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How do you say "I love you"?

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Downloaded from
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Again.

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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Again.

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- First Nation's children and families
failed by a Child Welfare System in crisis.

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- Just how many Indigenous
children are currently

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in the welfare system across this country?

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- These Federal programs are
so underfunded that Indigenous

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parents actually have to
give their children away.

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There's something fundamentally wrong.

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First Nation's youth
are five to seven times more likely

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to commit suicide than
non-Indigenous youth.

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- This is where reconciliation
requires collaboration,

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consultation with not
just the provinces and

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territories, but with
First Nation leadership.

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- Indigenous children are
vastly disproportionately

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overrepresented in
the Child Welfare System.

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Why hasn't
something been done sooner?

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How did it get to this point?

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- They have to ask themselves the question,
is there something else

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that could be done other
than apprehending this child?

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There are 48,000 children

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in the Canadian child welfare
system today. Indigenous children

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comprise 29,000, making up 52%
of all Canada's children under care,

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a shocking statistic given
that Indigenous children

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make up only 7.7% of the total population.

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The numbers speak for themselves,
especially in western provinces

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and northern territories with
the rates going well above 90%.

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It is a humanitarian crisis.

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- Good morning Tribunal members.

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What a great honor to stand on
the lands of the Algonquin Nation and

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to have the very sacred conversation
blessed by the Elder this morning.

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This very country is named
Canada, and it means village.

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But for far too long,
there's been two villages

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in this great nation, one for all other

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children, and one for
the First Nation's children

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who have called this land
home for thousands of years.

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Children are
the keepers of the possible

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and they are also experts
in love and fairness.

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And they are the ones
who will often call us up

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to be better people than
who we thought we could be

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and a better country than we think we are.

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- Home shapes us, it's a place
where our grandparents were,

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it's a place where stories and
our languages, and our cultures

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were set for millennia,
because too many First Nation's

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children have grown up not
knowing the great traditions of

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their people, not knowing their
languages and their cultures.

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For our too many First
Nations children, their clearest

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memory of childhood is a
day that they were taken away.

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This case, this moment is for the children.

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- Identity is one of the key factors
in healing, because identity grounds

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who you are, understanding where
your roots are, and where your culture is.

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But because of some of the simulated
practices that were put in place by Canada,

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the specific intent was to
break some of those cultural

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or identity issues, where
a huge effort was made

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to ban our traditional cultures, practices,
and ban the language.

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So a lot of our people
were lost for generations.

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- One of the really bedrocks of colonialism

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is what Robert Williams,
the Native American

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scholar, calls the Savage
Civilized Dichotomy,

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- Indigenous peoples
are kind of cast over here

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as the savages and the European
kind of culture is cast as the civilized.

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- We were not taught anything
about the Indigenous people.

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There was no talk about the culture, the
traditions, the richness of the culture,

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nor did we talk about some of the
terrible things that we did as a people.

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One of the
biggest threats to Indigenous

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cultures that is still
felt today is the creation

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of the Indian Act that
granted the Government of

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Canada sweeping powers
over First Nations identity,

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political structures, governance,
cultural practices and education.

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In 1920, Duncan Cambell
Scott, head of Indigenous

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Affairs made clear
what his intentions were.

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I want to get
rid of the Indian problem.

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I do not think, as a matter of
fact, that the country ought to

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continuously protect a class of
people who are able to stand alone.

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Our objective is to continue until there
is not a single Indian in Canada

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that has not been absorbed
into the body politic,

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and there is no Indian
in question and no Indian

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Department, that is the
whole object of this bill.

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Subsequent
amendments led to First

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Nations children having to
attend Residential Schools.

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The Residential School
system was implemented

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by the Federal Government and administered
by various churches.

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Over 130 Residential Schools operated
in Canada between 1831 and 1996.

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It is estimated that 150,000 children
attended these schools.

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Innocent Aboriginal children were extracted

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from their homes, separated from
their parents, siblings and communities.

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Once at the schools, their
hair was cut; they were stripped

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of their traditional clothing,
and forced to wear uniforms.

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In many cases, they were assigned
new Government-approved names.

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Christian missionary staff criticized,
and denigrated Indigenous spiritual

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traditions, even forbidding children
from speaking in their native language.

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The schools were poorly
built and badly ventilated,

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causing severe tuberculosis
and influenza outbreaks.

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Smallpox, measles, typhoid, pneumonia
and whooping cough were prevalent.

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Many Indigenous children died as a result,

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and some were laid to
rest in unmarked graves.

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No loving embrace from
their parents, whom for

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a majority had no
knowledge of their passing.

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Countless children were physically,
emotionally and sexually abused.

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With no hope of seeing their families,
some students attempted to escape,

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even going so far as
burning down the schools.

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The horrors continued for 99 years.

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It is clear that the Federal
Government, and the

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Churches' intent was to
eradicate Aboriginal culture

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in Indigenous young
people and arrest the passing

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of the culture from one
generation to the next.

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The Residential School system is commonly
considered a form of cultural genocide.

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- Alcoholism got the best of
me and I was getting worse.

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I start shooting up and
covering up the pain

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of First Nation school, strap, physical
abuse, sexual abuse, everything about that.

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Survival, I call it survival.

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50, I believe, I went
to Residential School,

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black fancy car, priests
and Government workers.

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And they tell my grandfather,
if he doesn't go to school,

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we're going to put you
in jail and we are going

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to take that $7 a month family
allowance away from you.

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Father tell me to stand up, I stood up.

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"Do you speak your native tongue?"

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"Yes, I do."

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I was happy.

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"Roll your sleeves back."

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So I rolled my sleeves back.

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The first time I ever got
strapped in my life from the sting

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and burn, got to the point
where I was having seven

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on each hand, strap burn, but I
never lost it, I still kept it with me.

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My children were in,
and I couldn't get to see them,

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because Social Service was giving us
a hard time because of my alcoholism.

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So I respect that.

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I'm glad they did that.

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They never see me messed up then.

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You know, I was in
Duncan, I happen to bring, I

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bought a bunch of booze,
because I was working.

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So I went out, I've got a rope, put in a
garage in top, a block, here on my neck.

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I was ready to kick the block off.

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A lady opened the door,

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"Roy, what are you going to do
with all the booze you bought?"

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"Oh, yes."

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00:12:04,673 --> 00:12:11,280
I was taking out the rope,
and that's when I really, some

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00:12:11,322 --> 00:12:17,928
people don't want to do it,
but it happened so quickly.

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I couldn't take it out, I just leave that.

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I was lucky I didn't kick
that block off to take my...

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Grandfather's trail.

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He made this rock.

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Our grandfather's trail.

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He made this water.

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Our Grandfather's trail.

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He made Mother Earth.

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Okay.

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- Today we recognize that this policy
of assimilation was wrong,

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has caused great harm and
has no place in our country.

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The Government of
Canada sincerely apologizes

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and ask the forgiveness
of the Aboriginal peoples

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00:13:07,710 --> 00:13:12,123
of this country for failing
them so profoundly.

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00:13:13,740 --> 00:13:16,628
The majority
of Elders born before

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1965 have all gone to Residential Schools.

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The pain they endured is widespread.

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- It's a sad part of history that happened

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and children that were in
Residential School for six years,

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seven years, eight years
never got to see their parents

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or their parents were turned
away when they came to the school.

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So, you know, a lot of
children didn't return home.

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That's devastating for families
and for children growing up.

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The devastation was harrowing.

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As Residential Schools began to close,
the Federal Government invited provincial

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Child Welfare Systems on
reserve to take their place.

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In 1959 less than 1% of children
in foster care were Indigenous.

169
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Within 10 years, that
number skyrocketed to 40%.

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00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:10,428
The term '60s Scoop was born, referring to
the practice of taking, or "scooping up,".

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Indigenous children from
their families and communities.

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00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:20,688
Between the 1960s and the 1980s, over
20,000 Indigenous children were removed

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from their homes, primarily
due to socioeconomic conditions

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and placed for adoption in
Canada, the United States,

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and the United Kingdom,
often without parental consent.

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- This is a special adoption program.

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00:14:36,660 --> 00:14:40,626
For the past five years, the
number of children in care of the

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Department of Welfare has been
increasing by approximately 180 a year.

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While we have had reasonable success
in placing white children for adoption,

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00:14:49,140 --> 00:14:52,928
we have had great difficulty in
placing Indian, and Métis children.

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It is a well known fact that this can
never take the place of an adoption home

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where the child takes
the name of the parents

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and becomes a full member of the family.

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- When we first came to work with Mi'Kmaw
Family, we were working with the province,

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and so we were kind of doing joint
services, there was only 23 of us in staff.

186
00:15:22,230 --> 00:15:26,193
And there was only, I think there was like,
six or seven of us Social Workers.

187
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And it was heartbreaking
for us because we sat there.

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I read all the files, and it
took months to read them.

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And we'd sit there and cry, you
know, because we knew these families,

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and there was very biased statements
or comments that were in the files.

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And really, you know, we've seen that,
we've seen that there was no visits.

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Mom didn't know where the kids were.

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There was no contact.

194
00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:57,186
Children were not seeing their parents.

195
00:15:57,228 --> 00:15:58,708
They were not seeing their siblings.

196
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They weren't told their rights.

197
00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:02,748
There were no visits between families.

198
00:16:02,790 --> 00:16:08,328
We had siblings living in communities
that didn't even know their siblings.

