By Cheryl Jahn

Local woman awarded 5-millionth moose hide pin for her work

Apr 30, 2024 | 3:42 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Barb Ward-Burkitt has run the Prince George Friendship Centre for thirty years and now is recognized for that work by receiving the five-millionth moose hide pin. The campaign raises awareness around domestic violence against women and children and for Ward-Burkitt, it’s personal.

“I’m a survivor of domestic violence. It touches me and, you know, certainly touches the work that I do at the Friendship Center as well, where we work with many, many vulnerable and marginalized Indigenous women in our community.”

The campaign was launched more than a decade ago by a father-daughter team. Raven Lacerte was only 16 years of age at the time.

“One year we had an idea that maybe we could turn up that moose hide and cut it up into a bunch of little squares and ask people to wear that as their everyday commitment about ending violence towards women and children,” explains Lacerte.

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Ward-Burkitt has been doing work with friendship centres starting more that fifty years ago with humble beginnings in Quesnel and has been at the helm of the largest friendship centre in Canada for more that 30 years.

To be honoured with the five-millionth moose hide pin is stunning.

“I thought, wow! When we first started doing this work, and we are, 5 million plus [pins] So I was shocked at the number. I was shocked that I was the one that was being honoured because this is such a huge honour, o be a part of a campaign that is literally changing lives and bringing voice to so many women in our country around ending violence.”

She says, over more than fifty years, the work at friendship centres, helping Indigenous people who have come from smaller communities to bigger communities has changed very little.