Full Breakdown
Cree Communities Confront Domestic Violence at Yaayitinh Saachihuuwaawin Conference
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Event – A Four-Day Gathering in Mistissini
In mid-September, Cree leaders, frontline workers, advocates and survivors assembled in a large tent in Mistissini, Quebec, for the Yaayitinh Saachihuuwaawin (“Holding Love Safely”) conference. The four-day event brought together participants from across Eeyou Istchee to discuss the high rates of domestic and sexual violence in Cree communities and to explore culturally rooted healing practices such as sweat lodges, cedar baths and traditional-medicine workshops.
Background & Context – Colonial Disruption and Abuse Prevalence
Speakers linked today’s violence to historic disruptions caused by residential schools, the Sixties Scoop and other colonial institutions. A 2018 study of mental-health outcomes among Cree in northern Quebec found that more than 47 percent of Cree adults reported experiencing physical abuse and over 29 percent reported sexual abuse. These figures underscore the intergenerational trauma that community leaders say must be addressed through both cultural revitalisation and modern support services.
Official Statements & Responses
Harry Snowboy, a Sundance chief from the Cree Nation of Chisasibi, described the Cree’s historic harmony and warned that colonisation has fostered misogyny, urging a return to the respect once afforded to women, children and adolescents. Kayla Moore, coordinator of domestic-violence awareness initiatives for the Cree Nation Government, noted that many attendees have personal or familial experience of abuse, signalling a collective readiness to talk openly. She highlighted the presence of frontline providers—including the Cree Health Board, Eeyou Eenou Police Force and CAVAC—offering crisis-intervention resources, legal navigation and land-based healing programs. Moore emphasized that the conference aims to translate dialogue into concrete action and long-term solutions.
Verbatim Quotes
- “We had thousands of years as close-knit society. That's why we were able to survive for thousands of years. We had to live in harmony, that we had to live in peace,” — Harry Snowboy
- “Colonization has severely impacted that. So we've become a society that's misogynistic. We really have to look back to what strengthened their people. I believe that,” — Harry Snowboy
- “We've all known someone or ourselves that experienced domestic or sexual violence. So seeing everybody here altogether, tells me that we're ready to talk about it,” — Kayla Moore
- “If there's anything that you have that is so valuable, it's your story. Nobody can ever take that away from you,” — Snowboy. When
These statements capture the conference’s emphasis on storytelling, cultural restoration and community-driven healing.