A tiny piece of moose hide, a mighty campaign
Wearing pin means fighting violence against women, writes Raven Lacerte.
Spring 2022 has been a busy time for the Moose Hide Campaign. On May 12, we marked Moose Hide Campaign Day 2022, and, in late April, the campaign was pleased to present its three-millionth moose hide pin to the Hon. Murray Sinclair, who, as chair of the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission, was and continues to be one of the guiding voices for our nation's journey of reconciliation. His encouragement to all Canadians to join the Moose Hide Campaign reflects what we believe: that reconciliation is not just an Indigenous issue but the work of all Canadians.
Eleven years ago, while on a moose-hunting trip on our traditional Carrier First Nations territory along the Highway of Tears, where so many Indigenous women have been murdered or went missing, my father, Paul, and I were inspired to launch the Moose Hide Campaign as an initiative to call on men and boys to work together to stop the cycle of violence toward women and children.
The fact that more than three million Canadians, more than one million of whom are youth, now wear and reflect on the meaning of their moose hide pin is humbling. In the first year of the campaign, at the age of 16 for me, my sisters and I created 25,000 squares of moose hide and hand-wrote the information cards to go along with each. Eleven years later, we're honoured that First Nations leaders and politicians across Canada, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, premiers and senators have joined hundreds of thousands of Canadians by wearing their moose hide pins and taking a stand to end violence against women and children.
For 11 years now, we've offered the moose hide pins as a medicine for a social illness — violence against women and children — that impacts all Canadians. Today, the Moose Hide Campaign is experiencing a sustained, significant increase in demand for that medicine and for engagement, training and leadership in the reconciliation space.
But as a charitable organization based on a culturally grounded, non-commoditized medicine, the future of the campaign needs to be continually secured. That's why we're turning our attention more and more to building relationships with governments, businesses and public sector partners that can ensure the long-term growth of the campaign.
Wearing a moose hide pin is a meaningful act of reconciliation that signifies one's commitment to honour, respect and protect the women and children in your life, and speak out against gender-based and domestic violence. The campaign also highlights the disproportionate impact that violence is having on Indigenous women and children, and the implicit racism at the root of that phenomenon.
Thankfully, we see that the campaign is making a difference. Each pin, according to independent research, leads to at least five conversations about working together to end violence against women and children. Through the campaign, well over 15 million Canadians have learned about, discussed and personally committed to end that violence.
Ultimately though, the Moose Hide Campaign has a vision of 10 million Canadians wearing and sharing moose hide pins. As Murray Sinclair said of the three-millionth moose hide pin, “we are just touching the surface” of the work we need to do.
That means our campaign needs to look to the future and seek partners to ensure its continued success. In particular, the federal government has been a historical partner, and we're looking to renew and solidify that relationship.
Canada is at a critical time in its journey of reconciliation. Recent events have led many Canadians to understand that the ongoing repercussions of Residential Schools continue to drive tragically high levels of violence toward Indigenous women and children. Hundreds of thousands of Canadians are turning to the Moose Hide Campaign as a concrete and meaningful way to take action on painful and complex issues of violence against women and children. We're honoured to provide that resource and hopeful that, with the support of partners, we can continue to contribute to Canada's work of reconciliation and creating a country free of violence against women and children.
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