What does aboriginal women’s leadership mean to me?

NAIOMIE HANSON-AKAVAK
Special to Nunatsiaq News

My name is Naiomie Hanson-Akavak; I am a 25 year old Inuk from Iqaluit Nunavut.

I have mild cerebral palsy. I have lived most of my life in Iqaluit, Nunavut.

I graduated from Inuksuk High School in 2004. After I graduated I knew I wanted to continue with my learning, so I applied for Nunavut Sivuniksavut.

Luckily for me the application was done all online, and they accepted my application. I left home at the age of 19, ready to conquer the world, and challenge myself to something I knew so little about. The big city of Ottawa! How could I leave something I was so comfortable with?

It was sad to leave my home community where everyone knew what I had, and what my challenges were. I moved to Ottawa knowing I would probably have to try to tell people what is wrong with me.

I was up for that challenge and knew no one was just going to just give me a certificate. I had to earn it. I studied one year at Nunavut Sivuniksavut and then another year with Algonquin College studying pre-technology and one year of aboriginal studies.

Having and living with a physical disability all my life has not been easy, but I won’t let my disability stop me from living. I know how to succeed and what I need to do to achieve my dreams.

Growing up “different” was quite challenging for me because some people did not believe in me, some didn’t even think I’d be able to walk or function like a “normal person.”

It seemed like I was always trying to prove something to someone and that is just how society is today. I know that verbal communication is a very important process to understand one another; however I wasn’t given that opportunity. All my communication skills never developed properly because of my disability.

Normal people can talk a mile a minute, but my one sentence sometimes has to be repeated three or four times over and over just for people to understand what I am trying to say.

I know it gets frustrating for them and they probably feel so guilty for not understanding me the first time, but I totally understand. I know it’s hard to understand what I’m trying to say. But I have no other options. That is just how I communicate.

I believe in myself, and more importantly my family and friends believe in me. They helped me stay on the right path. It could have been so easy for me to give up but I didn’t. I suffer with struggles every day, but that is just how I was born. God made me like this for a reason.

He knew I could do so many things with just one functioning hand, and no voice. I was born like this to prove to myself and everyone around me that I can do it.

Some say I am going to be a leader one day, and many say I am already a role model. Many say that I have touched lives of lots of people, because of how strong and committed I am to keep going.

I know I will make it far in life, this is just the beginning, I have lots of things to do and many things to experience and explore. I will do it through dedication and commitment on my part and belief and patience on everyone else’s. I know I can’t do it alone — that is why we live in communities, and it takes a community to believe in everything we do for each other.

We don’t live in isolation, even though we are so far away from the rest of the world; we help and support each other no matter how bad things are for one another.

A true aboriginal leader is someone who recognizes the strengths in people no matter what their physical appearance or ability is, someone who can take a stand to improve the lives of those living in an aboriginal community.

An aboriginal leader is someone who believes in our people, land, culture and our territory.

An aboriginal leader is someone who can accept that there will be tough times ahead and that these tough times do not last, only tough people do.

An aboriginal leader should be someone who is proud of who she is and where she comes from. She should be someone who can make a positive difference, no matter how big or small this difference is, it’s still something positive!

The aboriginal leader is someone who is connected to her community and to her roots, she should be someone who never speaks ill of people, but more importantly she should be someone who helps honor everyone equally.

An aboriginal leader should also be someone strong enough to ask for help when they need it, because one time or another everyone asks for help, no matter how successful or powerful you are, everyone needs help from time to time, and I just don’t want to see anyone give up, just like me.

“What does aboriginal women leadership means to me” it means: taking pride, be a role model, be strong, be a leader, and make a difference.