The Indigenous Report: Community Welcomes Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society to Regent Park

By -

Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society supports vulnerable Indigenous women

In the downtown east area, Regent Park, Moss Park, and St. Jams Town constitute some of the most ethnically diverse communities, although, sometimes, the indigenous populations that also call these neighbourhoods home are not as well talked about.

However, if we look a little bit closer the truth is that in fact the downtown east side has a considerable indigenous community that are supported by several community agencies that service this population. The most recent addition is the Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society, located at 413 Dundas St East.

The Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society grew out of need to break the cycle of over-representation of Indigenous women in Canada’s prison system. The mandate of the organization is to provide a place where Frist Nation (Status and Non-Status) Inuit, and Metis 2SLGBTQIA+ women can heal and reclaim their positive cultural identity, and place for rehabilitation and wellness.

In a Department of Justice (2017 – 2018) Annual Report of the Office of Correctional Investigator, the following figures regarding incarcerations rates were released:

“Indigenous inmates in federal institutions rose from 20 percent of the total inmate population in 2008-2009 to 28 percent in 2017-2018, while representing only 4.1 percent of the overall Canadian population. Similarly, the percentage of federally incarcerated Indigenous women rose from 32 percent of the female inmate population to 40 percent. While proportions of Indigenous incarceration have risen substantially, the overall inmate population (Indigenous and non-Indigenous) has risen only slightly. “

For women moving away from incarceration, Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society provides a holistic healing process based on indigenous traditional teachings and healing practices. Indigenous women who have been involved with Canadian Criminal Justice system face multiple challenges while incarceration and when they try to re-enter civil society. Re-connecting them with their cultural and spiritual identities is seen as a key component for re-integrating into society.

Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society has prioritised three areas of activity, Restoring Identity, Providing Housing, and Creating Opportunity. Each of these programs has identified the key concerns and pathways for Indigenous women who either still in correction institution, those who are currently before the courts, and those who have been released.

“The Healing Lodge Program is an intensive, structured, daily program for all residents exiting corrections or before the courts. Grounded in the Seven Grandfather Teachings and the Medicine Wheel, the programming will focus on culture and traditions, meeting the emotional, physical, spiritual and mental aspects of the individual. Support programs will address historical traumas, life skills, and reconnection to culture – providing a platform to reclaim the rightful and dignified place in community these women deserve.”

Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society believes that reducing the number of Indigenous women in Canadian prisons is tied to creating the opportunities them to thrive. Providing stable employment, affordable housing, and access to adequate medical supports are crucial to the building of independent lives post – release.


Written by
Dimitrije Martinovic

Journalist
FOCUS Media Arts Centre


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Regent Park Portrayed in Film and Television

By -
Image
Toronto has a rich history of being a go-to shooting location for many television and film production companies. Some notable films shot here over the years include Good Will Hunting (1997), Billy Madison (1998), American Psycho (2000), and X-Men (2000). Regent Park has also had its share of showcases in film. This article aims to review the general content of movie dramas and televisions shows shot in Regent and explore their relationship to the community. Clement Virgo is a director, producer, and writer from Montego Bay, Jamaica. He was born in 1966 and moved to the Regent Park area in Toronto in 1977. During this time Regent Park was generally populated by low-income families and as a hot spot for drugs. Virgo is most recently known for his roles in Greenleaf (2016-2018), The Book of Negroes (2015), and The Wire (2002) as Director and/or Producer. His first feature-length film, however, was Rude (1995), which was filmed almost entirely in the old Regent Park. “The film told...
Read more

What Social Inclusion Means to Me

By -
I had moved into Regent Park only a few days before I saw the pink, fuchsia, strawberry, indigo, yellow, green, neck streamers and sparkling robes worn by children, parents, aunts, uncles, and elders as they marched passed my kitchen door. Soon, the nearby Athletic Grounds was blazing with colour. Although it was the first time I heard them, the intonations on the microphone were recognizable, even to me, as prayers. It was Eid, the concluding celebration after Ramadan. It was a beautiful sight. I am a White Jewish senior and I hunted for a stairless condo for years before I chose to live in Regent Park and then only because a relative did business with the new seniors’ building there. “Regent Park?” a friend exclaimed. “You are going to have ethnic problems.”  “Not I.  I come from a long line of fiery leftie activists.” I replied. Stage four and five of revitalizing this post-war subsidized development into a multi-income community was just beginning and I ju...
Read more

Meet Your Neighbourhood Police Officers – PC Mircea Biga and PC Farzad Ghotbi

By -
Image
Community-based policing is a proactive law enforcement strategy that focuses on building ties and working closely with a community’s members to create partnerships and plans for preventing and reducing crime. While community policing will look differently depending on the community it serves, a central feature is that the same officer patrols and works in the same area on a permanent basis. Currently there are 17 community-based police programs in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), but what most people don’t know is that Toronto’s community policing started in Regent Park in May of 2017. We know this because the original officers involved in setting up the Regent Park community policing program continue to work here today. The officers are PC Mircea Biga, PC Farzad Ghotbi, and PC Edward Parks; the newest officer assigned to the Regent Park community is PC Nigel Thomas (who is replacing PC Melissa Huntley while she is on maternity leave). Symptomatic of the increasing diversity...
Read more