199
00:16:08,370 --> 00:16:13,338
And so we see that and we know
what the impacts are on separation.

200
00:16:13,380 --> 00:16:16,428
- I believe that that what
we need is a new focus,

201
00:16:16,470 --> 00:16:18,828
understanding that the most important thing

202
00:16:18,870 --> 00:16:23,358
is for kids to stay with their family,
with their loved ones.

203
00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:25,913
It's not enough to just
move ahead, and support

204
00:16:25,955 --> 00:16:28,248
the healing from the Residential Schools.

205
00:16:28,290 --> 00:16:31,469
We need to reckon with what's
happening now, and keep families

206
00:16:31,511 --> 00:16:35,268
together, keep children with their
families and their communities now.

207
00:16:35,310 --> 00:16:37,280
The dire
need to focus on keeping

208
00:16:37,322 --> 00:16:39,513
families together is a
collective community need.

209
00:16:40,500 --> 00:16:43,038
Across the country, Indigenous
leaders are working hard

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00:16:43,080 --> 00:16:46,608
to focus on prevention,
rather than separation in order

211
00:16:46,650 --> 00:16:49,831
to keep children at home
in their communities.

212
00:17:13,830 --> 00:17:16,680
It's a way of
cleansing your mind, your body,

213
00:17:17,550 --> 00:17:21,240
just prove that it, if you don't practice
just bring, at least bring a prayer,

214
00:17:22,140 --> 00:17:24,190
bring some kind of ritual into your home.

215
00:17:26,580 --> 00:17:27,580
- I see you.

216
00:17:29,815 --> 00:17:32,042
I see me.

217
00:17:36,233 --> 00:17:38,598
He does the
first thing we all have to do,

218
00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:42,018
we have to take that
first step to help ourselves

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and he could pass on his other senses,
and he feels a way in the dark.

220
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Oh, what is that?

221
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It's a crow.

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00:17:53,453 --> 00:17:54,483
It's a crow.

223
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- I can see.

224
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- The children are asking for the stories,
they desire for that identity, who am I?

225
00:18:19,470 --> 00:18:22,795
In fact, many of us older
individuals still ask ourselves,

226
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"Who am I?"

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And those stories hold sacred truth,
sacred laws, universal laws, love.

228
00:18:32,382 --> 00:18:34,698
We've all come from love.

229
00:18:34,740 --> 00:18:41,103
All people from this planet have come
from love although sometimes we forget.

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00:19:53,346 --> 00:19:58,608
- As First Nations, we weren't considered
humans, so we couldn't have games?

231
00:19:58,650 --> 00:20:04,848
And it was against us, a law for us
to gamble or practice witchcraft.

232
00:20:04,890 --> 00:20:06,408
So they took all this away from us.

233
00:20:06,450 --> 00:20:07,848
But it was all underground.

234
00:20:07,890 --> 00:20:09,108
I remember my grandmother.

235
00:20:09,150 --> 00:20:11,298
She died in the '70s.

236
00:20:11,340 --> 00:20:13,698
She had one, and it was even cracked here.

237
00:20:13,740 --> 00:20:15,805
But every time a car
would come over, she said.

238
00:20:15,847 --> 00:20:17,328
"Hide it, hide it."

239
00:20:17,370 --> 00:20:19,908
And that was even in
the '60s, we still hide it.

240
00:20:19,950 --> 00:20:22,774
It's very important to teach the kids,

241
00:20:22,816 --> 00:20:26,238
because it has everything
to do with exercise.

242
00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:30,378
You're exercising your body, your hands,
your mind, everything.

243
00:20:30,420 --> 00:20:32,478
And it's teaching you how to count.

244
00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:34,878
And it's teaching you
to get along with people.

245
00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:39,603
Sitting down, playing with no man,
it's hardly ever seen today, right?

246
00:20:40,860 --> 00:20:46,308
Our people are so scattered and there's
so many of them that don't speak Mi'Kmaw.

247
00:20:46,350 --> 00:20:49,472
And even to say that
they're not Mi'Kmaw and they

248
00:20:49,514 --> 00:20:53,028
said, "Oh interesting, here,
you know, they talking,"

249
00:20:53,070 --> 00:20:56,778
you know, they don't even
want to know what you're talking.

250
00:20:56,820 --> 00:20:59,298
I only went to work to
help the kids because

251
00:20:59,340 --> 00:21:01,818
we had kids coming in
and we're teaching them

252
00:21:01,860 --> 00:21:05,298
to be proud of themselves,
showing them games,

253
00:21:05,340 --> 00:21:10,473
there's so much stuff there,
and to educate people off the reserve.

254
00:21:11,310 --> 00:21:16,053
They still ask us, do you live in Wigwams,
do you live in Tipis?

255
00:21:17,276 --> 00:21:22,276
They ask all these questions,
what they read in books,

256
00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:26,628
and I guess from their
family, they bring it to us.

257
00:21:26,670 --> 00:21:30,573
And some people don't even come because
of that, because they don't really know us.

258
00:21:32,610 --> 00:21:35,598
When I left Membertou,
most of the people I grew up

259
00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:38,748
with spoke Mi'kmaq but
after me, like my brother,

260
00:21:38,790 --> 00:21:41,478
he's only two years younger
than me, he spoke English.

261
00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:45,618
So all the kids in Membertou
mostly speak English.

262
00:21:45,660 --> 00:21:49,098
To be proud, you have to be proud of
where you've been, and who you are.

263
00:21:49,140 --> 00:21:50,778
You can't forget that.

264
00:21:50,820 --> 00:21:54,468
And I always tell them,
"Speak your Mother Tongue,"

265
00:21:54,510 --> 00:21:59,313
I said, because if we lose it, Chinese can

266
00:21:59,355 --> 00:22:04,158
go China, and learn it,
French can go France.

267
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:06,738
If we lose our Mi'kmaq
language, where do we go?

268
00:22:06,780 --> 00:22:07,968
This is it.

269
00:22:08,010 --> 00:22:08,801
We can't go home.

270
00:22:08,843 --> 00:22:09,843
This is home.

271
00:22:10,891 --> 00:22:14,538
And I said, "Once we lose
our language, then we're White."

272
00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:01,349
Our language
has been watered down

273
00:23:01,391 --> 00:23:03,460
since colonization, and
is now considered an

274
00:23:03,502 --> 00:23:05,782
English version of the
Mi'kmaq language, which is

275
00:23:05,824 --> 00:23:08,103
the key reason we are
losing our mother tongue.

276
00:23:09,870 --> 00:23:13,218
As we ourselves learn,
we will in turn teach our kids

277
00:23:13,260 --> 00:23:17,117
and anyone who is interested
in our proud heritage.

278
00:23:19,740 --> 00:23:22,000
- What we've been teaching
our children for the last

279
00:23:22,042 --> 00:23:24,258
number of years is an
English version of Mi'Kmaw.

280
00:23:24,300 --> 00:23:28,998
I don't know how a 54-year-old woman
could not know her own history.

281
00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:31,428
I'm a Leader, I'm a Chief,
and I'm just learning it.

282
00:23:31,470 --> 00:23:34,308
This is about, like teaching
our children our proud,

283
00:23:34,350 --> 00:23:37,458
proud heritage, because
right now they don't know it

284
00:23:37,500 --> 00:23:39,948
about how our people were
engineers, they were doctors.

285
00:23:39,990 --> 00:23:44,628
They were out in the water and they
were fishing walrus, like it's all there.

286
00:23:44,670 --> 00:23:48,348
It's all there hidden in our beautiful,
beautiful, Mi'Kmaw language.

287
00:23:48,390 --> 00:23:51,428
I feel so strongly that
if we can unlock our

288
00:23:51,470 --> 00:23:55,027
language, then our
children, they will be prouder,

289
00:23:55,069 --> 00:23:58,187
they will flourish because when they go to

290
00:23:58,229 --> 00:24:01,592
other places, they can
say, "Hi, I'm Mi'Kmaw."

291
00:24:25,860 --> 00:24:28,338
- When I was taken away,
when I was real young,

292
00:24:28,380 --> 00:24:32,238
it was at a time when my mom had actually,

293
00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:35,088
she attempted suicide, and I had found her.

294
00:24:35,130 --> 00:24:37,398
Because my mother also was in the system.

295
00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:41,208
It just kind of like we
kind of repeated itself.

296
00:24:41,250 --> 00:24:45,138
I felt like it was like Residential School,
when I learned about Residential School,

297
00:24:45,180 --> 00:24:50,343
when you got taken away, we
were cleaned, we were, hair was cut.

298
00:24:51,750 --> 00:24:55,593
There was an actual sexual abuse
that happened while I was there.

299
00:24:56,700 --> 00:25:00,288
So now for me in my life,
it's affected me as a mom

300
00:25:00,330 --> 00:25:04,818
in a way that I'm constantly afraid,
even if I know I'm doing the right things.

301
00:25:08,460 --> 00:25:14,141
I still am constantly afraid of the
fear that someone could even take

302
00:25:14,183 --> 00:25:19,863
my kid, or that I don't have power
to speak on behalf of my children.

303
00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:28,880
It actually has made me
a really dominating parent.

304
00:25:28,980 --> 00:25:32,328
That was one thing that was never going
to happen in my life.

305
00:25:32,370 --> 00:25:40,297
And my babies were going to stay with me,
and forever than will be.

