Girls in Manitoba

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In Manitoba, there were 117,058 girls age 14 and under in 2012.(From: Manitoba Health Population Report. June 2012).

That means you represent 9.2% of the total population of our province.

Each one of you is special. Whether you live in the north, a city or in one of our province’s rural areas, we want you to remember that, as girls, you have value. Life is all about discovery and acceptance of ourselves and of others. You are wonderful in so many ways, both inside and out.

Celebrate being a girl!

Some Facts about Manitoba

  • We are at the centre of Canada. Our province is blessed with clean air, brilliant blue skies, remarkable scenery and wide-open spaces.
  • We are very proud of our multicultural heritage and celebrate our diversity as well as our similarities.
  • Manitobans are known throughout Canada for their friendliness and community spirit.

In Manitoba, we celebrate diversity – diversity of colour, age, abilities and culture, as well as ideas. For over 100 years, people from around the world have come to Manitoba to share their cultures, stories and the way they see the world.

Diversity Makes Each of us Amazing and Special!

  • Diversity describes the many differences and similarities among people. It is what makes each of us special and unique.
  • Diversity includes characteristics that are seen such as our race, ethnicity, colour, language and sex. But it also includes characteristics that are not so obvious, such as our gender, sexual orientation, age, ability or disability, religion, political belief, cultural heritage, family background, social class, education or geographic origin.
  • It takes time and curiosity to get to know ourselves and others well. It also takes time and effort to respect and appreciate our differences and similarities.

ASK YOURSELF THIS QUESTION:

  • I am unique because....
  • What aspects of your culture are you most proud of?

One of Manitoba’s first symbols of cultural diversity, still used today, is the Métis sash. The Métis sash begins as individual strands in a multitude of colours. Each colour represents different elements of the Métis people, their cultures, traditions and beliefs – diversity within diversity without division. Alone, each strand is relatively strong but when woven together, they form a solid, powerful fabric. The individual strands become the breadth and the strength of the sash.

DID YOU KNOW THAT ABORIGINAL PEOPLE WERE THE FIRST PEOPLE OF THIS LAND?

The history of Manitoba's Aboriginal people goes back thousands of years.

DID YOU KNOW THERE ARE SEVEN TREATIES WITH FIRST NATIONS IN MANITOBA?

To Learn more about treaties, please visit: Treaty Relation Commission of Manitoba.

The name Manitoba comes from languages of the Aboriginal people who lived on the prairies and travelled the waters of Lake Manitoba. In fact, Manitoba’s largest city also gets its name from Aboriginal people. Winnipeg gets its name from the Cree words “win” for muddy and “nippee” for water.

Winnipeg was once a busy Aboriginal trading centre, before the arrival of the Europeans. For many years, Winnipeg was at the heart of the country’s fur trade and helped to develop Canada’s expansion to the west.

Today, Manitoba is home to seven distinct groups of Aboriginal people. They are the Ojibway, Cree, Oji-cree, Dakota, Dene, Métis and Inuit.

DID YOU KNOW THAT WOMEN ARE CENTRAL FIGURES IN ALMOST ALL ABORIGINAL CREATION STORIES?

In Ojibway and Cree legends, it was a woman who came to Earth through a hole in the sky to care for the earth. It was a woman, Nokomis (grandmother), who taught people (Anishinabe, an Ojibway word meaning “human being”) about the medicines of the earth.

To the Ojibway, the earth is woman, the Mother of the people, and her hair, the sweetgrass, is braided and used in ceremonies.

The Dakota and Lakota (Sioux) people of Manitoba tell how a woman – White Buffalo Calf Woman – brought the pipe to their people. It is through the pipe that prayer is carried by its smoke upwards to the Creator in their most sacred ceremonies.

IMMIGRANTS TO CANADA COME FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD AND TOGETHER, WE ADD TO THE RICH DIVERSITY OF OUR COMMUNITIES.

Manitoba is a top immigration spot for people from the Philippines, India and China (From: Manitoba Immigration Facts: 2012 Statistical Report). When you look around, it is easy to see many other people from around the globe in your own community. Maybe you’re in Brandon, Winkler, Neepawa, Steinbach or Thompson and see the faces of many different people and cultures in your own backyard.

ASK YOURSELF THIS QUESTION:

  • Where is your family from?
  • What languages can you speak?

Over 100 languages are spoken by people living in our province. The most common languages spoken by newcomers to Manitoba are Tagalog, Punjabi, Mandarin, Chinese, Russian and Spanish.

If you and your family are new to Canada, there are services to help you and your family settle. For more information, go to:

Girls have rights!

WHAT ARE HUMAN RIGHTS?

Some dictionaries defi ne the word “right” as “a privilege,” but when we talk about “human rights,” we are talking about
something more basic.

All people, as humans, are entitled to certain basic rights. They are “rights” because they are things you are entitled to be,
to do or to have. These rights are there for your protection against people who might want to harm or hurt you. They are also there to help us get along with each other and live in peace.

Human rights ensure that all people are treated with dignity, equality and respect. They protect us from violence and abuse and work to end ignorance and hatred.

NO MATTER WHAT COUNTRY WE LIVE IN, WHO OUR PARENTS ARE, OR WHAT RELIGION WE PRACTICE, OUR HUMAN RIGHTS ARE ESSENTIAL.

The YWCA Canada has many resources for girls including A Girl’s Guide to Knowing Her Rights – a publication about the rights of girls at home, at school, and at work.

Check it out

In Manitoba, we have a set of laws called The Human Rights Code which protects Manitobans from discrimination. Under the code, it is discrimination to treat a person or group differently, to their disadvantage and without reasonable cause, on the basis of a protected characteristic, such as race, age or disability.

To learn more about your human rights: