BCIFV home > Newsletter > 1994 Archives > Summer 1994 articles

Helping Spirit Lodge Society

Historical Background

The Helping Spirit Lodge Society first opened its doors to clients in June 1991. The Lodge is a Transition House for women and their children who have been battered and abused in their home environment and require a temporary, safe place to live. The length of stay varies with the degree of trauma of the women and children. Some families may stay only one week while others may require an extended stay of six weeks due to the severity of the abuse.

Mission Statement

Helping Spirit Lodge is a non-profit society dedicated to assisting in the alleviation of family violence in the Aboriginal community. We believe that family violence is a learned behaviour that can be unlearned and replaced with healthy non-violent behaviours. We start by providing a sanctuary for the victims in an alcohol and drug free environment. Women must have a safe and nurturing place to recover from the loss of self-esteem and direction. Ultimately, we seek to regain the traditional, respected position of women in our communities.

Goals of Helping Spirit Lodge Society

(a)	To provide safe, protective short term shelter primarily for Aboriginal women, children and spouses of aboriginal men suffering from physical and psychological abuse;
(b)	To provide appropriate crisis intervention programs primarily for Aboriginal women, children and spouses of Aboriginal men suffering from physical and psychological abuse, including but not limited to spiritual counselling by Elders and special referral counselling for alcohol, drug and sexual abuse; and to be provided for the Aboriginal men as an adjunct to the existing program.
(c)	To provide access to and support to obtain education and life skills programs to address the causes and consequences of physical and psychological abuse such as personal identity, self awareness, low esteem and drug and alcohol problems;
(d)	To provide ongoing support upon discharge for Aboriginal women, children and spouses of Aboriginal men;
(e)	To provide 24 hour counselling and referral for Aboriginal women in crisis;
(f)	To provide counselling and positive behavioural learning for the Aboriginal men as an adjunct to the existing program;
(g)	To provide awareness education to the abuser and to the community about family violence;
(h)	To provide such programs as may be deemed necessary for the creation of a safe environment and a healthy family for all concerned.

Objectives

• Returning Aboriginal women to their traditionally respected position in the family, community and society.
• To stop the cycle of violence within the family, community and society.
• To create and support healthy families.
• The delivery of quality services by Aboriginal people to Aboriginal people.
• To restore positive self image through Aboriginal cultural healing methods.

To Provide

• A safe place for abused women and their children - a home environment.
• Friendship and support from Aboriginal women who are qualified counsellors.
• Referrals to legal advocacy and support for women and their children.
• Learning about family violence in terms of awareness, prevention and protection.
• Counselling in alcohol/drug abuse, sexual abuse and children's counselling.
• Referrals to specialized treatment that may not be available at the Transition House.
• On-going support and follow-up service for the family.

Helping Spirit Lodge Society
Aboriginal Spousal Assault Program

Family Violence is not Traditional. It is a learned behaviour that is passed down from one generation to another. Family violence is a long standing social problem that is largely hidden from the community and society at large. Because it was long considered to be a private matter within the family circle. family violence has not been addressed by governments, communities and society until recently.

Spousal assault in the Aboriginal community is covertly recognized to be a problem, but is rarely spoken of and even more rarely dealt with. The impact of this dysfunctional behaviour is one which tears at the threads of Aboriginal communities. Recent surveys have shown an extreme reluctance to discuss the issue of spousal assault, let alone begin to create solutions to this problem.

Spousal sssault in the Aboriginal community is frequently discussed by police, health care professionals, transition house workers, and occasionally by non-Aboriginal writers on the subject of family violence through research and surveys only and without providing solutions. There is a high degree of denial about spousal assault in the Aboriginal community. A violent family situation seems at times to be the acceptable norm. While spousal assault also remains a significant problem in the non-Aboriginal community, professionals agree that there exists a noticeably high incidence of violence in Aboriginal families.

Helping Spirit Lodge Society believes that these accepting attitudes in families can be unlearned. Much of family violence is displayed toward women, quite in contrast to the traditionally revered position with which women were held in Aboriginal communities prior to European contact. We believe that we can replace today's unhealthy attitudes with ones which recognize and support the value of women in our communities, as was the case in traditional Aboriginal societies.

Specialized treatment for abusive husbands was introduced in Canada in the 1970s. The catalyst behind the creation of such programs was the women's movement and, in particular, victims and advocates for victims of wife assault. Women's shelters, quite appropriately, taught women that they were not responsible for their partner's abuse. Neither could they do anything to change their partner's behaviour; only the abusive partner could change his violent behaviour.