306
00:25:56,190 --> 00:26:00,618
Growing up, me and my friends had
seen a group come down to Lennox Island.

307
00:26:00,660 --> 00:26:04,398
It was the first time I
ever seen an actual drum.

308
00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:08,298
It was like, what is this?

309
00:26:08,340 --> 00:26:10,758
The one thing that I always
can say that comes back

310
00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:14,297
is about culture and how
much that has brought,

311
00:26:14,339 --> 00:26:18,438
started bringing peace
back to my soul almost,

312
00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:24,258
into my spirit and saying that I belong
somewhere, and I'm a part of something.

313
00:26:24,300 --> 00:26:25,818
Our culture is beautiful.

314
00:26:25,860 --> 00:26:28,295
It heals people.

315
00:26:47,413 --> 00:26:49,518
- Well, it's all about prevention, right?

316
00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:52,728
And it's all about like
communities taking ownership

317
00:26:52,770 --> 00:26:54,980
of our own children
and saying to the Federal

318
00:26:55,022 --> 00:26:57,738
Government, because really,
what's wrong here, right?

319
00:26:57,780 --> 00:26:59,148
It's a money thing, to me.

320
00:26:59,190 --> 00:27:02,178
Like really, like help the
family, do the preventative

321
00:27:02,220 --> 00:27:05,208
medicine and stuff, for
all that stuff in the family.

322
00:27:05,250 --> 00:27:07,758
Like, why take a family,
take a child out of there

323
00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:10,350
and then pay someone
else to look after that child?

324
00:27:11,310 --> 00:27:12,588
Support the family.

325
00:27:12,630 --> 00:27:17,148
It's not the Mi'Kmaw fault, it's not
anybody's fault that the people are poor.

326
00:27:17,190 --> 00:27:20,884
We have had no access to our resources.

327
00:27:20,926 --> 00:27:23,444
All of our traditional
ways were suppressed.

328
00:27:23,486 --> 00:27:26,283
So no wonder we're fucked up.

329
00:27:27,360 --> 00:27:29,838
- First came news, from
the Attawapiskat First Nation

330
00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:34,844
in Northern Ontario that 11 people
had tried to commit suicide in one day.

331
00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:38,748
This is the
fifth state of emergency

332
00:27:38,790 --> 00:27:41,298
Attawapiskat has declared
in the past 10 years.

333
00:27:41,340 --> 00:27:46,068
Others were due to flooding, overcrowded
housing, and poor drinking water.

334
00:27:46,110 --> 00:27:48,468
Exposure to the
chemicals in large quantities

335
00:27:48,510 --> 00:27:51,828
over time can increase the risk of cancer.

336
00:27:51,870 --> 00:27:56,060
Tonight, Attawapiskat's
Chief said the crisis is all consuming.

337
00:27:59,406 --> 00:28:01,344
All you have to do is call the-

338
00:28:05,313 --> 00:28:08,067
Then you see the
black. The black is all mold.

339
00:28:08,109 --> 00:28:09,451
The black is all mold.

340
00:28:11,340 --> 00:28:14,748
At a community forum,
young people pleaded for help.

341
00:28:14,790 --> 00:28:18,378
The spiral brought on by
isolation, family breakdowns,

342
00:28:18,420 --> 00:28:23,703
overcrowding and the rest of the challenges
facing most isolated reserves.

343
00:28:32,340 --> 00:28:36,626
- I commit to action
now, I commit to lasting

344
00:28:36,668 --> 00:28:40,563
action, for the people of Attawapiskat.

345
00:28:59,765 --> 00:29:06,223
I touch it, I touch it, I touched it,
I touched it.

346
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:25,518
- It doesn't take a rocket scientist
to see how the unacceptable reality,

347
00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:28,788
or as many call it Third
World living conditions,

348
00:29:28,830 --> 00:29:32,378
contribute to an
environment that is, you know,

349
00:29:32,420 --> 00:29:35,058
is not supportive of
children and young people.

350
00:29:35,100 --> 00:29:37,841
And that to me, is
not an individual failure

351
00:29:37,883 --> 00:29:40,623
by any means, it's by
far a systemic failure.

352
00:29:42,300 --> 00:29:46,645
- So the problem with the water in
the community is that our THM levels

353
00:29:46,687 --> 00:29:51,468
are quite high, and they've been
slowly rising over the past several years.

354
00:29:51,510 --> 00:29:55,578
So that has created a
lot of very serious worries

355
00:29:55,620 --> 00:29:59,298
in a population, because
when you have such high levels,

356
00:29:59,340 --> 00:30:03,018
you have to really limit your contacts
with this sort of water.

357
00:30:03,060 --> 00:30:06,635
If you're taking a shower with it, you
have to have short shower, five minutes.

358
00:30:06,677 --> 00:30:11,148
Same if you're washing
dishes with your bare hands,

359
00:30:11,190 --> 00:30:14,628
you should not be washing your foods
that you're going to cook.

360
00:30:14,670 --> 00:30:17,658
You should not cook
with it because cooking,

361
00:30:17,700 --> 00:30:21,686
boiling water concentrates the
chemicals, and makes it even worse

362
00:30:21,728 --> 00:30:25,713
and then it evaporates into
the air and you're breathing it in.

363
00:30:33,242 --> 00:30:36,618
- Me, me.
- Once, just like that, now you look.

364
00:30:36,660 --> 00:30:37,660
You see, it is red.

365
00:30:38,700 --> 00:30:39,993
So now it's recording.

366
00:30:41,580 --> 00:30:42,580
Yeah.

367
00:30:44,309 --> 00:30:45,309
Who is the fastest?

368
00:30:46,309 --> 00:30:48,309
Three two one, let's go.

369
00:30:55,050 --> 00:31:00,603
- I was able to learn about the language,
and learn about hunting.

370
00:31:01,650 --> 00:31:05,868
And my siblings ended
up in foster care, all of them,

371
00:31:05,910 --> 00:31:07,788
and we didn't see each
other too much later.

372
00:31:07,830 --> 00:31:11,643
We didn't really know each other, because
we spent so much time apart as kids.

373
00:31:19,260 --> 00:31:24,728
I came back in 2009 with my
family and came home to no housing,

374
00:31:24,770 --> 00:31:29,883
like the housing shortage,
backlogged for like 15 years.

375
00:31:31,710 --> 00:31:33,258
Without a house, you can't rest.

376
00:31:33,300 --> 00:31:34,848
You don't feel safe.

377
00:31:34,890 --> 00:31:39,108
It starts to take a toll on you mentally,
and everybody's crowded.

378
00:31:39,150 --> 00:31:43,353
You know, it just wears you down,
you know, you start to get worn out.

379
00:31:44,910 --> 00:31:51,063
- The biggest challenge that this country
faces in my view is First Nation's poverty.

380
00:31:52,350 --> 00:31:56,058
Our people are too poor, simply put.

381
00:31:56,100 --> 00:31:58,908
There's a housing crisis
in First Nation communities.

382
00:31:58,950 --> 00:32:02,601
It's a serious crisis, and we
need to do something about it.

383
00:32:07,050 --> 00:32:10,835
- I thought it was just normal,
and then when I got older, and

384
00:32:10,877 --> 00:32:14,661
then when I left the community
to the South, for High School,

385
00:32:14,703 --> 00:32:18,457
I thought, "Well, you know, how
come everyone else has access

386
00:32:18,499 --> 00:32:22,190
to clean water, and certain
opportunities, and we don't."

387
00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:27,438
- Now you think about what we do in terms
of non-Indigenous youth.

388
00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:29,628
We make sure that they
have free public schools,

389
00:32:29,670 --> 00:32:31,974
we make sure that they go to high school.

390
00:32:32,016 --> 00:32:34,908
We hope that they will go
on to college or university.

391
00:32:34,950 --> 00:32:37,098
But all of this education
is set up for them.

392
00:32:37,140 --> 00:32:38,958
The same thing applies to healthcare,

393
00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:42,288
the same thing applies to
clean water and the housing.

394
00:32:42,330 --> 00:32:46,128
These are not social
programs, these are not charity.

395
00:32:46,170 --> 00:32:49,428
These are the building
blocks of a strong economy.

396
00:32:49,470 --> 00:32:51,438
It's one we recognize for ourselves.

397
00:32:51,480 --> 00:32:53,748
It's time we start to
recognize it for the youngest

398
00:32:53,790 --> 00:32:56,290
and the fastest growing
segment of our population.

399
00:32:58,230 --> 00:33:00,720
- The dream of having a midwifery program

400
00:33:00,762 --> 00:33:03,498
here took a long, long
time to come together.

401
00:33:03,540 --> 00:33:06,318
I started working on
this in the '90s actually.

402
00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:09,978
Midwifery was legislated in Ontario 1993.

403
00:33:10,020 --> 00:33:12,768
And there was a large
portion of these consultations

404
00:33:12,810 --> 00:33:16,222
that were on Indigenous
midwifery and they have the

405
00:33:16,264 --> 00:33:19,608
right to decide what kind
of midwives they want,

406
00:33:19,650 --> 00:33:22,068
what kind of training they
want the midwives to have.

407
00:33:22,110 --> 00:33:26,178
So in bringing midwifery
back to Attawapiskat,

408
00:33:26,220 --> 00:33:31,938
it was always very central
that we bring back Indigenous midwives.

409
00:33:31,980 --> 00:33:34,218
So we want Cree-midwives in this community.

