 From its local field operations in New York State and Washington, DC, Women is the First Environment Collaborative seeks to advance the reproductive justice agendas of American Indian women towards an expanded and revitalized reproductive justice movement. The First Environment program, founded by Katsi Cook (Akwesasne Mohawk) also intersects with diverse social justice movements through advocacy, communications and curriculum development.
This program is made possible by the generous support of the Ford Foundation.
The project works to develop American Indian youth leadership to encourage a new generation to protect and promote social justice in environmental, reproductive rights and Native rights arenas.
The legacies of colonialism, including historical trauma, multi-generational soul-wounding, the erosion of family and gender relations from the boarding school experience and the toxic contamination of subsistence life ways have forged diverse socio-cultural contexts from which Native American women must formulate opinions, ideologies, and solutions to the problems they face in everyday life.
From puberty into the childbearing years; into menopause and elder-hood, there is a need to incorporate and integrate biomedical knowledge, indigenous knowledge, ideas and practices (the “traditional”) in developing resources for community education, training and research.
Building from an empowerment model based in cultural survival, Women is the First Environment Collaborative aims to include a new generation of young American Indian women at risk who are most in need of ties to positive models in community culture.
RECENT HAPPENINGS FROM THE FIRST ENVIRONMENT COLLABORATIVE:
KATSI COOK GIVES THE KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT THE 2008 CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF MIDWIVES (CAM) CONFERENCE
On November 12, 2008, Katsi Cook traveled to Quebec City to give the keynote address at the annual conference for the Canadian Association of Midwives (CAM).
Every year, this conference offers a variety of scientific and philosophical presentations on issues that influence midwifery and maternity care in Canada, exploring the challenges arising around the maternity care crisis, sustainability and the promotion of normal birth as our profession grows across the country.
In her keynote address, Katsi Cook announced the much anticipated founding of the National Aboriginal Council of Midwives (NACM) under the umbrella of Canadian Association of Midwives.
Read the text of Katsi Cook's KEYNOTE ADDRESS TO THE 2008 CAM CONFERENCE |
