November 23, 2020
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm Eastern
EAPO invites you to join "Walk with Me: Two-Spirit Indigenous Elders", a presentation from two,Two-Spirit Elders to better understand what two-spirit means and the best practices to engage, when providing assistance to Two-Spirit persons in need of health and community supports.
This is a unique opportunity to hear directly from Indigenous persons how best to engage in a respectful and culturally appropriate manner, when providing care for Two-Spirit persons. These teachings will help restore the deep respect for our Elders, and in doing so, prevent abuse to future Indigenous seniors.
SPEAKERS:
MA-NEE CHACABY
As a child, Ma-Nee Chacaby learned spiritual and cultural traditions from her Cree grandmother and trapping, hunting, and bush survival skills from her Ojibwa stepfather. She also suffered physical and sexual abuse by different adults, and by her teen years she succumbed to alcohol misuse. At twenty, Ma-Nee moved to Thunder Bay with her children to escape an abusive marriage. Abuse, compounded by racism, continued, but she found supports to help herself and others. Over the following decades, Ma-Nee achieved sobriety; trained and worked as an alcoholism counselor; raised her children and fostered many others; learned to live with visual impairment; and came out as a lesbian. In 2013, Ma-Nee led the first gay pride parade in her adopted city, Thunder Bay, Ontario. Hers is truly a story of emergence from hardship grounded in faith, compassion, humor, and resilience.
ASHLEY MOREAU
Ashley Moreau is a Two-Spirited Metis Artist that grew up in the small Town of Eagle River, West of Dryden. They have lived in the big city of Thunder Bay for 15 years. Growing up in such a small community gave Ashley some insight to some of the challenges 2SLGBTQI* youth can face living in remote or isolated communities. While learning about their culture, Ashley was told they were Two-spirited and they have been seeking knowledge about The Two spirited people and the third gender ever since. Ashley is the creator of a small Two Spirit Group called Niizh Spirit Society, with a drive to help Two-Spirited people reclaim their roots and teachings.
For further information, please contact:
Christine Chan, Elder Abuse Prevention Consultant - GTA
Randy Moore, Indigenous Outreach Lead
Elder Abuse Prevention Consultant - North West & North East