410
00:33:34,260 --> 00:33:39,478
We used to have Cree-midwives,
they were erased from this map.

411
00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:43,098
And now we are rewriting history.

412
00:33:43,140 --> 00:33:46,998
When I came here, I was just appalled
that how women were treated.

413
00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:51,108
And I really believe that it
was a woman's right to decide,

414
00:33:51,150 --> 00:33:54,678
according to her reality,
what's her family situation,

415
00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:56,868
who's her support system, who are going

416
00:33:56,910 --> 00:33:59,028
to be here with her
children if she has to leave.

417
00:33:59,070 --> 00:34:02,265
And she has to take
all of this into account

418
00:34:02,307 --> 00:34:06,783
to make a decision as to where is
the best place, for her to give birth.

419
00:34:08,700 --> 00:34:13,700
We always are very careful
to position our bodies lower

420
00:34:14,130 --> 00:34:17,652
than the laboring woman,
because she is giving

421
00:34:17,694 --> 00:34:21,138
birth, and she's in her
full woman's power.

422
00:34:21,180 --> 00:34:25,068
And we always ask
permission before we touch.

423
00:34:25,110 --> 00:34:25,998
May I?

424
00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:30,388
And we wait for her and people
are sometimes going, "What?

425
00:34:30,430 --> 00:34:32,478
Like, I'm being asked to be touched."

426
00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:34,488
And I'm always very mindful of that

427
00:34:34,530 --> 00:34:38,223
that maybe I am the first one
who asked permission to touch.

428
00:34:39,240 --> 00:34:44,493
I think it's an important piece
in a woman's healing journey also.

429
00:34:47,490 --> 00:34:52,007
I think at the beginning of my
practice, I'm not sure if women

430
00:34:52,049 --> 00:34:56,418
were using less, or if they
confided less, because we come

431
00:34:56,460 --> 00:34:59,808
from the understanding
that the drug addiction,

432
00:34:59,850 --> 00:35:03,528
it's not the addiction to
the drug that is the problem,

433
00:35:03,570 --> 00:35:11,088
it is the trauma behind what makes you need
to numb that terrible voice in the back.

434
00:35:11,130 --> 00:35:13,218
You need to numb it up, however.

435
00:35:13,260 --> 00:35:17,118
So we try to approach
that instead of the drugs.

436
00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:20,478
Addiction is a problem of disconnection.

437
00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:25,740
You have disconnected,
because you can't stay connected to that.

438
00:35:37,557 --> 00:35:43,488
- Attawapiskat really made headlines about
a week ago because it declared a state

439
00:35:43,530 --> 00:35:48,798
of emergency after 11 people attempted
to take their own lives in one night.

440
00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:52,668
- Over the last few days as the cameras,
and the politicians left,

441
00:35:52,710 --> 00:35:56,913
there were more attempted suicides
by young people in Attawapiskat.

442
00:35:58,140 --> 00:36:01,068
- I don't know, because they
just don't have enough activities here.

443
00:36:01,110 --> 00:36:03,048
I mean, they're building
their youth center,

444
00:36:03,090 --> 00:36:06,491
starting kids, I don't know
disproved in this town,

445
00:36:06,533 --> 00:36:08,578
because they buried everything here.

446
00:36:08,620 --> 00:36:15,140
Every time I'm on Facebook, I always see
these depressed quotes, quotes, statuses.

447
00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:22,053
There's nothing really in this town,
like nothing fun for the kids.

448
00:36:23,130 --> 00:36:25,668
- The issue is we can't be self-satisfied,

449
00:36:25,710 --> 00:36:28,848
and we've got to recognize
that this is not a one shot

450
00:36:28,890 --> 00:36:30,888
and then you think about something else.

451
00:36:30,930 --> 00:36:35,118
You're talking about the youngest, and the
fastest growing segment of your population.

452
00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:39,228
What you've got to really do is
to make sure that they succeed.

453
00:36:39,270 --> 00:36:43,398
If that generation succeeds, then I
think there will not be any back sliding.

454
00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:47,193
But the important thing is to make
sure that in fact, we continue to progress.

455
00:36:50,850 --> 00:36:55,464
- We're resilient and a
lot of us are trying our

456
00:36:55,506 --> 00:37:00,119
best to improve our
lives and continue to heal

457
00:37:00,161 --> 00:37:05,973
and making sure that our kids are going
to have a positive legacy.

458
00:37:11,550 --> 00:37:16,563
One of the biggest, biggest mineral finds
in the entire world is right up the river.

459
00:37:17,550 --> 00:37:23,868
You know, it's part of the treaties, how
do we find a way to maximize those things

460
00:37:23,910 --> 00:37:26,600
that were given to us, but do it
in a way that's responsible?

461
00:37:27,570 --> 00:37:31,608
Like the wind, because
wind never stops year-around.

462
00:37:31,650 --> 00:37:33,888
You know, green energy,
that's, I think of right away.

463
00:37:33,930 --> 00:37:36,738
You look at the James Bay, the waves.

464
00:37:36,780 --> 00:37:40,563
You can generate hydroelectricity through
ways, and there's so much potential.

465
00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:43,998
When I look around
here, sometimes it's hard

466
00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:47,703
to see all the good, because
you're just blinded by your tears.

467
00:38:05,820 --> 00:38:10,820
- My mom died in 1988, I carried guilt.

468
00:38:12,150 --> 00:38:16,188
That night my mom left
my granny's house I was

469
00:38:16,230 --> 00:38:20,268
there, and she asked
me to go with her at first.

470
00:38:20,310 --> 00:38:22,677
But then she said, "Just wait for me."

471
00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:28,293
Then she went missing, and
they found her body in the lake.

472
00:38:29,340 --> 00:38:33,093
I used to think maybe if I went with her,
she would still be alive.

473
00:38:34,470 --> 00:38:36,243
I never found out what happened.

474
00:38:37,560 --> 00:38:40,533
But I've learned to live with that,
I've learned to accept that.

475
00:38:42,240 --> 00:38:46,590
Out here during that time, it seemed,
there seemed like there was no help.

476
00:38:47,550 --> 00:38:49,593
Like there was nobody to turn to.

477
00:38:50,490 --> 00:38:51,813
So I felt stuck.

478
00:38:53,070 --> 00:38:57,588
So that was my way out, was to drink
because when I drank, I didn't care.

479
00:38:57,630 --> 00:38:59,913
I didn't feel anything.

480
00:39:02,730 --> 00:39:06,198
When I knew it was getting
bad, my drinking was getting bad,

481
00:39:06,240 --> 00:39:10,855
I asked CFS for help, and that's
how they got involved in my life.

482
00:39:10,897 --> 00:39:15,477
"You're a mom, you need
to be strong for your kids."

483
00:39:16,530 --> 00:39:19,569
Oh duh, that's what
I'm trying to do, because

484
00:39:19,611 --> 00:39:24,318
they would say, "Well, this is all
for the kids. This is all for the kids."

485
00:39:24,360 --> 00:39:25,683
But it really wasn't.

486
00:39:27,270 --> 00:39:29,598
If they would have said,
"This is all for the money,"

487
00:39:29,640 --> 00:39:31,997
that would have been the truth, because my

488
00:39:32,039 --> 00:39:34,623
kids were getting hurt
when they were in care.

489
00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:37,818
They were in care for six months.

490
00:39:37,860 --> 00:39:44,078
The last time I got pregnant and she
said, "Are you sure you're going to be

491
00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:50,337
able to take care of your kids and
to take care of this baby by yourself?"

492
00:39:53,220 --> 00:39:57,928
And that's when the abortion,
because there was that thing,

493
00:40:04,470 --> 00:40:07,110
if you don't want to lose
your kids do what we want.

494
00:40:11,574 --> 00:40:16,023
I went through the abortion and how am
I supposed to keep it together after that?

495
00:40:32,220 --> 00:40:38,208
- The youth protection system was in
support of an intervention based system.

496
00:40:38,250 --> 00:40:43,250
So there was plenty of
funding for workers to go in

497
00:40:43,380 --> 00:40:46,848
and intervene in a family,
and potentially remove their family.

498
00:40:46,890 --> 00:40:49,728
But there was not a
lot of resources in place

499
00:40:49,770 --> 00:40:52,668
to help a family before it got there.

500
00:40:52,710 --> 00:40:56,808
So how do we start putting
those programs in place for it?

501
00:40:56,850 --> 00:41:00,648
And I think it's creativity
and the hard part

502
00:41:00,690 --> 00:41:03,558
that we're working on and
we're making progress on

503
00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:08,208
is allowing the community
room to think outside the box.

504
00:41:08,250 --> 00:41:09,498
What can we put in place?

505
00:41:09,540 --> 00:41:12,340
What kind of programs can
we put in place to allow that?

506
00:41:14,100 --> 00:41:17,291
- There will come a point
in your life when you're

507
00:41:17,333 --> 00:41:20,523
going to have to choose
which path you want to take.

508
00:41:21,660 --> 00:41:25,372
All of the ceremonies
that used to be here,

509
00:41:25,414 --> 00:41:29,748
that used to be practiced
by my mother's family,

510
00:41:29,790 --> 00:41:32,898
the Pipes, the Ceremonies, the
Sweat Lodges, the Sun dances,

511
00:41:32,940 --> 00:41:37,702
all of those things, the
spirituality of our people.

512
00:41:37,744 --> 00:41:41,358
And we've really taken
that time to learn our culture,

513
00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:45,498
to learn our ceremonial ways,
to learn some of our language.

