The conference, held in Edmonton from March 12th to 15th 1968, had been organized under the title “Native Women: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” In her address, Lavallee made a plea to all Indigenous women:
“We who are Today’s Women: Just as grandmother had to blaze a trail- had to blaze a life for herself…we as Today’s Women have a challenge at hand…We as Today’s Women must prepare the way for Tomorrow’s Women, not by virtue of birth alone, but by blazing a trail of education, reform, of social reform and political reform.”1
Bringing women together in provincial conferences in the late 1960s signalled Indigenous women’s increasing emphasis on unity and the necessity for political action. Such conferences were also vital in the formation of provincial political organizations and eventually led to the creation of a national organization, The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC), in 1974.
The year before the first Alberta conference, Lavallee had organized a conference of Indigenous women in Saskatchewan, resulting in the creation of The Saskatchewan Indian Women’s Association. Scholars Allyson Stevenson and Cheryl Troupe identified the driving forces behind Indigenous women’s activism in Saskatchewan as “the unique cultural and historic experiences of colonialization, broken treaty promises, and loss of land; racial discrimination and sexualized violence; and, unfortunately, the prevalence of sexism within their own Indigenous communities.”2 These issues were not unique to Saskatchewan. Lavallee’s presence in the Alberta conference testifies to a desire for action that exceeded provincial boundaries.
The final report of the First Alberta Native Women’s Conference contains each day’s agenda, the transcripts of the main speeches, the minutes of each discussion group, the text of each of the recommendations voted by the assembly, an evaluation of the encounter, and a list of participants.3 In the report we can see that the women took Lavallee’s call seriously as they debated various issues, voted on the recommendations, and agreed to the need for a provincial political organization. We also learn that the conference, the first of its kind in the province, gathered over three hundred First Nations and Métis women from many corners of Alberta in order to discuss and make recommendations about issues that were important to them. The conference was financed through fundraising events and grants from the federal and provincial governments. Over three days, participants debated among themselves and with invited government officials. Themes included housing, employment, women’s rights, youth, health, legal rights, self-government, alcohol, and community development. On each of these topics, the delegates drafted recommendations to be taken back to their communities, presented to provincial Indigenous organizations, and for government consideration.
This report demonstrates the variety of issues that concerned Indigenous women, the depth of their engagement with each topic, and their clarity in identifying possible solutions to the problems in their communities. Women raised concerns about the poor education their children were receiving and the fact that non-Indigenous teachers and students often discriminated against Indigenous youth. They requested to be considered in the development of school curriculums. They asked for half-way houses for young Indigenous women who arrived in the cities to study or work. They demanded control over child welfare services and access to health services in remote areas. They highlighted the need for leadership training, adult education, participation in housing projects, community improvements, and federal and provincial funding for agricultural projects.
A look at the appendix of the document reveals an interesting side story, very telling about the influence of these women. During the conference, they learned that the National Health and Welfare Department of the Liberal government had announced its intention to alter health services for Indigenous peoples living on reserves by transferring some of the responsibility of their health care over to the provinces. They had not consulted with Indigenous leaders and organizations. The day before the conference ended, over 200 of the participants marched to the Alberta Legislature to protest and presented a brief to the office of Social Credit Party Premier, Ernest Manning. The Premier responded to participants via letter, including a copy of a telegram he had written to Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson insisting that Ottawa abandon the announced measure. He requested that the Prime Minister answer him before the end of the conference, “in order that their conference may be advised of your decision and their concern relieved.”4 While there is no further correspondence from the Prime Minister, it is evident that these women felt empowered to act, and at least at the provincial level, their voices were acknowledged and respected.
The first Alberta Native Women’s Conference was chaired by Alice Steinhouer who, together with other women, was responsible for organizing the event. We learn from the final report that she and one of the other co-planners, Christine Daniels, had been invited by Mary Anne Lavalle to the conference in Saskatchewan the year before, and this inspired her to replicate the experience in Alberta. Following that first conference, the Voice of Alberta’s Native Women’s Society (VANWS) was formally created, and Alice Steinhourer was elected to its leadership.
VANWS included First Nations and Métis women of the province, and their founding statement affirmed that their “concerns and interests are based mainly on the education and betterment of standards of living for their native people.”5 The immediate task of the new organization was to present the recommendations of the first conference to the Indian Association of Alberta and submit them to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women (RCSW). In April 1968, barely one month after the Alberta conference, the recently elected representatives of VANWS, Alice Steinhouer, June Stifle (aka Maria Campbell), and Christine Daniels appeared before the Commission with the conference’s recommendations.
