Personal healing is something that comes from the very core of a person’s inner being. It has to be nourished with compassion, care, and understanding in a manner that will allow Indian women to know how important life really is.

‘Revitalizing From Stilettos to Moccasins' is a province-wide initiative led by the Aboriginal Friendship Centres of Saskatchewan (AFCS), in partnership with Dr. Dell and Dr. Acoose from First Nations University of Canada. This new workshop builds on the findings of a 2009 CIHR-funded study that addressed Indigenous women’s substance use and criminal justice involvement through a trauma-informed, culturally grounded approach. 

That work produced publications and a workshop rooted in Indigenous knowledge and an accompanying song and music video that reached over 35,000 online views and 15,000 DVD distributions, sparking dialogue and reducing stigma. 

The AFCS now seeks to revitalize that knowledge mobilization workshop to reflect contemporary realities by integrating gender diversity, Two Spirit identities, and more-than-human relations (land and animal). This project aims to empower the workshop participants through cultural reconnection and healing. The revised workshop will be delivered multiple times at all 11 AFCS locations through a train-the-trainer model, advancing TRC Call to Action #36.

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2025-26 Mobilize Truth & Action Grant awarded from the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation

Members of the project team, as of 2010, with some now in the spirit world, include: Sharon Acoose, First Nations University of Canada; Marie Anderson, Hey-Way’-Noqu’ Healing Circle for Addictions Society & National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation; Freda Ahenakew, Cree Nations Treatment Haven; Elder Dexter Asapace, Kawacatoose First Nation; Debbie Blunderfield, Winnipeg, Manitoba; Joan Breland, Sakwatamo Lodge; Janay Brown, University of Regina, Sharon Clarke, National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation – renamed to Thunderbird Partnership Foundation; Jonathon Couchman, Spruce Home, Saskatchewan; Colleen Anne Dell, PhD, University of Saskatchewan & Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse – renamed to Canadian Centre on Substance Use & Addiction, Valerie Desjarlais, Kawacatoose First Nation; Serena Ehrmantraut, University of Winnipeg & Crossing Communities Art Project; Catherine Fillmore, University of Winnipeg; Bertha Fontaine, Native Addictions Council of Manitoba; Jenny Gardipy, University of Saskatchewan; Richard Garlick, Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse; Claudette General, Native Horizons Treatment Centre; Cindy Ghostkeeper, Sakwatamo Lodge; Cindy Ginnish, Rising Sun Rehabilitation Treatment Centre; Sheila Grantham, Carleton University; Greg Graves, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch & Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse; Carol Hopkins, Nimkee NipiGawagan Healing Centre; Elva Keip, Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse; Jennifer Kilty, University of Ottawa; Bernice King, Native Addictions Council of Manitoba; Melvin Larocque, Nats’ejée K’éh Treatment Centre; Tara Lyons, Carleton University; Georgina Martin, Native Addictions Council of Manitoba; June Masuskapoe, Cree Nations Treatment Haven; Martina Matthewson, University of Saskatchewan; Anita Narvie, Dalhousie, New Brunswick; Violet Naytowhow, Sturgeon Lake First Nations, Saskatchewan; Elder Joyce Paul, Rising Sun Rehabilitation Treatment Centre & National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation; Sherri Pooyak, University of Victoria; Douglas Purcell, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan; Edith Regier, Crossing Communities Art Project; Gary Roberts, Ottawa, Ontario; Ellen Smith, National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation; Thelma Woelke, Hey-Way’-Noqu’ Healing Circle for Addictions Society; Pauline Young, Rising Sun Rehabilitation Treatment Centre. 

Chantel etc

© 2011 Project Team – Aboriginal Women Drug Users in Conflict with the Law: A Study of the Role of Self-Identity in the Healing Journey

© 2026 Update – Indigenous Women Who Use Drugs: A Study of the Role of Self-Identity in the Healing Journey. Danielle Robertson (University of Calgary practicum social work student), Tanya Beauchamp and Kim Inbister (Aboriginal Friendship Centres of Saskatchewan), Sharon Acoose (First Nations University of Canada) and Colleen Anne Dell (University of Saskatchewan).