A Prairie Region Workshop Sponsored by the IAS Project

Involving Aboriginal Women in WITT
by Shirley Boucher and Janis McKeag

Aboriginal women in the trades, technologies, operations and blue
collar work. The workshop began with some cultural and language
sensitization. It was brought to our attention that while the term
Aboriginal was correct when referring to all Aboriginal people,
when addressing a specific Aboriginal people, like Indian, Métis,
and Inuit, use the specific reference. It was also suggested, that the
terms such as advisory, meetings and featured speaker based upon
business and dominant society models, be replaced with circle and
circle discussion, to reinforce the idea of participation and partner­
ships.
To help make WITT groups less intimidating for Aboriginal
women, the following points were discussed. When inviting
Aboriginal women to speak or facilitate a workshop, ask the
women to participate in a circle discussion. Another point that was
made is that there is often an unspoken expectation when you are
Aboriginal, you are expected to be able to speak to all Aboriginal
issues, and this is not reasonable.
After these general ideas were discussed, the group began to
consider ways of developing networks between the two groups.
Cultural sensitivity and in-house workshops should be implement­
ed to educate and inform WITT members about Aboriginal issues.
Also, steps need to be taken to increase awareness and support for
WITT initiatives within Aboriginal women’s groups. This could
be accomplished through covering letters of introduction to differ­
ent Aboriginal groups in the province. This could be followed by
notices of meetings and programs/projects of WITT to be pub­
lished in different Aboriginal newsletters. WITT could also
request information about employment oriented programs and pro­
jects sponsored by Aboriginal women’s organizations and offer to
present a workshop on career opportunities in the trades, technolo­
gies, operations and blue collar work. Ultimately a goal, for this
group, would be to hold a partnered conference, where participants
could be brought in from all areas of the provinces.
The area which elicited the most discussion was that of role
modelling. It was agreed that it is a most effective way to encour­
age Aboriginal women to explore non-traditional careers.
One of WITT’s difficulties is being able to identify Aboriginal
women in the field, and to let them know that this organization
exists. Work will have to happen on the local level to develop con­
tacts and networks which will help identify Aboriginal women in
the trades who will be willing to serve as role models. It would be
good to be able to publish their stories in the newsletters. This area
also has potential for another partnered project - developing
posters to promote Aboriginal women working in the trades, tech­
nologies, operations or blue collar work.
Major problems of programs and projects were also discused.
These included items such as limited lead time to get the word out,
limitations place on who can participate, incentives needed to get
single parent women on social assistance interested in training,
gaps in programs which don’t take into consideration the realities
of women’s lives, and child care. All of which are common to both
groups.
There is much to be done to accomplish our goal of involving
Aboriginal women in WITT..Working in partnership is a way to
help us realize this goal. This workshop was a positive first step.

nO a cold and rainy Saturday in October, a small and enthusias­
tic group of women from Saskatchewan and Manitoba met for
the workshop “Involving Aboriginal Women in WITT.” We were
immediately warmed by the coffee and muffins supplied by the
Native Services Division of SIAST. And while we sipped and
munched, we viewed the new video “She’s Got A Ticket” pro­
duced by SaskWITT. On this positive note we began our work­
shop.
Donna Racette, Director of the Regina Friendship Centre, was
our invited speaker. Her opening remarks began with some famil­
iar statistics about the workforce; decreasing career opportunities
for women in white collar and pink collar areas, de-skilling,
automation, etc. She also mentioned a new trend of employment
opportunities which are part-time, minimum wage, with minimum
job satisfaction, and no job security, found particularly in the fast
food and service industry. She called these “McJobs”. What was
interesting is the fact that Aboriginal people did not factor into
these statistics at all. She stated that whereas retention in the work­
force is not currently a major problem for Aboriginal people,
employment opportunity is. Retention in the educational system is
a major problem. Less than 5% of Aboriginal students entering
high school, successfully complete.
This workshop was timely for WITT Aboriginal women’s
groups to begin exploring ways and means of developing coopera­
tive partnerships to improve the recruitment and retention of

WHATABOUT YOU?
The Women's Bureau of Labour Canada recently released
What About You! (in French, À toi de cboi^irl)t an excellent
video profiling six women working in occupations in which
women are currently underrepresented. The 19-minute video
highlights the training, work setting and aspirations of a pilot,
a research scientist and manager, a television camera operator
and producer, a firefighter, an aerospace systems engineer,
and an electronics technician. These women share their expe­
riences and talk about the benefits and challenges associated
with working in these jobs.
What About You? was commissioned by the Women's
Bureau to increase awareness of the many opportunities
available to women and to stimulate their participation in a
wide range of jobs.
The video will appeal to a wide audience: young people
considering their future, individuals who are entering or re­
entering the workforce or who are considering changing
careers, as well as unions, employers, educators and guidance
counsellors. It could be used in a number of educational and
informational purposes.
A User's Guide containing background information has
been designed to facilitate discussion.
For further information on What About You/A toi de
choisir!, please contact the Women's Bureau, Labour
Canada, Ottawa, Ontario KIA OJ2, (819) 953-0055.
WITT thinks this is one of the best role-modelling films available!
WITT National Newsletter

4

Autumn/Winter 1991