As the Family Violence Prevention Coordinator, Fay's role is to support healing, prevention, and education around family and gender-based violence within the urban Indigenous community of Tiohtià:ke (Montreal). 

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Many Indigenous families continue to live with the intergenerational impacts of colonization, the 60s Scoop, Residential Schools, and systemic racism. These legacies combined with poverty, displacement, and a lack of culturally safe services continue to contribute to high rates of family violence, incarceration, child apprehension, and missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2-Spirit people (MMIWG2S+). 

 

This project is grounded in Indigenous knowledge and cultural teachings and focuses on: 

• Creating a culturally safe resource guide to help individuals and families understand family and gender-based violence from an Indigenous perspective 

• Developing and delivering training for urban Indigenous community members 

• Providing tools for healing and change, including ceremony, Elder involvement, and community-led education 

• Raising awareness about the root causes of violence and how we can break the cycle through knowledge, culture, and collective support. 

 

We recognize that many Indigenous languages have no word for family violence; a sign that this was not part of our way of life before colonization. By reclaiming our teachings and cultural strengths, we can begin to restore safety, dignity, and belonging. 

 

This work also acknowledges the ongoing crisis of MMIWG2S+, where Indigenous women, girls, and 2-Spirit people continue to go missing or are murdered at disproportionate rates. Many are victims of human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and violence, especially after fleeing unsafe homes or rural communities in search of safety. 

 

We also nurture the Sweetgrass Root Garden, a land-based initiative that supports food sovereignty and healing for those seeking to reconnect with the land, medicines, and spirit. 

 

Our goal is to: 

• Support healing from trauma 

• Prevent violence through awareness and education 

• Empower community members with knowledge, training, and cultural tools 

• Mobilize collective action to protect future generations 

 

Culture is our medicine. Community is our strength. Healing is possible. 

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