Women Warriors

By Rhonda Kronyk You can also download this entire 2 part newsletter as a PDF by clicking here. Many of us have it within our power to make changes – even when we don’t realize we have that power.  For starters, we can lobby universities, health care providers, social agencies and… Read more

By Rhonda Kronyk You can also download this entire 2 part newsletter as a PDF by clicking here. If you watch television, you’ve probably seen ads about the symptoms of a stroke and how to minimize the damage. The most important thing is to get help as quickly as possible. But,… Read more

By Brandy-Lee Maxie I often overshare my life on social media, but I do it for various reasons. It’s a great tool to have a voice and be visible in a world where indigenous women don’t really have a voice and continue to be practically invisible to society. Growing up,… Read more

Central Urban Metis Federation Inc. (CUMFI) hosted a Metis cultural gathering, celebration & fundraiser on Sept. 28th-30th in Saskatoon, SK.   I was invited to attend the Metis Days Gala Fundraiser held at the White Cap Dakota Casino on September 29th. It featured an Indigenous art auction and silent auction… Read more

Twelve Weeks to Healthy Living September 25th – December 11th.   On September 13th I welcomed our new OLCN facilitator, Jaeden Carter, our program and research coordinator, Alicia Oliver, and our backup facilitator and community health representative, Lori Lewis into my home for a full day of facilitator training. Onion… Read more

The lazy days of summer are coming to end. I’ve had a wonderful summer full of adventures with my three daughters – we spent a month in Yellowknife – and we have returned to our home in Lloydminster, Alberta. Our school start date was September 4th and this year I’ve prepared… Read more

On the 10th anniversary of the Government of Canada’s apology for the Residential School system and its legacy, I would like to share with you how I honor survivors and how I teach my daughters ages 8, 7, and 5 about reconciliation. Last summer we visited the Glenbow Museum in… Read more

 Women Warriors Yellowknifer News Column. Printed May 16th, 2018   As cannabis legalization looms the questions surrounding safe usage, distribution and the stigma of drug usage is a swirling debate of misinformation and fear. As a leader of a health promotions program, I wanted concrete information and guidelines to share… Read more

The Teachings of the Medicine Wheel. Losing weight is soul-crushing; it involves deprivation, shame, and guilt. Most weight loss programs, fads or diets require restricting calories, omitting food groups from your diet, and the sting of failure every time you step on that scale and it fails to reflect your… Read more

Why You Need to Take a Break From Social Media     Last August I undertook my first social media detox and removed all my social media apps – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, SnapChat and Pinterest – from my phone for two weeks while I was on family vacation with my… Read more

Women Warriors 8 Weeks to Healthy Living Pilot – Facilitator Training It was an honor to present our program and research findings from the past two years, including University of Calgary Master’s student, Megan Sampson’s preliminary findings on food security to City of Calgary managers and stakeholders on Friday, March… Read more

By Megan Sampson, Graduate Student – Anthropology, University of Calgary Part 1 of 2 available here. The Canadian government responded to Indigenous peoples’ assertions of sovereignty in the region through the implementation of violent and degrading policies. The Indian Act, which was passed in1876, is widely regarded as racist, sexist, paternernalistic and aimed at… Read more

Insights from Indigenous Mothers Brandy-Lee Maxie is a storyteller, entrepreneur, and mother of three children ages 15, 12, and 9 from the White Bear First Nations in Saskatchewan.  Tonight is a hard night to feel like Reconciliation in Canada is a possibility – that concept just got further away from being achievable. Racism… Read more

My Letter to the Editor of the Lloydminster Booster/Source Last Sunday I had to remove myself from social media because of the explosion of hate-filled racist comments that were circulating online. I felt anger, frustration, but most of all sorrow. Some of these people were my friends on Facebook, and… Read more

My Insights as an Indigenous Adoptee On January 20th, 2018 I attended my first North Slave Métis Alliance (NSMA) annual general assembly. This AGA was important to me because I did not grow up with my Metis culture or with my biological family. I was adopted at birth and I found my… Read more

The Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation wins the $1 Million Dollar Arctic Inspiration Prize This article was published in the Yellowknifer newspaper on Wednesday, February 7th. It was based on the original Women Warriors newsletter, Reconciliation in Health Research: Spirituality & Science published December 14, 2017.  When I met Dr. Nicole Redvers, the chair of the Arctic Indigenous… Read more

January 17th International Mentor Day January is Mentoring Month and today is International Mentor Day. I asked guest writer, Helen Knott, to share her experience with mentorship. Her piece below highlights the importance of mentorship, within our Indigenous communities, and how mentors can come in the form of our family members,… Read more

I started my journey with Women Warriors on June 8th, 2015 at the Lloydminster Friendship Centre. I was inspired to start this group after training for a half marathon for Team Diabetes, in honour of my birth father’s type II diabetes diagnosis, and witnessing that there were few Indigenous women… Read more

Last week Megan, our graduate student from the University of Calgary doing her thesis on food security with the Women Warriors in Lloydminster (read her preliminary research findings here) and I attended Tamarack Institute’s “Evaluating Community Impact” workshop in Saskatoon, November 14th to 16th. Thanks to Rhett Sangster, Director, Reconciliation and Community Partnership, Office of… Read more

In honor of National Addictions Awareness Week, November 12th-18th, 2017, I am sharing insights about addiction(s) from guests on the Women Warriors podcast. Each of these guests has struggled with addiction(s) and are open about their healing and recovery. Their full podcast interviews can be accessed on the podcast section… Read more

