This is in response to the article on Friday, July 13, on the protest that was held at the Liard First Nation, and a letter to the editor by our elder Alfred Chief.
I am a former director for the Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society (LAWS), and I served on its board during the time when the Aboriginal Healing Foundation was initiated by the Assembly of First Nations.
LAWS was mandated to assist former residential school students, along with many other organizations, including AFN. It cannot heal people, but only provide the tools and the resources to do so during the time when the Aboriginal Healing Foundation funded these programs across Canada.
If you can help one person in their personal journey in their healing process, I call this success. It is not like economic development, in which you see a product produced to make money. But it is really important for all Kaska Dena to help those that continue on their healing journey.
I want to honour those that are in healing. To date, funding to all Aboriginal Healing Foundation-backed organizations in Canada has come to an end, including LAWS.
LAWS is certified by Revenue Canada Agency as a charity. To provide more clarity on financial transparency and accountability, LAWS must provide an annual audit, which means a formal examination and verification of financial accounts of the organization to its members at the annual general meeting and to its funding source.
Violence against women needs to be addressed by everyone. We have lost much - our grandmothers, our mothers, our aunties, our sisters - to violence. We need everyone to network together to stop violence in our homes and in all Kaska communities. We all want a violence-free lifestyle.
Mary Maje
Ross River