Esk’etemc Commitment Sticks are symbols of a personal commitment to live violence free and a commitment to actively stop violence against Indigenous women and girls.
Commitment sticks are concerned with this issue, an issue that we can—and must—address. They flow from the idea that we must be involved in our own healing; it’s not a matter of bringing in "experts" who can fix the community, but instead it’s us, our culture, our leaders—guided by tradition and ceremony— that can help us.
Esk’etemc frontline workers and leadership work together and all agree that the cycle of intergenerational trauma, including violence, has to stop with us. Regardless of whether we were abused at residential school, we must not pass it on to our children. Each man has signed a pledge to live violence free, stop violence against women and hold other men accountable. They keep their pledges on little cards in their wallets.
Elder Fred Johnson and his family prepare each commitment stick with prayer.