WGST 1808 - NWAC: Promoting Justice for Indigenous Women in Canada

This report provides an analysis of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC), an organization dedicated to fostering the social, political, cultural, and economic well-being of Indigenous women and gender-diverse individuals in Canada. The report highlights NWAC's mandate to reduce discriminatory practices and promote the welfare of Indigenous people, addressing issues such as violence against women and injustice within the Indigenous culture. It discusses NWAC's strategies, including conferences and social media, to empower women, change legislation, and preserve Indigenous culture. The report also examines NWAC's initiatives like the “Sisters in Spirit” project and “You are not Alone,” which address violence against Aboriginal women and promote gender equality. Furthermore, it emphasizes NWAC's role in developing leadership capacities among women and collaborating with organizations like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to reduce violence against Indigenous women, contributing to social change by advocating for equitable resource allocation and responsible leadership.

Running head: SOCIAL JUSTICE ORGANIZATION
Social Justice Organization
Name of the student
Name of the University
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Introduction
Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) helps in fostering the social,
political, cultural along with economic well-being of the girls along with the gender diverse
women of the Canadian societies (Nwac.ca., 2019). NWAC helps in reducing the
discriminatory practices against the Aboriginal women in the Canadian society that promotes
well-being of the indigenous people in Canada.This report throws light on the mandate and
the kind of issues that are faced by the organization. The report also talks about how the
organization takes up issues relating to questions of the identity. The report states how the
organization enacts the social change and how it contributes to the discussions pertaining to
social justice.
Summary
Native women’s Association of Canada was formed so that it can take steps in healing
the people facing issues in the society. The organization was formed so that it can end the
colonial attitudes along with gender-based violence taking place within Canada. NWAC was
founded in the year 1974 that worked as an aggregate of the 13 Aboriginal groups of the
women so that it can preserve the Aboriginal culture. The mandate of the organization is to
promote the welfare of the people belonging to the indigenous culture along with advancing
well-being of indigenous women along with gender diverse people (Sanford, 2017). The
organization takes up issues pertaining to violence of women and the injustice that are
perpetrated on the indigenous culture of Canada.
Analysis
NWAC can be said to be important as it takes recourse to conferences that helps in
showcasing about the food and the music of the people of the indigenous culture of Canada.
The organization can be said to be significant as it helps in empowering the women by being

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involved in the process of changing the legislation that can help in promoting the equal
opportunity of the indigenous women living in Canada (Hobbs & Rice, 2018). The
organisation has priorities and it has been able to preserve the indigenous culture along with
advancing well-being of the indigenous women and their communities (Kettler, 2017).
The organization has been successful in realizing the mandate as it has helped in
improving the condition of women in the society of Canada. The organization has been
successful in acting as national voice for the native women living in Canada (Baldwin, 2016).
The organization can be said to be successful in realizing its aim as it has been successful in
addressing the issues that reflects changing needs of the women of Canada.NWAC was
instrumental in starting “Sisters in Spirit” project that helped in the creation of a database of
that of murdered aboriginal women along with the girls of Canada. It was successful as it
helped in discovering regarding root cause of the violence against that of the Aboriginal
women.
NWAC takes care of the fact that leadership capacities are developed in the women of
Canada so that they be at par with the men in the Canadian society. NWAC is instrumental in
offering the management training that helps in encouraging the women so that they can take
up the senior roles in the society. The organization delivers the training program that can
strengthen the position of the indigenous women in that of Canadian society.The organisation
has been successful as it carries out projects like the “You are not Alone” that provided the
women with the planning resources that has helped it in addressing the issue of the domestic
violence.
The organisation has been successful in taking up the issues in relation to gender
inequality. The organization takes care of the fact that it promotes the common goals towards
that of self-determination of the native people of Canada. The organization is instrumental in

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teaching characteristics that acts as unique aspect in relation to the historical tradition of
Canada (Lawrence, 2008). The organization builds sense of the pride in the indigenous
women of Canada and it helps in broadening knowledge so that they can maintain
relationship with environment along with the land.The kind of communication used by
NWAC relates to the usage of the social media that has helped it in spreading positive aspects
about the organization to the people. The organization also takes recourse to conferencing in
spreading positive image among the people.
The voices of the indigenous women of that of Canadian society are being heard with
the help of the various activities of NWAC. The organization works alongside with that of the
other aboriginal organizations that helps in taking care of the fact that the voices of the
marginalised people of Canada are heard properly (Reid, 2017). It helps in the redressal of
grievances of the minority groups of Canada. The voices of the people who are suffering
from the stigma of racism are not being heard and the organization should take steps that can
help in removing the misery of these section of the population.NWAC also made partnership
with that of Royal Canadian Mounted Police that helped the organization in developing
community education tools that has been effective in reducing the incidents of the murdered
Aboriginal women of Canada. The organization has been successful in spearheading various
projects that has helped it in continuing the mission of that of Sisters in Spirit.
The organization enacts the social change by pointing out how the resources should
be utilized that can help in creating a society that is freed of any kind of racism along with
discrimination. The organization brings about the social change by taking responsibility in
the selection of leaders who can be followed by the later generations (Nichols &Tyyskä,
2015). The organization contributes to the discussions of that of social justice by the help of
various kinds of projects like “Honouring Indigenous Women” that helps in making the

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people aware about the needs of the indigenous women along with that of gender diverse
people.
NWAC was formed with the objective of ending colonial attitudes present within the
social structure of Canada. The organization has reached mandate so that it can improve
condition of women in that of Canadian society. The organization develops leadership
capacities of women so that they can be in an equal position with the men in the society.

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References
Baldwin, M. (2016). Critical reflection: Opportunities and threats to professional learning and
service development in social work organizations. In Social work, critical reflection
and the learning organization (pp. 51-66). Routledge.
Hobbs, M., & Rice, C. (Eds.). (2018). Gender and Women's Studies: Critical Terrain.
Canadian Scholars.
Kettler, A. (2017). Isolating Social Welfare: Recent Works on Neoliberalism, Human Rights,
and Public Policy. Human Rights Review, 18(4), 485-490.
Lawrence, B. (2008). Regulating Native identity by gender. Daily Struggles: The Deepening
Racialization and Feminization of Poverty in Canada, 59.
Nichols, L., &Tyyskä, V. (2015). Immigrant women in Canada and the United
States. Immigrant experiences in North America: Understanding settlement and
integration, 248-272.
Nwac.ca. (2019). Home - NWAC. Retrieved from https://www.nwac.ca/
Reid, E. (2017). Social welfare organizations, politics, and regulation. In In search of the
nonprofit sector (pp. 33-50). Routledge.
Sanford, N. (2017). Self and society: Social change and individual development. Routledge.
Reading Material
Chapter 73, The Little Voices of Nunavut: A Study of Women’s Homelessness North of 60
Chapter 48, Women, Disability and the Right to Health
Part 5, Gendering Globalization, Migration and Activism