514
00:41:45,540 --> 00:41:47,560
And that, I think, has been one of the

515
00:41:47,602 --> 00:41:49,998
contributing factors into
how we have managed

516
00:41:50,040 --> 00:41:54,633
to change the impetus of
this organization, the Center,

517
00:41:55,470 --> 00:42:00,948
to reflect who we are as individuals,
and to transfer that healthy lifestyle,

518
00:42:00,990 --> 00:42:05,208
that healthy outlook so that
we can make that change,

519
00:42:05,250 --> 00:42:07,578
that needs to happen
in all of our communities,

520
00:42:07,620 --> 00:42:10,098
to make it better for our children,

521
00:42:10,140 --> 00:42:16,945
our children's children so that they don't
have to experience what we've experienced.

522
00:42:19,200 --> 00:42:23,208
Manitoba has among the highest
rates of apprehension in the country.

523
00:42:23,250 --> 00:42:25,931
Indigenous children
account for almost 90% of

524
00:42:25,973 --> 00:42:28,653
the 11,000 children in
the province's system.

525
00:42:30,720 --> 00:42:33,597
- That had a tremendous
toll on, particularly

526
00:42:33,639 --> 00:42:36,515
the family structures within the community

527
00:42:36,557 --> 00:42:42,018
and, of course, because of that you got
the despair, alcoholism was on the rise.

528
00:42:42,060 --> 00:42:45,138
Domestic violence is on the
rise because of alcohol use.

529
00:42:45,180 --> 00:42:47,418
Its breaking that cycle.

530
00:42:47,460 --> 00:42:49,548
"I said, So how do we do this?"

531
00:42:49,590 --> 00:42:52,098
And I'm like, "Well,
hold on, wait a second."

532
00:42:52,140 --> 00:42:54,498
No one owns property on reserve.

533
00:42:54,540 --> 00:42:57,978
So these houses technically
belong to the Chief of Council.

534
00:42:58,020 --> 00:43:01,760
So, legal counsel, I
need you to draft me a

535
00:43:01,802 --> 00:43:05,990
VCR that authorizes our
workers who can remove

536
00:43:07,650 --> 00:43:10,668
any person causing a
child to be need of protection

537
00:43:10,710 --> 00:43:13,608
from the residence, but
that person has to come

538
00:43:13,650 --> 00:43:19,908
and meet with our workers within 48 hours,
and then after that, there'll be decision

539
00:43:19,950 --> 00:43:23,238
as to whether it to happen,
continue to be moved from there,

540
00:43:23,280 --> 00:43:25,758
or they sit down in a circle meeting,

541
00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:29,360
and they start talking about how
to keep this family unit together.

542
00:43:30,690 --> 00:43:32,508
- I know they're coming home.

543
00:43:32,550 --> 00:43:34,233
Nobody has to tell me that.

544
00:43:35,250 --> 00:43:40,353
I said, when they come home, I know
that I'll be ready to take care of them.

545
00:43:41,580 --> 00:43:45,288
And when they came
home, I took them everywhere

546
00:43:45,330 --> 00:43:48,708
I went because I had to earn their trust,

547
00:43:48,750 --> 00:43:52,158
because it's easy to
say, I'm sorry to anybody,

548
00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:54,948
but to earn that trust again
and to show somebody

549
00:43:54,990 --> 00:43:59,328
that they can trust you,
especially your own child,

550
00:43:59,370 --> 00:44:00,903
it takes a lot of work.

551
00:44:02,850 --> 00:44:05,643
My youngest one brought a
drum home for me one day,

552
00:44:06,540 --> 00:44:12,708
because I had a drum, I was told
that I had to go get it blessed in a sweat.

553
00:44:12,750 --> 00:44:16,578
So I went, I had to go.

554
00:44:16,620 --> 00:44:22,668
I don't know how to sing, I don't know
anything about this, but they taught me.

555
00:44:22,710 --> 00:44:23,913
The women taught me.

556
00:44:24,960 --> 00:44:28,686
And I think that
Medicine is very important

557
00:44:28,728 --> 00:44:32,990
because the physical,
the mental, the emotional

558
00:44:34,440 --> 00:44:39,440
and the spiritual, it helps all
four parts of a human being.

559
00:44:47,550 --> 00:44:49,768
Launching off
their canoe from the shores

560
00:44:49,810 --> 00:44:52,998
of Washington state, the
youths from Kwùmut Lelum Child

561
00:44:53,040 --> 00:44:57,333
and Family Services in British
Columbia make their way to Lummi Island.

562
00:44:59,190 --> 00:45:02,118
It is a moment where they
can reconnect with their people,

563
00:45:02,160 --> 00:45:05,359
water, land and their
Ancestors, building the strong

564
00:45:05,401 --> 00:45:08,600
foundation needed, for
their own journeys in life.

565
00:45:26,940 --> 00:45:29,487
- You are my friend, you are my family.

566
00:45:40,741 --> 00:45:45,786
For the generosity, for
the lords that allow we are

567
00:45:45,828 --> 00:45:50,872
grateful, we are humble,
and we get to be your guest.

568
00:45:52,274 --> 00:45:55,402
But now it is time for
us to carry on, so we

569
00:45:55,444 --> 00:45:58,939
ask humbly for permission
that we may carry on.

570
00:46:01,057 --> 00:46:04,878
- All these kids that I paddle
with were all kids in care.

571
00:46:04,920 --> 00:46:07,005
So we barely know who we are

572
00:46:07,047 --> 00:46:10,818
and we don't know where we come from,
and where our roots are.

573
00:46:10,860 --> 00:46:14,732
And its the same question
every year, where are you from?

574
00:46:14,774 --> 00:46:17,718
Who's your grandparents,
who's your parents?

575
00:46:17,760 --> 00:46:20,238
And then just that
little bit of information,

576
00:46:20,280 --> 00:46:24,648
we can travel way back to our Ancestors,
and we can figure out who we are.

577
00:46:24,690 --> 00:46:30,933
There's no words to describe how I feel
because I feel it in the moment,

578
00:46:32,190 --> 00:46:34,854
going through my own
battle, being in the system.

579
00:46:34,896 --> 00:46:41,403
So this year, I'm just here,
and I'm trying to get over a rough patch.

580
00:46:42,720 --> 00:46:48,723
It's crazy how one year can change
one person, even in just a few months.

581
00:46:50,550 --> 00:46:54,798
- These are children in care,
so there's a big void there.

582
00:46:54,840 --> 00:46:57,910
People feel it many
various different ways, but I

583
00:46:57,952 --> 00:47:01,473
believe this is the proper
way to do it, with culture.

584
00:47:03,360 --> 00:47:06,078
It's a lot, it's
a lot of happiness,

585
00:47:06,120 --> 00:47:10,908
it's a lot of tears, a lot of
anger and for a big thing

586
00:47:10,950 --> 00:47:15,600
and it's a big break from all the hurt,
and pain that we feel at home.

587
00:47:16,530 --> 00:47:21,941
So for here, it's just a big relief, and
just be on the canoe and feel so connected

588
00:47:21,983 --> 00:47:25,353
with the water and
connected with ourselves.

589
00:47:27,510 --> 00:47:31,158
- A lot of these kids aren't as exposed
to culture as they should be.

590
00:47:31,200 --> 00:47:34,818
It's just where we come from,
it's what has been happening on these lands

591
00:47:34,860 --> 00:47:37,548
for thousands of years,
when that really hits you

592
00:47:37,590 --> 00:47:43,068
and you fully understand what's going on,
it's a very special moment.

593
00:47:43,110 --> 00:47:46,008
You know, I thought I was the
toughest 14-year-old around,

594
00:47:46,050 --> 00:47:47,938
but there was lots of moments where I was

595
00:47:47,980 --> 00:47:50,148
absolutely balling my
eyes out, doing protocol,

596
00:47:50,190 --> 00:47:54,108
doing the drumming and the singing,
and all that kind of stuff.

597
00:47:54,150 --> 00:47:55,338
I was a troubled kid.

598
00:47:55,380 --> 00:47:58,248
There's many different
ways that could have gone.

599
00:47:58,290 --> 00:48:01,098
If I didn't experience
that at that tender age,

600
00:48:01,140 --> 00:48:03,318
I don't know where I would be right now.

601
00:48:03,360 --> 00:48:05,358
I don't even want to think about it.

602
00:48:05,400 --> 00:48:07,198
And that's really what
the journey is about.

603
00:48:07,240 --> 00:48:08,443
It's a healing journey.

604
00:48:09,990 --> 00:48:12,870
Indigenous people have faced a lot of

605
00:48:12,912 --> 00:48:16,341
hardships, so this is
where we come to heal.

606
00:48:16,383 --> 00:48:19,293
- This experience
isn't in my everyday life.

607
00:48:20,310 --> 00:48:24,498
Every year, I find new
friends and meet new people,

608
00:48:24,540 --> 00:48:26,928
and I don't even see
them until the next year.

609
00:48:26,970 --> 00:48:30,543
For a certain amount of time, it's a
little bit of a goodbye until next year.

610
00:48:32,730 --> 00:48:34,998
Our Elders are our teachers.

611
00:48:35,040 --> 00:48:37,758
They know our teachings,
and they pass it down to us.

