Choosing Respect shares deep cultural ties

I believe everyone deserves to feel safe and that domestic violence should not be tolerated by anyone, male or female.

The value of respect is deeply engrained in the cultural teachings that are an everyday practice in many indigenous cultures, and are a part of everything we do here in Chickaloon. Whether we know it or not, everyone is a role model to someone.

As adults, we must match our words with our actions for them to have any real meaning.

We encourage and role model respect for the “Life Givers,” which are the mothers and grandmothers, as well as respect for the “Protectors of Life,” the men.

We strive to bring this message to our children who attend our Ya Ne Dah Ah tribal school. We teach the children about our traditional values. In turn, they learn to feel safe, and they feel our respect and love for them.

We teach nonviolent communication, we teach about the destructiveness of bullying and how to be a friend or ally instead. We role model all this into our community gatherings such as our weekly Elder’s Lunch, where the whole community comes together not just to share food and learn about healthy living, but to pass on the teachings of respect for one another through actions and attitudes.

Whether we are talking about problems and solutions in parenting classes or discussing ways to build healthier relationships, domestic violence is talked about openly.

The key point is that domestic violence will not be tolerated in our community and we will continue to strive to demonstrate this on a daily basis in the ways that we relate and support to each other.

Paul Pike is the family preservation planner case worker for Chickaloon Village Traditional Council of the Athabascan Nation. He originally comes from the Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation from Newfoundland, Canada. He and wife DeEtte have five daughters and 10 grandchildren. He also the main composer for the contemporary Native American music group Medicine Dream, which promotes wellness for communities and individuals. For more information, visit medicinedream.com.