Status of Women committee  At Awo Taan, there aren't a lot of supports. We do not have court support workers on our staff, because we don't have the resources to do that. Sometimes it's a hit-and-miss. Sometimes we will ask someone from another program to accompany her to the courthouse and explain the process to her.

Status of Women committee  Yes. Quite often the needs are very different. For women coming into the Awo Taan shelter from northern and remote communities, there is often the loss of culture, identity, isolation and cultural supports. Quite often, the funding does not provide adequate resources to be able to continue to provide those much-needed healing supports in the city shelters.

Status of Women committee  We encounter that very much so in the shelters. I think the reason is that others have never offered it before. Awo Taan in Calgary is the first one that I'm aware of, at least in the province, that provides culturally responsive services. Yet, 60% of the women coming in are indigenous.

Status of Women committee  I often believe that in three weeks we expect miracles to happen, which is not fair to the women and children who come in. Typically with indigenous families, the woman is in her mid-twenties. She usually has three children. We require her to find housing, within the 21 days, and income support.

Status of Women committee  That certainly is the case. Last week, the Canadian domestic observatory released a document stating that indigenous women are killed primarily by stabbings, and that guns are used primarily for killing women in more rural communities, such as farming communities, etc. I would agree that using guns to threaten families to stay in a situation is very probable.

Status of Women committee  Oh, I'm—

Status of Women committee  Okay.

Status of Women committee  Thank you for your introduction. I'm Josie Nepinak. Greetings, first of all, from Calgary. Calgary is situated, as you probably know, in Treaty No. 7 first nations. We have beautiful weather today. I'm here to talk about Awo Taan Healing Lodge Society. We were established in 1992 to provide holistic support and guidance to women and children who were fleeing violence.

Status of Women committee  I'm not sure what the final answer is on that. However, if we are to develop strategies and solutions towards the reduction of family violence in aboriginal communities, there is a need for the governments to come together. How they're going to do it—I'm sure they'll wrestle around that for quite some time yet.

Status of Women committee  Right. According to our statistics at Awo Taan, up to 67% are coming from first nations communities into the shelter.

Status of Women committee  They end up in the shelters. Their homelessness, of course, is huge. Poverty is huge. Of course, with that comes some criminal activity; child welfare becomes involved; police are involved. There are many systems that become involved in that process. But if we are to develop those solutions, I'm not sure how to get the three levels of government to the table.

Status of Women committee  Certainly, I believe there's a lot of hope in our aboriginal communities across the country and there's a lot of wisdom. I think we're building on those areas and certainly keeping families together. Can you imagine a mother losing her two or three children and being told that she's not a good parent?

Status of Women committee  Thank you. I believe one of the areas I would certainly look at is developing community capacity. I believe that any community, whether it's a very remote and isolated community or a major urban centre such as Calgary, should be resourced and equipped, staffed, and financially resourced to build the community from ground zero, so that aboriginal families learn the skills to....

Status of Women committee  Thank you. On the main root, the research and the literature support the fact that colonization and assimilation policies have contributed greatly to the issue of family violence in our aboriginal communities. Colonization, as we know, is the forced destruction--for lack of better words, I guess--of aboriginal families and forcing children into residential schools as well.

Status of Women committee  Thank you for the question. That would include health care, justice, shelter, a cultural program, and education. That would include systems that have historically been involved with aboriginal people, including our spiritual leaders in our communities as well, and the development of a comprehensive strategy to address the areas.