From “Change the Bill” to lobbying the Supreme Court, communications shines spotlight on Indigenous women

NWAC’s communication team has been hard at work on pushing a number of campaigns and advocacy projects into the mainstream. One significant campaign that is taking the media by storm is our Change the Bill project.

“Change the Bill” aims to promote reconciliation through art by commissioning Indigenous artists to reimagine the $20 bill with an Indigenous woman who is each artist’s particular hero.

The team promoted a web page for the project, issued a press release (French version here), launched an elaborate social media campaign across all of our channels, and created a petition that calls for having an Indigenous woman on the next Canadian bank note.

These initiatives have attracted media and public attention, encouraged people to join the conversation in “reimagining” the Canadian $20 bill, and empowered Indigenous artists.

The story was picked up by over 150 media outlets, including CBC, Canada’s National Observer, the Toronto Star, the Daily Hive, and many other platforms. And the petition is now on its way to collecting 15,000 signatures. The CBC story alone reached over 16.4 million users just one week after the project was launched, according to our media analytics.

Early December marked a National Day of Remembrance and Actions of Violence Against Women. NWAC marked the day by issuing a press release in recognition of all mothers, daughters, sisters, and aunties whose lives have been cut short (French version here).

Alongside this day of recognition, NWAC remembered First Nations women who died last spring in Winnipeg. We issued two separate press releases on this cause, one demanding that Winnipeg Police Services resume its search of a city landfill in hopes of locating the bodies (French version here), and the other demanding that the government intervene in stopping the genocide against Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit, transgender, and gender-diverse+ (WG2STGD+) people (French version here).

We issued another press release lobbying the Supreme Court to advance women’s equality rights, particularly in the provision of Indigenous child and family services (French version here). The Act respecting First Nations, Inuit, and Metis children, youth, and families, which came into effect in January 2020, is constitutional and therefore its rights should be extended to all—including Indigenous WG2STGD+ people.

We published two new issues of Kci-Niwesq. In December, our winter edition celebrated the holiday season and winter solstice. We explored this season as a time of reflection; a time to slow down, rest, and turn inward for self-realization. Issue #16 is our environmental edition, which was released in January. We explored how climate change and environmental ruin critically affect Indigenous Peoples. We explore how communities lack integral Traditional medicines and food sources, and how following the direction of Indigenous Peoples can lead our nation to environmental sustainability.

Be sure to follow us on socials to stay up to date on all of NWAC’s happenings and initiatives! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkTree, and be sure to subscribe to our magazine, Kci-Niwesq.