612
00:48:37,800 --> 00:48:41,058
So us, as youth and kids,
for the next generation

613
00:48:41,100 --> 00:48:46,100
of our people, I found
my voice on journeys,

614
00:48:46,170 --> 00:48:48,678
I figure out who I was on journeys.

615
00:48:48,720 --> 00:48:52,308
And for me, it's something
that I crave every year

616
00:48:52,350 --> 00:48:54,843
and something I need for myself to help me.

617
00:48:56,220 --> 00:48:57,243
It's my medicine.

618
00:48:58,200 --> 00:48:59,433
I get healing out of it.

619
00:49:01,173 --> 00:49:04,473
For a child in care, it's a
good way to find identity.

620
00:49:05,430 --> 00:49:09,131
We're all supposed to be one
paddle, one mind and one heart.

621
00:49:09,173 --> 00:49:12,810
Even if it's just one paddle
that stops, I can feel that.

622
00:50:44,830 --> 00:50:49,267
How do you say, "I love you"?

623
00:50:50,610 --> 00:50:51,825
Again.

624
00:50:53,200 --> 00:50:54,200
Again.

625
00:50:58,950 --> 00:51:04,097
- When we first went to cultural camp, we
do this thing where we introduce ourselves

626
00:51:04,139 --> 00:51:07,698
and say where we're from,
and what clan we're from.

627
00:51:07,740 --> 00:51:11,418
For the longest time, we were
saying we were from Frog Clan.

628
00:51:11,460 --> 00:51:15,895
And then one of our family members that we
ran into at culture camp actually told us,

629
00:51:15,937 --> 00:51:18,344
"No, you're not, you're Bear Clan, because

630
00:51:18,386 --> 00:51:21,198
that's where your Mom
and your Grandma are from."

631
00:51:21,240 --> 00:51:24,978
And from then on, we're like,
"We're Bear Clan."

632
00:51:25,020 --> 00:51:26,328
That's Christine and Bradley.

633
00:51:26,370 --> 00:51:28,098
That's our youngest brother.

634
00:51:28,140 --> 00:51:29,058
That's him there, too.

635
00:51:29,100 --> 00:51:34,100
- He's not here right now,
he is downtown living his life.

636
00:51:35,190 --> 00:51:38,987
He just got off a
probation, so he is living.

637
00:51:41,070 --> 00:51:43,338
- These are some pictures and memories

638
00:51:43,380 --> 00:51:45,978
of when we were living in the group home.

639
00:51:46,020 --> 00:51:48,498
They built for us, Carrier
Sekani made it just for us.

640
00:51:48,540 --> 00:51:50,568
- Carrier Sekani, they built a house.

641
00:51:50,610 --> 00:51:51,401
All wasn't built.

642
00:51:51,443 --> 00:51:55,878
It was just they bought one
for all of us to live in there

643
00:51:55,920 --> 00:51:58,398
as a family because they
didn't want to separate us.

644
00:51:58,440 --> 00:52:03,440
- I remember we got
dropped off at this group home,

645
00:52:03,630 --> 00:52:05,726
and my parents told
us that they'd be back in

646
00:52:05,768 --> 00:52:07,863
two weeks, and it just
never really happened.

647
00:52:09,630 --> 00:52:10,918
Were you waiting for them?

648
00:52:10,960 --> 00:52:11,960
Yeah.

649
00:52:14,346 --> 00:52:17,730
What should we get?

650
00:52:20,190 --> 00:52:20,891
You choose.

651
00:52:20,933 --> 00:52:23,458
Well they don't have Dr. Pepper,
so that's out of the question.

652
00:52:23,500 --> 00:52:26,383
Ooh Dr. Pepper, gross.

653
00:52:28,590 --> 00:52:29,590
- Canada Dry.

654
00:52:34,830 --> 00:52:38,555
- We were told that they
were sick, for the longest time

655
00:52:38,597 --> 00:52:42,798
until we were old enough to
understand why we got taken away.

656
00:52:42,840 --> 00:52:46,908
It was because they're
drug addicts and alcoholics.

657
00:52:46,950 --> 00:52:50,763
We were abused quite bad.

658
00:52:53,717 --> 00:52:58,188
- It was like three-years-old
when I first got hit.

659
00:52:58,230 --> 00:53:00,603
I remember it because it was over a burger,

660
00:53:01,530 --> 00:53:04,541
I didn't eat my whole burger, I
only ate like two, or three bites.

661
00:53:04,583 --> 00:53:06,162
I was freaking three-years-old.

662
00:53:06,204 --> 00:53:09,978
I didn't have a big stomach
so my dad, he kind of got mad.

663
00:53:10,020 --> 00:53:13,458
He grabbed the coffee table
leg and smoked me in the head.

664
00:53:13,500 --> 00:53:15,918
Got bunch of scars in
the head because of it.

665
00:53:15,960 --> 00:53:17,933
- We would go to school,
and then we would be at

666
00:53:17,975 --> 00:53:19,848
school, and we would
cry because we didn't want

667
00:53:19,890 --> 00:53:22,248
to go back home because
if we went back home,

668
00:53:22,290 --> 00:53:25,129
we would either get hit
or we wouldn't eat food,

669
00:53:25,171 --> 00:53:27,828
or we wouldn't even
be able to drink water.

670
00:53:27,870 --> 00:53:31,698
So I mean, my sister would drink water
out of, like, an old hair spray bottle,

671
00:53:31,740 --> 00:53:34,340
like squirt each others'
tongues, like, three times.

672
00:53:41,640 --> 00:53:42,703
What day is it today?

673
00:53:42,745 --> 00:53:43,745
29th.

674
00:53:44,270 --> 00:53:45,620
- We should be fine, right?

675
00:53:50,850 --> 00:53:53,178
It's good.

676
00:53:53,220 --> 00:53:58,278
We told each other that we're not going
to end up like our parents.

677
00:53:58,320 --> 00:54:02,988
We're not going to end up like the
stereotypical native person that ends up

678
00:54:03,030 --> 00:54:06,888
on the streets or as a
drug addict or an alcoholic.

679
00:54:06,930 --> 00:54:09,333
We learn to reach out.

680
00:54:10,320 --> 00:54:13,248
- There's been times when
we are like we haven't been,

681
00:54:13,290 --> 00:54:16,218
so close, but we just kind
of have to push through that-

682
00:54:16,260 --> 00:54:19,488
- Yeah, go through our own little thing.

683
00:54:19,530 --> 00:54:23,058
- At the end of the day,
there's only us that we have.

684
00:54:23,100 --> 00:54:24,100
- Yeah.

685
00:54:25,050 --> 00:54:29,598
For the longest time,
growing in and out of care,

686
00:54:29,640 --> 00:54:33,348
up until year nine, we were
separated a lot of the time.

687
00:54:33,390 --> 00:54:38,178
So Kristine and Sheldon would always go and
Foster Home with them.

688
00:54:38,220 --> 00:54:41,733
And then I would either, like,
be by myself or with Bradley.

689
00:54:45,510 --> 00:54:47,075
- Stay positive, that's all, you know.

690
00:54:47,117 --> 00:54:50,327
You don't, my parents,
they're drug addicts.

691
00:54:57,570 --> 00:54:59,148
It gets really hard.

692
00:54:59,190 --> 00:55:04,983
You just,
you just want your parents, you know.

693
00:55:07,560 --> 00:55:09,888
- Family is very important.

694
00:55:09,930 --> 00:55:14,163
Being together is way more important,
because you don't have anybody else, right.

695
00:55:15,210 --> 00:55:18,873
And if I think that if
we were all separated,

696
00:55:18,915 --> 00:55:22,578
we probably wouldn't be as good as we are.

697
00:55:22,620 --> 00:55:25,008
- Because we know so many youth

698
00:55:25,050 --> 00:55:29,778
that were our age a little bit younger,
and they aren't doing well at all.

699
00:55:29,820 --> 00:55:36,348
There's only a few of us, a few handful
of us that made it out well, you know, and

700
00:55:36,390 --> 00:55:42,918
some of the kids that we went to camp
with, we see and it's pretty hard to see.

701
00:55:42,960 --> 00:55:44,080
- That's correct.

702
00:56:04,490 --> 00:56:06,798
Samantha
Metcalfe and Cailyn Degrandpre,

703
00:56:06,840 --> 00:56:10,127
11-year-old Inuit Throat singers
from the Ottawa Inuit Children

704
00:56:10,169 --> 00:56:13,350
Center will now come forward
to share their music with us.

705
00:56:26,520 --> 00:56:29,463
- Throat Singing is
traditionally done by two women,

706
00:56:29,505 --> 00:56:32,448
or girls, whoever laughs
or messes up first loses.

707
00:56:32,490 --> 00:56:34,548
It's very important to us
to stay with our culture,

708
00:56:34,590 --> 00:56:37,638
even though we're down
South compared to up North.

709
00:56:37,680 --> 00:56:40,621
Ottawa has one of the
biggest Inuit communities

710
00:56:40,663 --> 00:56:43,218
around Canada then other than up North.

711
00:56:43,260 --> 00:56:45,528
And it's just very important, so the kids

712
00:56:45,570 --> 00:56:47,838
down here can learn
about their culture too.

713
00:56:47,880 --> 00:56:51,168
The reason why we Throat Sing is
because back in Residential School times,

714
00:56:51,210 --> 00:56:54,498
Throat Team was banned and now we're proud
to be bringing back our culture.

715
00:56:54,540 --> 00:56:56,527
We're Inuit and proud.