Three Female Candidates Share Their Insights From Running In Municipal & First Nations Politics Fostering Indigenous women leaders and building our participation in politics, and policymaking is an important form of reconciliation in Canada. According to the website Equal Voice, “the United Nations says that a critical mass of at… Read more

Three Female Candidates Share Their Insights From Running In Municipal & First Nations Politics Miranda is Cree and a member of Thunderchild First Nation in Treaty Six. She ran in the Edmonton muncipal election for Ward 5 on October 16, 2017. The canidate elected was Sarah Hamiliton. You can view… Read more

Letter to the Editor of the Lloydminster Meridian Booster & the Lloydminster Source How Can the Media Do A Better Job of Representing Indigenous Voices In This Community? Reconciliation is about learning the truth of Canada’s history with Indigenous peoples, examining the ongoing legacy of colonialism, and acknowledging that we… Read more

Holding Space for Honesty, Healing & Hope. EP12 Jean Cardinal on Vulnerability as Medicine & Supporting Men on Their Healing Journeys (iTunes, Google Play & Libsyn)   Jean Cardinal is the co-founder of Dene Wellness Warriors, an Indigenous focused wellness business based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories that offers one-to-one counselling, wellness coaching… Read more

Our tentative plans to move the Women Warriors Program & Research January 2018 Last Friday myself, Onion Lake band councilor, Dolores Pahtayken, our Master’s student from the University of Calgary, Megan, Women Warrior participant, Ashley, Elder from the Ekweskeet Healing Lodge, Verna Buffalo Calf and gardening expert, Tracey Lepp met… Read more

Over the course of two years, Women Warriors has welcomed Lakeland College students in our program. One student, Linda participated in Women Warriors for the full length of her degree starting November 2015 ending April 2017. Intially, Linda was shy and when I approached her about doing a Woman Warrior Wednesday profile… Read more

Social Media Break by Shelley Wiart I took a social media break Because I was tired of being connected. I wish Katy and Nicki would remake Alanis Morisette’s “Ironic” Because they could never write their own intelligent lyrics “They don’t know what is what. They just strut. WTF.” WTF. I’ll rewrite it… Read more

Indigenous Women’s Health: Closing the Health Gap by Addressing Violence On May 9th, 2017 I was invited by researcher, Dr. Rita Henderson to attend the University of Calgary Group for Research with Indigenous People (GRIP) forum. We presented on Rise Up Mighty Warrior: Indigenous Women and Stakeholder Engagement for Meaningful Health Promotion. (Power point… Read more

Why I Dedicated the Second Season of the Women Warriors Podcast to Healing. The first time I heard a residential school survivor speak was March of 2009 in my class at the University of Alberta Native Studies 380/Women Studies 494: Challenging Racism and Stereotypes. It is a vivid memory because I was… Read more

Sharing my insights about reconciliation. It’s 8 am. I’m in the Lister Hall Cafeteria at the University of Alberta filling up on breakfast buffet for a full day of listening to speakers at the Writing Stick Conference. I spot Duncan McCue sitting alone at a table and I decide to… Read more

 Sharing my insights about the land, healing, Reconciliation & Canada 150. The New Generation of Reconciliation  On the last week of school my seven year old daughter came home & told me what she learned about residential school in class. You can view the video I recored on my twitter feed which she stated, “the… Read more

 Sharing my insights about the land, healing, Reconciliation & Canada 150. Onion Lake Powwow 2017 Onion Lake is hosting their annual powwow on July 14th -16th at the Onion Lake Heritage Park. I’m excited to bring our Women Warriors researchers from the University of Calgary, Masters student, Megan and summer student,… Read more

Lessons learned from completing season one of the Women Warriors podcast & reflections on the Writing Stick Conference. My Top Seven Takeaways From Season One 1) No one will make your dreams come true, but you. Invest your own money into a project that you feel deeply about. If I had waited to raise all… Read more

Please listen and subscribe to the Women Warriors podcast on iTunes! Please help us reach New & Noteworthy by leaving a review on iTunes. Here’s a quick “how to.” If you have an android device, we highly recommend the Podcast Addict app, or you can listen to the podcast section of this website! Please… Read more

Please listen and subscribe to the Women Warriors podcast on iTunes! Please help us reach New & Noteworthy by leaving a review on iTunes. Here’s a quick “how to.” If you have an android device, we highly recommend the Podcast Addict app, or you can listen to the podcast section of this website! Helen… Read more

Please listen and subscribe to the Women Warriors podcast on iTunes! Please help us reach New & Noteworthy by leaving a review on iTunes. Here’s a quick “how to.” If you have an android device, we highly recommend the Podcast Addict app, or you can listen to the podcast section of this website! We’re… Read more

Please listen and subscribe to the Women Warriors podcast on iTunes! Please help us reach New & Noteworthy by leaving a review on iTunes. Here’s a quick “how to.” If you have an android device, we highly recommend the Podcast Addict app, or you can listen to the podcast section of this website! Women… Read more

My name is Shelley Wiart and I’m the creator of the Women Warriors podcast! I’m sharing my passion for empowering Indigenous women with you! If you haven’t already, please subscribe to the iTunes version of the Women Warriors podcast! Thank you for sharing in my dream of creating a positive and inspiring community of Indigenous women… Read more