Moose Hide Campaign is our community cause for our #Indigeneity 2S event. Our Indigenous curator, Rylan Friday, selected six Indigiqueer shorts showcasing strong female-identifying and non-binary directors in the Indigenous and Queer community.

We were honoured to have Sage Lacerte from the Moose Hide Campaign participate in the live conversation with the filmmakers on September 17th. For those of you who haven’t watched the Q&A yet, we asked Sage to answer some questions about the organization.

During the live Q&A, Sage discussed the link between the #Indigeneity 2S shorts program and the Moose Hide Campaign. Here’s an overview of her explanation.

We’re hoping to end violence. On the other end of that, you have to ask what would it look like if there were a resurgence? What would it look like if we were able to lower or entirely erase violence?

That would mean more women and Two Spirit voices would be amplified. It would possibly mean more opportunity for artists and folks whose energy is being used up because of all the experiences of oppression and of violence and aggression of the world that we live in.

Those folks would have more opportunity to express themselves and to live a life joyfully where their art and expression can be seen, can be heard, and they can do it in a way where they feel safe and comfortable.

That’s exactly the way I felt watching these films. I like the way the program starts with I Like Girls and Woman Dress. That is a similar story to a lot of people who experience a lot of safety and stability in their culture, but there’s also a lot of turbulence that many Indigenous, especially Two Spirit people, experience.

We’re hoping to start dialogue about it. That’s the most important aspect: to be able to do something like this and use this is a platform of dialogue. All we’re looking for is people to talk to one another.

Tell us more about the Moose Hide Campaign and its organizational goals.

We want to end violence towards women and children in Canada. Our part in that mission is mobilizing men and boys in what has historically been a woman-dominated space – and using Indigenous medicine and an Indigenous world view to tackle the problem. We’re a preventative campaign, rolling out education modules in schools across Canada to tackle the roots of this violence from a young age. Our campaigners are raising awareness in their communities, wearing moose hide pins and forming men’s talking groups.

We want to get to a place where we’ve distributed 10 million moose hide patches – and have one million Canadians fasting together on one day. Our next annual Moose Hide Campaign Day in February 2021 will see thousands from around the country #FastToEndViolence.

How has COVID-19 impacted your organization in the present and future?

For us, the impacts of COVID-19 have made our work all the more urgent. We’ve seen domestic violence cases soar across the country as lockdowns trap victims with their abusers. Now more than ever, we need campaigners across Canada to keep raising this issue and pushing for change. We’ve already seen some great examples of our supporters adapting to COVID-19 restrictions, holding socially distanced awareness kiosks and bringing their campaigning more online.

This will also be the first year our national gathering in February will be entirely virtual, rather than an in-person event. But for us, this is an opportunity to bring together even more people from every province – and have even more taking part in the national fast.

How can folks support the Moose Hide Campaign?

The Moose Hide Campaign encourages all Canadians to take a stand against violence towards women and children by promoting gender equality, healthy relationships, and looking critically at toxic traits in masculinity that promote harm. Please consider attending the Moose Hide Campaign National Gathering and Day of Fasting on February 21, 2021 and take the pledge. 

You can learn more about the Moose Hide Campaign in this amazing video they created for the event.