Four women lead First Nation communities in Southwest Ontario

Tara Jeffrey/The Independent

When Leela Thomas was elected Chief of Walpole Island First Nation last fall, her first stop was to the local cemetery.

“I had to tell my dad the news,” said Thomas. Her father passed away four years ago. “I’m still emotional about it. I said, ‘Dad, I did it. I got in.’”

That same month, fellow first-time candidates Janelle Nahmabin (Aamjiwnaang First Nation) and Nikki van Oirschot (Leamington’s Caldwell First Nation) were elected to lead their communities, followed by Kimberly Bressette’s re-election to a second term as Chief of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation in November.

The women make up what’s believed to be the largest all-female contingent of First Nation Chiefs in Ontario’s southwest to serve at the same time.

All four sat down with The Independent this month to share their stories — their goals, challenges, and plans to work together for the next two years.

“It’s so significant that it’s four women, surrounding the Great Lakes,” said Nahmabin who was acclaimed Chief of Aamjiwnaang after serving as Acting Chair since last June. “For me and my teachings, being Anishinaabe Kwe — “woman” — there’s responsibilities tied to protection of the water. It feels great to be a part of that.”

“The Chief position is predominantly male, and has been for a long time,” added van Oirschot, whose community members, located on 80 hectares of land on the north shore of Lake Erie, are known as ‘The People of the Lake.’

“I know we are breaking gender barriers… and yes, one of our jobs is to protect the water.”
And while each of them may have taken a different path in choosing to run for office, the women all say it felt like a calling.
“For me it was going into ceremony and praying,” said Nahmabin. “Asking for guidance and saying, ‘place me where I need to be; make those doors open to me and make that path lit up so that I absolutely know.’

“It does feel like a calling,” she added. “It feels…divinely guided.”
Thomas admits she was hesitant, noting her concerns about the nastiness that can accompany the job, especially for women.

“I went to my family and said, ‘are you guys OK with my running? Because, if I get in, there’s going to be a lot of eyes on us; and social media can be pretty tough,” said Thomas. She was elected by a wide margin, following rising tensions and protests against the First Nation’s previous administration.

“I had a lot of family and friends that said, ‘we will support you,’ so I said ‘OK, I’ll keep my name in.’”
Chief van Oirschot said she was guided in a teaching, after being encouraged by several community members to run.

“When you’re asked to be in leadership, it’s because people see things in you — whether it’s aunties or grandmothers, people in the community — they’re trusting you, and you have a sacred obligation to fulfill that role. So, I took that teaching to heart.

“I didn’t run a campaign talking bad about people, because they’re all my people, too,” she added. “I feel at home; I feel like this is where I was meant to be.”

The women bring a wide range of knowledge and experience to the table — whether serving on council, government administration, program management, or entrepreneurship — but all four say it’s their experience as mothers that most prepared them for the role.

“It’s not all just money and business,” said Bressette, who worked for years in child and family services, and is a foster mom to a 14-year-old son. “We bring our hearts into it. We have that motherly leadership in our communities, that, I think has been need needed for years. It will help us to break cycles and help our communities heal.”

“I’m Bear Clan,” added Nahmabin, a mother to five, including ten-year-old twins. “We’re the healers and the nurturers.”

That also means prioritizing their schedules — which can be daunting with meetings, calls, emails, attending conferences and more.

“It’s a lot,” said van Oirschot, whose children are 18 and 20.

She pointed to daily back-to-back meetings — whether with community members, council, or government officials — phone calls, emails, business opportunities, briefing notes, committees and more.

“And you still have to be a parent; you still have to be a daughter and a sister and an auntie and fill all those roles,” she said. “It’s a lot of balancing, and a lot of sacrifices.

“We probably go without before anybody else does, right? We take care of our community, our kids and our families and sometimes our own needs get put aside — and that’s part of leadership and part of being a parent, too.”

Thomas added with a laugh, “Sometimes people see me in the community and say, ‘Oh, you still do grocery shopping?’

“It’s like, yeah, we still have to take care of our families.”

The Chiefs all share similar challenges in their respective communities as well, including addiction and homelessness. And they agree that navigating those issues together is the best path forward.
“Every time I have an issue, I think of these ladies and ask, ‘who can I text?’ It’s nice to have that,” said Bressette.

“These relationships with other Chiefs and other nations existed long before Canada was created,” added van Oirschot. “It’s been passed on from generation to generation. I think it’s in our blood — working together — and that’s why it’s coming so natural to us, because it’s in us to be that way.

“Sometimes people will say, ‘Well, they’re not strong enough to do it if they have to go ask some-body else… even if sometimes you want to go cry,” she added. “But it’s OK to do that.

“You do what you can, don’t make promises you can’t keep, and just keep reminding yourself to be humble, remember who put you here, and what you’re here to do.”

The women are a united front, they say, and people are starting to take notice.

“I had a community member say, ‘I see you women all together, in your ribbon skirts and in ceremony, and people notice that,’” said Nahmabin. “It’s making a big change.”

“I think this is powerful for us,” said Bressette.

“People are making comments about us being together and this never happening before, and I think it’s going to start to scare people.

“We’re more powerful now.”