Norway House signs agreement with John Howard Society to bring justice programs to community

Norway House Cree Nation in northern Manitoba has signed an agreement with the John Howard Society to help it lobby for programs to help members of the community involved in the justice system. “With my family members, who currently live in Norway House, what we’re seeing is a lot of addiction issues, crime” said Lisa Muswagon, a community member and one of the people work with the John Howard Society (JHS). “There’s a disconnection in the communities.” Community members said more action is needed to help the healing process after a crime is committed – and to decolonize the justice system. The JHS advocates for individuals before, during, and after incarceration, through programming, resources, support, and advocacy across Canada. According to the organization, the agreement signed will be the foundation to advocate for provincial and federal money for programs to operate in the community. “What I’m sick of seeing is the Court of King’s bench flying into our communities, setting up shop with picnic tables – having a court for the day. And they fly out of there, and yet their sheriff vans are sitting there waiting to take our kids away, and our young people away all the time. And we have to put a stop to that.” Gilbert Fredette, senior advisor to Norway House, located 800 kilometres north of Winnipeg, and board member on the JHS. “And it will be, you know, a better chance for us to bring our programs right into the courthouse and to talk to the crown and whoever and the lawyers who are there, instead of having it at a makeshift courthouse that is basically gone the same day and the sheriffs vans are waiting,” Fredette said. With court for a day taking place, Fredette said that dignity is at stake when dealing with the justice system and his community deserves better than make-shift tables. He said a brick and mortar courthouse in Norway House, would be beneficial to the community. “It’ll give us, our young people and families the dignity to walk into a building that is on our traditional area, and it’ll be a better chance for us to bring our programming right into the courthouse and to talk to the Crown, and the lawyers that are there instead of having it at a make-shift courthouse.” Fredette said. Fredette said that a courthouse and partnership with John Howard Society will give his community more information and understanding of the justice system. Reigniting home fires Muswagon said that she sees crime, disconnection and addiction issues happening within her family and yet, help is lacking in her community. “There is a lot of support for women… although this is for both men and women, what I feel is lacking in the community is a support for men.” She said. According to the community, Norway House is one of the largest First Nations in Manitoba, with 6,883 members living on reserve Muswagon said that she has six brothers and lots of male cousins, and she sees no support for them. She said that the stigma surrounding men’s mental health and why some turn to drugs, or crime, has limited the support for men in the community. Fredette said he learned a term from an Elder called “reigniting our home fires”. “What that means is if you have a home on a First Nations community and there’s people living in that home you want to make sure that fire’s burning bright, they have resources, they have education, they have healing, they have everything they need to succeed and have a healthy strong family,” Fredette said. Fredette said that if communities continue to reignite their home fires, it is a formula for success and allows for a child to get everything that they need to move forward into the world. He also said we need to take care of others whose fires may be dwindling. “In some cases the home fire’s almost extinguished now, so we have to make sure we have wraparound care to go into those houses and get that family that care they need. The resources, making sure they get CFS help, substance abuse help, alcohol, whatever it may be – and make sure we reignite these houses one at a time,” he said. It takes a community The John Howard Society office in Winnipeg. Photo: APTN. Fredette said that the population of Indigenous people has exploded over the last 40 years and because of homelessness, drug addiction, and incarceration, we are starting to see more of this in the municipalities and cities, especially across the prairies. He said the rising incarceration, homelessness, and addiction rates are catching the attention of the federal and provincial governments. He said that working together to create solutions of healing and helping communities and youth should start at the grassroots level. The history of colonization and alcohol are well known in the community, Fredette said, but despite alcohol being introduced over the last few hundred years, it remains a major factor in many issues destroying communities and families. The next step Aiden Enns, executive director of the JHS in Manitoba, said they will work together with Norway House Cree Nation to put the community first in their own healing. “Moving forward, I think the next first step will be continued listening to the needs in the community and the desires of the leadership, and then discerning together what will be a good fit,” Enns said. Muswagon said the work that comes with the partnership after the MOU signing, will need to come from the community first for impactful healing to begin. “Other people don’t have the answers. You can support us, but we have the answers for healing,” she said. “That is through connection and community, that’s what I feel we lost through colonization, we lost that connection to our people.” Fredette said that the partnership is going to make room for Norway House to have a say in its own healing, and to help his community. “John Howard Society is a good network for us to use, and to continue to collaborate when it comes to Norway House,” he said. “We can draw upon the experience and the networking of JH and make those programs into our programs, into what works for Norway House, what works for our families, what works for the people that know ‘okay, we need this, we understand John Howard does their thing, but we’re going to make it our own.’” Continue Reading