First of all, I think when you go into the communities, you need to look at the women's organizations. I know at NWAC we have 13 PMAs. Those are president and territorial members who are elected by the women in those provinces. On a national level, I consider us to be the mother board, and those are our daughters below.
If it's discussed with us, then we can reach out and mobilize our women. We need to be part of the conversation. We need to know the women and how they can mobilize to meet the needs of their women. Although we know that violence is there, it may be different in each area, so we can't generalize it all the way across the board.
Again, we need to educate. We need to be respectful of our culture and our ceremonies, because these are what make us who we are. We eat it; we drink it. This is who we are.
We need that correspondence; we need that communication, but first of all we need the respect. I don't see the respect out there. Respect goes a long way. We need to be able to tell the truth and know that, yes, we've made mistakes, but we need to correct these mistakes. Without admitting to those mistakes, we cannot move forward. We need to acknowledge that and let everyone be on the same level.