In spring 2025, the BC First Nations Justice Council Women’s Team prioritized three Strategies from the Indigenous Women’s Justice Plan, after a major learning curve was concluding that it was not possible to move forward with full implementation plans for all 15 Strategies and 42 Lines of Action, at this time. With limited time, staff, funding and political constraints out of the team’s control, priorities had to be set.
The Women’s Team grounded its prioritization exercise in BCFNJC’s Council’s strategic Priorities – Coyote’s Version that was introduced by Council in November 2024. This framework, rooted in storytelling and Indigenous ways of knowing, prioritizes foundational values such as sustainability, collaboration, accountability, transparency, self-determination, and effective communication.
By following Coyote’s Version using storytelling the Women’s Team grouped priorities into “The Berry Patch of Justice” with short-term berries representing (ripe and ready for action 1-3), medium-term berries (patience required 4-6), and long-term berries (for those big, juicy dreams 7-10).
Using Coyote’s version of prioritization as a guiding lens, the Women’s Team identified the three following strategies to move forward:
- Strategy 8: Man, Camps and Resource Extraction
- Strategy 9: Crisis Response
- Strategy 15: Legislation and Policy as it relates to Strategy 8 and 9.
By prioritizing the foundational values of Coyote’s “Berry Patch of Justice” Version the women’s team also considered high engagement and interest from partners, readiness to move forward and potential for meaningful impact by 2025-2026, in selecting the three Strategies as priorities.
Learn more about the strategy prioritization in these slides, presented at the second IWJP webinar on June 30, 2025.
Visit Strategy 11’s Tracking Justice timeline to learn more.