716
00:57:10,120 --> 00:57:17,030
- I was a co-Founder of the Inuit
Specific Healing Center here in Ottawa.

717
00:57:18,000 --> 00:57:21,950
So one of the things I came up with was

718
00:57:21,992 --> 00:57:26,960
implementing Inuit history
as a therapeutic tool.

719
00:57:45,750 --> 00:57:52,008
I was born on the land, born in the middle
of winter, and my members are wonderful,

720
00:57:52,050 --> 00:57:56,418
because you're surrounded
by adults that really care

721
00:57:56,460 --> 00:57:59,757
for you, not just your
mom and dad, but the

722
00:57:59,799 --> 00:58:03,648
whole camp would kind
of look out for the child.

723
00:58:03,690 --> 00:58:08,208
So that's where my world began.

724
00:58:08,250 --> 00:58:13,008
When I was about six-years-old, my family

725
00:58:13,050 --> 00:58:18,558
from this peaceful existence was
forcefully moved by the Government.

726
00:58:18,600 --> 00:58:23,058
It must have been a
horrible day for our parents.

727
00:58:23,100 --> 00:58:24,648
They lost a lot.

728
00:58:24,690 --> 00:58:30,303
They were not allowed to bring anything
of their personal possessions.

729
00:58:31,140 --> 00:58:34,608
Somebody tried to go
back to their original camp

730
00:58:34,650 --> 00:58:37,773
and they found everything was demolished.

731
00:58:38,940 --> 00:58:42,528
They also lost their
means of transportation.

732
00:58:42,570 --> 00:58:47,448
The dogs that were slaughtered,

733
00:58:47,490 --> 00:58:53,268
dogs were their friends,
their guide and protectors.

734
00:58:53,310 --> 00:58:59,613
When they were slaughtered,
I think it really damaged our men.

735
00:59:00,720 --> 00:59:05,720
Life just changed so
drastically that I think we're still

736
00:59:05,970 --> 00:59:10,188
trying to figure a lot
of things out for us.

737
00:59:10,230 --> 00:59:15,230
I did go through identity
crisis as a young person.

738
00:59:16,140 --> 00:59:20,388
I had to find me and
I'm proud to be an Inuit.

739
00:59:20,430 --> 00:59:21,793
That's who I am.

740
01:00:18,367 --> 01:00:23,538
- I described Nunavut often as a place
where time stands still.

741
01:00:23,580 --> 01:00:27,798
We're at the top of the world
and when you come here,

742
01:00:27,840 --> 01:00:31,586
if you're willing to
stop and listen, there is

743
01:00:31,628 --> 01:00:35,373
so much life and so much
good in the community.

744
01:00:37,110 --> 01:00:38,208
I am Inuit.

745
01:00:38,250 --> 01:00:43,250
I grew up in Nunavut, lived
and worked most of my life here.

746
01:00:48,660 --> 01:00:53,478
We have one of the most extreme
environments, probably in the world.

747
01:00:53,520 --> 01:00:56,178
We are quite close to the North Pole.

748
01:00:56,220 --> 01:01:01,068
So if you can imagine how
we live here in wooden houses,

749
01:01:01,110 --> 01:01:04,233
but yet we're in today,
it's minus 30, minus

750
01:01:04,275 --> 01:01:07,398
40, maybe even colder with the wind chill.

751
01:01:07,440 --> 01:01:10,488
Sometimes the health
of our children is at risk.

752
01:01:10,530 --> 01:01:15,258
They're born with conditions
that require specialized care,

753
01:01:15,300 --> 01:01:19,278
and we don't have all of that in Nunavut.

754
01:01:19,320 --> 01:01:22,458
So a lot of our children
with high medical needs

755
01:01:22,500 --> 01:01:28,278
often are needed to be placed in
medical foster homes in the South.

756
01:01:28,320 --> 01:01:34,689
In a year, we'll have about 70 to
80 children placed out of territory.

757
01:01:36,450 --> 01:01:40,158
In a small community, we
don't have victim support,

758
01:01:40,200 --> 01:01:43,938
we don't have addiction
services in every community.

759
01:01:43,980 --> 01:01:50,448
There is so much that a community needs
to build within their services.

760
01:01:50,490 --> 01:01:57,288
What's missing is the resourcing, and it
relies heavily on the Government of Nunavut

761
01:01:57,330 --> 01:02:02,921
and so there are several departments kind
of eying on the same pots of money.

762
01:02:05,850 --> 01:02:11,935
- For me when I go on the land,
just the solitude I feel, it's insane.

763
01:02:11,977 --> 01:02:15,048
I don't even feel alone when
I'm alone, because I know like,

764
01:02:15,090 --> 01:02:19,608
spirits are with us
always, culturally teaching.

765
01:02:19,650 --> 01:02:23,343
Our culture is not only important
to healing, but it's also important

766
01:02:23,385 --> 01:02:27,078
as, like, being more proactive
than reactive to stuff that's going on,

767
01:02:27,120 --> 01:02:29,823
because if you're getting
the youth out there, and doing

768
01:02:29,865 --> 01:02:32,568
things culturally, they are
just taking their mind off

769
01:02:32,610 --> 01:02:35,219
of doing things negative,
you know, like, there's

770
01:02:35,261 --> 01:02:37,650
almost nothing to do
in our isolation here.

771
01:02:38,527 --> 01:02:41,268
- I had read about ice roads before.

772
01:02:41,310 --> 01:02:45,198
I had read about some of the
remote areas of the country,

773
01:02:45,240 --> 01:02:48,558
but it's one thing to read about it,
it's another thing to go there.

774
01:02:48,600 --> 01:02:51,858
- That remote reality
can be very challenging.

775
01:02:51,900 --> 01:02:56,268
Yes, it's more expensive to
get materials there, to build there.

776
01:02:56,310 --> 01:02:58,998
But I would also say the
Federal Government benefits

777
01:02:59,040 --> 01:03:02,238
from out of sight, out of mind mentality,

778
01:03:02,280 --> 01:03:04,848
where a lot of Canada
doesn't know that reality,

779
01:03:04,890 --> 01:03:08,733
and sometimes, unfortunately,
it doesn't seem to care.

780
01:03:10,140 --> 01:03:12,888
In Nunavut,
nearly a quarter of all deaths have been

781
01:03:12,930 --> 01:03:17,058
by suicide, which is one of
the highest rates in the world.

782
01:03:17,100 --> 01:03:23,508
- We had about 35 suicides through our
26 communities in the span of a few months.

783
01:03:23,550 --> 01:03:28,938
I lost several of my best friends, cousins,
close family members.

784
01:03:28,980 --> 01:03:32,898
I have a tattoo going up my
arm that has the owl feather

785
01:03:32,940 --> 01:03:36,078
and the owls, like our
spirit God to our next life.

786
01:03:36,120 --> 01:03:39,514
And I have owl feather with birds
coming out of the feather and all

787
01:03:39,556 --> 01:03:43,312
those birds represent my friends,
and family that I've lost to suicide,

788
01:03:43,354 --> 01:03:46,878
but I gave up filling my arm, to be
honest because there's too many,

789
01:03:46,920 --> 01:03:50,390
I didn't want a reminder every
time I was getting a tattoo done.

790
01:03:56,400 --> 01:03:59,538
I left, to be honest, I couldn't
stand being in the North

791
01:03:59,580 --> 01:04:02,718
and I moved to Ottawa, and
I stayed there for a few years.

792
01:04:02,760 --> 01:04:07,203
When I came back and... we need Government
help really, and we don't get that.

793
01:04:08,213 --> 01:04:10,008
I don't even know how to explain.

794
01:04:10,050 --> 01:04:13,738
We have beer and wine stores opening
that are making millions of dollars a year

795
01:04:13,780 --> 01:04:17,420
off our people, but we still don't even
have an addiction treatment center.

796
01:04:21,720 --> 01:04:24,570
- I tell people when you're
looking for discrimination,

797
01:04:24,612 --> 01:04:27,408
it's not just what you see,
it's what you don't see.

798
01:04:27,450 --> 01:04:30,168
When you walk into a
First Nations community

799
01:04:30,210 --> 01:04:32,988
where there's been the ravages
of multigenerational trauma

800
01:04:33,030 --> 01:04:36,888
from Residential Schools and
people are using addictions

801
01:04:36,930 --> 01:04:41,868
to self-medicate, then where
are all the addiction services?

802
01:04:41,910 --> 01:04:47,514
Why are all these fancy treatment centers
only available to people off reserve?

803
01:04:47,556 --> 01:04:50,058
There should be the best
culturally based treatment

804
01:04:50,100 --> 01:04:52,233
in those communities, and it's not there.

805
01:04:53,190 --> 01:04:55,490
- Hi from Nunavut, Canada.

806
01:04:55,532 --> 01:05:01,398
While I have your attention, I just
want to bring to light the fact that Inuit

807
01:05:01,440 --> 01:05:04,359
are nine times more
likely to commit suicide

808
01:05:04,401 --> 01:05:06,978
than non-Indigenous people in Canada.

809
01:05:07,020 --> 01:05:10,848
- The way my girlfriend was
doing things on TikTok, it works.

810
01:05:10,890 --> 01:05:13,258
Social media is what's
keeping us connected, and

811
01:05:13,300 --> 01:05:15,618
I feel like the more you
know what's going on

812
01:05:15,660 --> 01:05:18,918
with other people, the more we can relate,
and the more we can help each other.