Women who are victims of domestic violence frequently leave the relationship for reasons of safety and protection for themselves and their children. They do not necessarily want the relationship to end; rather, they want an end to the violence.

Wife assault rarely stops without some sort of outside intervention with the perpetrator. Women who decide to stay with or return to their partners remain at risk unless their partners receive effective intervention. If the couple separates permanently the man will be abusive in subsequent relationships if he has not dealt with his problem.

By taking responsibility in this area of our lives and passing on responsible and non-violent attitudes to the next generation, we hope that the incidence of this problem in the courts, hospitals and transition houses will be significantly decreased. Ultimately, we aspire to lead the way for non-Aboriginal communities by creating non-violent attitudes in our own societies.

One of the strongest arguments in support of Aboriginal delivery of domestic assault services is the significant effect of role modeling in terms of intervention. Aboriginally-run men's treatment groups that incorporate culturally relevant materials increase the potential for participation and impact upon the abusers. Another compelling reason is the strength derived from overall attention paid to combined social, spiritual and cultural differences as they relate to the healing process. This provides a critical departure from customary non-Aboriginal modes of likelihood of ensuring success among victims and abusers within the Aboriginal communities.

This is a crucial time for Helping Spirit Lodge Society. Until now, the focus of our services has been providing protection for victims of violence and educational awareness in the community. Many requests for Native battered women support groups have come through our outreach efforts to the Aboriginal community.

While this remains an important focus of our work, we are committed to breaking new ground by examining the role of the perpetrator of the violence, and determining ways for Helping Spirit Lodge Society to have viable alternatives that provide on-going preventative services for Aboriginal families through therapeutic counselling, referral to professional therapists and continued support.

Many requests have also come from Aboriginal men wanting to make changes to their abusive behavioural patterns by voluntary application to counselling. The men's program being set up at Helping Spirit Lodge would be an adjunct and would augment the existing Helping Spirit Lodge transition house services, as part of its community services.

"Choices" Pre-Employment Training Program

The picture painted for many First Nations women in the urban setting is depressing, reflecting social oppression common to minorities. The issues are compounded by the fact there are few programs in existence which currently meet the needs of our women. Financial security and personal wellness for many of these women seem unattainable because of the complex barriers they must deal with in the urban area.

In January of 1994 Helping Spirit Lodge Society began a pre-Eemployment training program, called CHOICES, for First Nations women. The program is innovative, presenting participants with the skills they require to be confident and successful women while maintaining their identity as First Nations. In short, this project plays a vital role in "returning First Nations women to their respected position in the family, community and society."

The program is sixteen weeks in duration and has three major components: Life Skills, On the Job Training and Job Search Techniques. Our program is holistic in its approach, including an emphasis on traditional healing and a strong cultural component. Our objective is to promote positive self-regard through use of traditional healing techniques and cultural practices.

One essential task involves revealing to the women the strengths and talents they already possess. This means that much of our program is self-directed, revolving around the skills and goals that the women themselves choose to foster. Building on our participants' strengths is the foundation for our program, allowing for personal renewal that comes from within.

Much of our course material is practical so participants can access the job market or educational facilities in the urban area. In our course, we acknowledge the many First Nations women who must deal with family and other crises and yet who also manage to develop a separate successful career. We feel they manage to accomplish this because they possess valuable survival skills. Many of these survival skills are practical and may be learned, and are presented in our program in order to give our participants the same opportunity.

The staff of CHOICES are selected partly on their ability to overcome the adversity in their lives. Many of the tools the staff use to become whole are incorporated into their daily routines, allowing for a healthy transference of skills to our participants. Through their own healing process the staff are able to communicate this to the participants.

CHOICES has included a research component as a key area of our program. The data we are collecting covers three areas: personal profiles, employment barriers, and intervention effectiveness. This data will provide us with comprehensive information which will assist us in tailoring our program to meet the needs of our women, creating relevant and effective training components, and evaluating our program success.

Once the program is completed, ongoing support will be available for our women. We recognize the impact of programs like this may be increased by providing additional resources. Healing circles, counseling and current employment information will be available to our participants even after they complete the program. Our goal is to remain in contact with those who require assistance beyond their participation in our group.

Much has been lost for First Nations Women. Our lives have taken on many extra societal burdens, hampering our abilities to access the gifts we have received from the Creator. Helping Spirit Lodge is bringing the strength back to the life givers of our community, allowing for meaningful changes to take place in the lives of our women. Eventually this healing will bring completeness back to our sacred circle of life.

Bernie Whiteford, Executive Director
Helping Spirit Lodge Society