At the same time, First Nations and Métis women insisted on the need to work independently on their own terms and on their own concerns. Scholar Sarah Nickel presents a widely felt criticism by Indigenous women who affirmed that the Commission “failed to explicitly address colonialism as a key factor in Indigenous women’s experiences and did not account for women’s existing political work in their organizations.”6 The VANWS submission received national and local news coverage, and Steinhouer told members of the Commission and reporters that despite their request for government support, they did not want the federal government to interfere with their families and communities. She informed commissioners and the press that First Nations and Métis women were now unified and working together to solve their problems.7
The report of the “First Alberta Native Women’s Conference” and the creation of VANWS are proof of the organizing capacity, unity, and political agency of First Nations and Métis women. In 1969 VANWS organized a second annual conference under the theme, “Success With Unity: We Are Responsible,” with over 150 Indigenous women in attendance.8 VANWS continued to be active in Alberta, and in 1982 changed its name to The Alberta Native Women’s Association, with 60 local chapters and over 700 active members. During the 1970s VANWS was instrumental in organizing Indigenous women throughout Canada. On March 22nd - 23rd 1971, VANWS hosted the First National Native Women’s Conference in Edmonton, with Indigenous women from ten provinces and Territories in attendance. These attendees passed a motion to form a national organization that would represent Indigenous women’s voices throughout the country.9
In 1974, the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) was created and is still active in promoting the rights of Indigenous women today. Not surprisingly, the first president of NWAC was Bertha Clarke-Jones, a Métis woman from Alberta who was also a Royal Canadian Air Force veteran, advocate for the rights of Indigenous children, former president and co-founder of VANWS, and an active participant in both Alberta Native Women’s conferences. Clearly, then, the legacy of “Native Women; Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” remains an important site of analysis for scholars of Indigenous women’s activism in Canada.
Mary Gunn (she/her) is a MA candidate in History at Carleton University. Her area of research is Indigenous women's organizing from the 1960s to the 1980s, specifically Métis women in Manitoba, and their interactions with the mainstream women's movement.
*Note on language: This document contains legacy language and terminology that is offensive and inaccurate by today’s standards. Terms used in this post are an attempt to accurately reflect the content of historical material, and do not reflect the views of the author or the Archives and Special Collections. At present, the word “Indigenous” is an umbrella term referring to the three recognized Indigenous peoples in Canada: First Nations, Métis, and Inuit.
1. “Report of First Alberta Native Women’s Conference,” Keynote Address p. 5, Archives and Special Collections, University of Ottawa, 10-001-S6-SS2-F1.
2. Allyson Stevenson and Cheryl Troupe, “From Kitchen Tables to Formal Organizations: Indigenous Women’s Social and Political Activism in Saskatchewan to 1980,” in The History of Women’s Political and Social Activism in the Canadian West, eds. Sarah Carter, and Nanci Langford, (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2020), 221.
3. “Report of the First Alberta Native Women’s Conference: Past, Present, and Future,” (1968), Archives and Special Collections, University of Ottawa, 10-001-S6-SS2-F1.
4. Ibid, Appendix IV p 47; Appendix V p.48, Archives and Special Collections, University of Ottawa, 10-001-S6-SS2-F1.
5. “Report of Second Annual Conference: Success With Unity, We Are Responsible,” Voice of Alberta Native Women’s Society, (1969), Archives and Special Collections, University of Ottawa, 10-001-S6-SS2-F2.
6. Sarah Nickel, “We Now Must Take Action: Indigenous Women, Activism, and the Aftermath of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women,” LABOUR-LE TRAVAIL 89, NO. 89 (2022): 57.
7. Barbara M. Freeman, “Same/Difference: The Media, Equal Rights and Aboriginal Women in Canada,” Canadian Journal of Native Studies 18, no. 1 (1968): pp. 98-99.
8. “Report of Second Annual Conference: Success With Unity, We Are Responsible,” Voice of Alberta Native Women’s Society, (1969), Archives and Special Collections, University of Ottawa, 10-001-S6-SS2-F2. Although principally First Nations and Metis women attended the provincial conferences, there is an acknowledgement in the reports of both conferences of the contribution of a representative of the Inuit-Eskimo Association, Barbara Cleall, who compiled the notes and typed the two reports.
9. Report of the First National Native Women’s Conference, (1971), Archives and Special Collections, University of Ottawa, 10-001-S6-SS2-F1.