and gave everyone a chance to honour a special woman in their lives. Finally, she led them through a chant and dance entitled ‘We Are Sisters.’
Before the day was over the group took time to pay special tribute to Leona (Marion) Seabrook. Mrs. Strickland wrote, “she was a wise woman and taught me many valuable things about life. Godspeed, Leona, you will always be in my heart and in the hearts of many others.”
They finished with a drum song ‘How Can Anyone’ that Marion Seabrook had shared with the group at a past IWD.
