 The
Rural Womyn Zone Rural
Women in Canada
You Blazed a Trail Open Letter
to Marilyn Buffalo,
I was saddened to hear your candidacy being criticized and even belittled from within and without the community of wimmin. Some critics perceived the campaign to have 'failed' to address gender issues as they should have been approached. It would be their preference presumably, to have you command support 'because' you are a womn. A noble, if unrealistic wish. At no time did they address the gender division at the leadership conference, and I have not seen reported statistics, but I find it doubtful that 51% were wimmin who could have been asked to vote as a block. What I heard you say, and the critics appear to have not heard, is that Community Development is the single most important issue to be addressed by all communities across the First Nations. Wimmin and girls at the community level must be educated and encouraged to take leadership roles, must work and learn and become the delegates at future leadership debates. This is a profound truth outside the First Nations as well. It is through the very development of community that you exhort, that wimmin will be able to move into leadership. Ms. Buffalo, when you ran an unwinnable race, you ensured that the young wimmin watching would see that they can share the dais with their brothers. You modeled a possibility that is rarely seen. You demonstrated that there are options other than the examples set by history, or recalled by the historians of the dominant society. You put a new picture into the minds of fathers with daughters. You showed brothers what their sisters might do. You blazed a trail. As a womn it is very important to me to see so-called Women's Issues debated at the leadership level. Yet no political issue is not a women's issue. Women, regardless of what the percentage of male leaders might indicate, are a majority in this country. We are involved with every aspect of our communities and our country. We can not be narrowly defined. Those wimmin who chose to make childrearing and domestic support their primary role should be honoured for the contribution that they make; they and we are not unilaterally focused on recipes and babies. Wimmin are active in economic life, political life, and healthcare for all. Yes we expect research into breast cancer; we also work for research into the prostate cancer that threatens our brothers and sons. When wimmin are leaders, there is no narrowing of parameters, if anything, the possibilities grow. Thank You Marilyn Buffalo. Your words and ideas have been heard. Because you stood in the leadership race this year, the possibilities for the future are expanded. Jo Leath
Rural
Women in Canada
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