Women’s healing conference hailed as real success

The Women’s Healing Conference, “Maa’aawichige Agamig,” which was held last week at the Nanicost gymnasium here, was deemed a success largely due to the participation of attendees and the wealth of information presented.
“It went really well and that’s because of the resource people we had,” explained organizer Frances Tabobondung, a crisis counsellor with the Fort Frances Tribal Area Health Services Inc.’s Counselling Unit.
She noted at least 90 people attended the conference each day.
The four-day workshop was hosted by the Fort Frances Tribal Area Health Services Inc.’s Counselling Unit, with funding from the United Church Healing Fund.
Tabobondung said the importance of holding a conference such as this is to help women release the deep emotional pain stemming from the intergenerational impacts of the residential schools.
Each of the four days of the conference dealt with a different type of healing, such as physical healing, emotional healing, mental healing, and spiritual healing.
Presentations offered included teachings of the medicine wheel, trauma and addiction, story-telling, healing, and metaphors—just to name a few.
“We had many powerful speakers, who spoke on a variety of topics,” Tabobondung remarked, adding Treaty 3 Grand Chief Arnold Gardner provided some opening remarks.
The keynote address was given by Rosalee Tizya, a trauma facilitator originally from the northern Yukon.
Tabobondung wrote the “Beginning Life Model” from the work of Tizya. It explains the processes clients go through when they first seek help and then during their travel through the seven stages of the model.
When working on trauma and abuse issues, grief, or loss of a relationship, individuals go through the seven following stages—chaotic, anger/rage, healthy alternatives, anger/rage, exploration, assertiveness and freedom, and renewal.
Tabobondung said some of the highlights of last week’s healing conference included one-on-one holistic counselling to assist in dealing with the women’s emotional pain, as well as the cedar bath teachings offered by Karen Manitowaba and Lorna Pawis.
“It’s for cleansing and to help remove negative energy or blocks in the body,” she explained.
“It was a really good conference and there was a lot of participation,” she added. “I think people went away with a lot of good information.”
Due to the success of the healing conference, Tabobondung said they will be looking to apply for more funding in order to hold another event in June or July.
“Women need to start to network and work together to start the healing process,” she stressed.
“We are a loving, caring people,” Grand Chief Gardner said in his opening address. “The beautiful things are already inside you. Bring them out so we can work together.
“Talk about the things that affect us in our communities.
“Everybody can help each other. . . . My vision is we can deal with anything—nothing can stop us,” he added.
A similar conference for men called “Recapturing our Anishinaabe Spirit” will be held March 26-29.
For more information or to pre-register contact Gary, Tiffany or Doreen at 486-3407.