Understanding Community Needs

With funding, McPhaden conducted a needs assessment that explored employment and systemic barriers in Indigenous communities with a goal “to break the cycles of poverty, abuse, and dependency on social welfare.” From this research, McPhaden launched a support group for abused women, laying the foundations for Stardale Women's Group.

McPhaden spoke on their approach to founding the group: “We were doing things very mindfully and carefully. We just didn't steamroll through and say, okay, we're going to start this organization." She felt a calling to this work: "I know that this was from God, that this was from Creator, this was through prayer.” She was self-aware, as much as possible, confessing in our interview, “I don't want to go down the path of the white feminists, because I hope to God I've never been that because that was part of the problem through time,” acknowledging the damaging history of how the feminist movement had been known to exclude BIPOC voices.

In the late 1990s, the Reena Virk trial was bringing attention to a largely ignored social issue: girl gangs. "The women were saying, we need to do something about the girls because the young Indigenous girls around here are in serious trouble. They are not only the victims of violence, but they've also become the perpetrators of violence,” McPhaden recounted, stating how “this [issue] needs to be public and it needs to be explained,” despite her own difficulties encountered in spreading awareness. “All these people became very angry with me. [...] I'm not afraid to speak, but when you live in a small closed community like Melfort, [you become] a threat.” 

Despite the pushback, Stardale’s programming began addressing the violence and intergenerational trauma in girls under the age of 17; childhood, a time in development when there is the most potential for change. 

Community-Led Programming

There were many nodes to Stardale’s programming, evolving throughout the years. Keeping Stardale culturally and community-centric was key in strengthening the girls’ support systems, while wrap-around economic supports provided nourishment and ensured the girls could fully participate and grow with the program. But integrating culture-based storytelling elements with arts programming, as through films, plays, and traditional weaving projects, gave the girls hands-on experiences that helped them develop resiliency from the inside out. “[Art] frees the mind up for the women [and girls] to create beauty out of healing.”

Stardale’s approach in addressing violence emphasized communication as a way to navigate conflict and create change. “It was to teach those girls how to use their voice, to make them strong," McPhaden explains. "If they're gonna rise up to be a young Indigenous woman, they have to have a voice." This emphasis on awakening their agency is essential in marginalized communities for shifting power, allowing them to be in control of their own narratives, freeing them as much as possible from colonial exploitation.

Creating a Legacy

McPhaden began her work in small towns within Saskatchewan, but her impact went far beyond. “In Saskatchewan, there was much more going on than here for Indigenous people. And you'd think with the sheer volume of people, particularly in Treaty 7, and wealth, there would be more going on. That was not the case at all.” Her connections kept her traveling between provinces, speaking in conferences, and starting new projects. She states, “My community isn't just Calgary and I've never looked at it as just Calgary,” despite being where Stardale’s operations would largely remain. 

The evolution of community organizations requires ongoing reflection about power and resources. While having a white founder and Executive Director likely helped secure ongoing funding and visibility, future development of similar programs might explore different leadership structures to further center Indigenous voices and control in the larger pursuit of Indigenization and self-determination.

As of 2024, Stardale is documenting its 28-year history, preserving lessons learned through deep community engagement. “We've got our research projects, we've got our books that we wrote, when no one would even talk about it, right?” They hope to inspire new organizations based on “The Stardale Model” to:

Closing

Advice for young changemakers? McPhaden says to "give it your all," whatever it is: “Find your passion, find what works for you and it might not happen overnight, but find what works for you and excel at it. Just throw yourself into it and do it. And you'll be surprised what will happen. You know, the people you meet, the opportunities that come your way, it brings joy.”

Stardale was ultimately developed through strong values and forming deep, vulnerable relationships. We must stay open to evolve, and cannot let anything stop us from taking community-centered action. 

Authored by Global Shapers Calgary.

📣Help amplify the Stardale Legacy!📣

McPhaden is recruiting Content Strategists to support in documentation and communications related to the Stardale Model. Compensated position(s) are available. Please contact stardale@gmail.com for more information about this unique opportunity! 

🔉Listen to the Full Interview

👁️Read the Transcript

Extra Media

What is wrong with the girls of Melfort?

by Graeme Smith, The Globe and Mail.

Original Article [PDF]

Transcribed Article [Google Doc]

Teenagers in this Prairie community say young males have nothing on the females when it comes to fistfights, 'swarming,' and other physical violence. Some authorities are angry that social workers are studying the problem, but these small-town kids may be just the extreme of a national trend, reports GRAEME SMITH.

A Production on Female Aboriginal Gangs (Girl Gangs) by Stardale Women's Group

This historical Stardale production identifies who is the "Gangsta Girl" and provides insight to understand the preventable factors that contribute to the making of one. This documentary opens the dialogue about "Gangsta Girls" and proposes techniques to break the growing phenomenon of this lifestyle choice by raising awareness on how to build resilient communities that take a stand for the prevention of violence and collaborate to improve the quality of lives for Aboriginal adolescent females.

🎵 Song Unknown

⚠️TRIGGER WARNING for graphic descriptions of drug and alcohol use, suicide, violence, grief, sexual abuse. ⚠️

Original Source: https://youtu.be/k8koZ6dlBDw?si=5Dpl2h7cc6Bh_G6D

Video [Google Drive]

Video Transcript [Google Doc]