813
01:05:18,960 --> 01:05:23,568
- We keep losing our people
and I just want you guys

814
01:05:23,610 --> 01:05:29,463
to know Indigenous make First Nations
you are not alone, and you are loved.

815
01:05:30,630 --> 01:05:34,083
- I want our people to be able to prosper.

816
01:05:34,966 --> 01:05:36,921
It's kind of a weird
reference, but you're like,

817
01:05:36,963 --> 01:05:39,018
you know, have you seen
the movie "Black Panther"?

818
01:05:39,060 --> 01:05:41,658
You know, if the Wakanda being
like the sacred gem of Africa?

819
01:05:41,700 --> 01:05:44,743
I kind of want Nunavut become
like the Wakanda of Canada.

820
01:05:44,785 --> 01:05:46,668
I want us to be like a sacred gem

821
01:05:46,710 --> 01:05:49,248
of empowerment where they're able

822
01:05:49,290 --> 01:05:51,303
to help all their people in need.

823
01:06:00,810 --> 01:06:02,058
- It's a way of life.

824
01:06:02,100 --> 01:06:06,168
We're only as strong as our weakest link.

825
01:06:06,210 --> 01:06:08,928
So it's about our most vulnerable.

826
01:06:08,970 --> 01:06:12,571
Some people weren't given the right chance,

827
01:06:12,613 --> 01:06:15,498
and so that's what it's always been about,

828
01:06:15,540 --> 01:06:17,823
is our community is most vulnerable.

829
01:06:19,470 --> 01:06:23,088
- Despite the advancements
and there are many

830
01:06:23,130 --> 01:06:26,058
and there are successes,
I also hear that things

831
01:06:26,100 --> 01:06:28,223
are getting worse,
because as the population

832
01:06:28,265 --> 01:06:30,288
grows, as there are more young families,

833
01:06:30,330 --> 01:06:35,330
the demands on a system
that is broken are increasing.

834
01:06:35,430 --> 01:06:38,568
And so what I hear is that
housing is getting worse.

835
01:06:38,610 --> 01:06:40,938
The lack of support for
post-secondary education

836
01:06:40,980 --> 01:06:43,818
is getting worse because
the challenges are growing.

837
01:06:43,860 --> 01:06:47,328
And more often than not,
the Federal Government

838
01:06:47,370 --> 01:06:50,718
is continuing very similar policies

839
01:06:50,760 --> 01:06:54,318
and not actually working
with communities the way

840
01:06:54,360 --> 01:06:56,868
they need to and not funding communities

841
01:06:56,910 --> 01:07:00,086
the way they need to
actually make a difference.

842
01:07:02,730 --> 01:07:05,118
- Children are the keepers of the possible,

843
01:07:05,160 --> 01:07:07,563
and they're also experts
in love and fairness.

844
01:07:08,820 --> 01:07:11,688
And they are the ones who often call us up

845
01:07:11,730 --> 01:07:14,280
to be better people than
who we thought we could be

846
01:07:16,260 --> 01:07:18,723
and a better country than we think we are.

847
01:07:21,030 --> 01:07:23,410
It's for all the children
who are in foster

848
01:07:23,452 --> 01:07:26,118
care right now and the
ones who grew up there.

849
01:07:26,160 --> 01:07:27,906
I think it's important
that we say here that

850
01:07:27,948 --> 01:07:29,888
there are some children
that need to be removed

851
01:07:29,930 --> 01:07:32,718
from their families because
of safety in their homes,

852
01:07:32,760 --> 01:07:35,315
but not at the overrepresented
rates we see now, for

853
01:07:35,357 --> 01:07:38,216
First Nation children, they're
more likely to be removed

854
01:07:38,258 --> 01:07:40,964
to six to eight times a
rate, for reasons that we can

855
01:07:41,006 --> 01:07:43,713
prevent, poverty, poor
housing, and substance misuse.

856
01:07:44,580 --> 01:07:49,041
The number of First Nations
children entering a child welfare

857
01:07:49,083 --> 01:07:53,470
care between 1995, and 2001
increased to staggering 71.5%.

858
01:07:54,516 --> 01:07:56,763
Now, that sounds like a big number.

859
01:07:57,960 --> 01:08:01,608
But when I hear it, I think of only the
little kids that those things represent.

860
01:08:01,650 --> 01:08:04,008
You see, together, it
meant that they had spent

861
01:08:04,050 --> 01:08:06,275
over two million nights
away from their families,

862
01:08:06,317 --> 01:08:11,003
away from their teddy bears, away from
their language and away from their culture.

863
01:08:15,450 --> 01:08:19,278
- Because of all of the
inter-generational trauma caused

864
01:08:19,320 --> 01:08:21,339
by Residential Schools,
the number one reason

865
01:08:21,381 --> 01:08:26,028
why kids were being taken away by
Social Workers is because of poverty.

866
01:08:26,070 --> 01:08:28,098
We've had a crisis for a long time now.

867
01:08:28,140 --> 01:08:32,388
Imagine we're 4% of the
population, but 50% of all kids

868
01:08:32,430 --> 01:08:35,748
in foster care in this
country are Indigenous.

869
01:08:35,790 --> 01:08:39,798
And then think of the percentage
of those who go murdered and missing.

870
01:08:39,840 --> 01:08:42,138
- To Manitoba now,
where report into the death

871
01:08:42,180 --> 01:08:44,928
of Tina Fontaine was
released earlier today.

872
01:08:44,970 --> 01:08:50,238
She is the 15-year-old whose body was
pulled from Winnipeg's Red River in 2014.

873
01:08:50,280 --> 01:08:53,448
The report says Tina was
let down by the very system

874
01:08:53,490 --> 01:08:56,388
of services and supports that
were supposed to protect her.

875
01:08:56,430 --> 01:08:59,758
It was a grizzly discovery that
sent shock waves through our community.

876
01:08:59,900 --> 01:09:05,020
- Her murder, you know, was a point in time
that I believe really created an earthquake

877
01:09:05,162 --> 01:09:10,518
of sorts in our country around the issue of
missing, and murdered Indigenous women.

878
01:09:10,560 --> 01:09:12,828
Two days after
Tina's body was discovered,

879
01:09:12,870 --> 01:09:16,728
thousands of people marched
in memory of the slain teen.

880
01:09:16,770 --> 01:09:19,518
- Not much do our people ever get justice.

881
01:09:19,560 --> 01:09:21,708
We're in the
middle of a national crisis.

882
01:09:21,750 --> 01:09:23,738
- It was like every other
day there is a new story

883
01:09:23,880 --> 01:09:26,978
about an Indigenous woman, girl or
Two-Spirit person who was missing.

884
01:09:27,120 --> 01:09:29,838
Body was found, search is still happening
those kind of things.

885
01:09:29,880 --> 01:09:32,273
But no one was talking about it because it

886
01:09:32,315 --> 01:09:34,938
had been, so normalized,
oh, just another one.

887
01:09:34,980 --> 01:09:38,199
So if you're a
Serial Killer or even if you're not a

888
01:09:38,241 --> 01:09:41,718
Serial Killer, you want to kill
women, who are you going to target?

889
01:09:41,760 --> 01:09:45,011
You know, they found her in
a car 15-years-old with some strange man.

890
01:09:45,053 --> 01:09:46,760
They didn't check to see her age, they

891
01:09:46,802 --> 01:09:48,828
didn't check to see,
she was already on list.

892
01:09:48,870 --> 01:09:51,738
- All the systems that were
to protect Tina failed her.

893
01:09:51,780 --> 01:09:55,728
- We love Tina, and we will
show her how much we love her.

894
01:09:55,770 --> 01:09:58,713
- We all feel it because
it could have been our

895
01:09:58,755 --> 01:10:01,698
daughter, it could have
been our granddaughter.

896
01:10:01,740 --> 01:10:04,913
We don't want this to
continue, we want it to stop.

897
01:10:04,955 --> 01:10:05,748
Justice.

898
01:10:05,790 --> 01:10:09,305
- - Tragic violence that
Indigenous women, and

899
01:10:09,347 --> 01:10:12,783
girls have experienced
amounts to genocide.

900
01:10:13,740 --> 01:10:15,498
- Their killings have mobilized many.

901
01:10:15,540 --> 01:10:19,098
They've made it clear that there
is no reconciliation without justice.

902
01:10:19,140 --> 01:10:23,028
So today we call for love,
for Tina; for justice for Tina.

903
01:10:23,070 --> 01:10:25,098
And we call on the Federal
Government to commit

904
01:10:25,140 --> 01:10:27,888
to fundamental change so
that no Indigenous woman

905
01:10:27,930 --> 01:10:31,993
and no Indigenous man go
missing or are murdered ever again.

906
01:10:35,220 --> 01:10:39,558
- Change has occurred
because the Canada was forced

907
01:10:39,600 --> 01:10:42,003
to change through a Human Rights decision.

908
01:10:42,990 --> 01:10:48,078
That opened up doors of acknowledging
that the System is not working.

909
01:10:48,120 --> 01:10:50,988
If we're not dealing with
the community change

910
01:10:51,030 --> 01:10:56,268
that's necessary, all of our people are
just going to be continually moved out.

911
01:10:56,310 --> 01:10:58,263
That system needs to change.

912
01:10:59,430 --> 01:11:00,708
Let's have our own system.

913
01:11:00,750 --> 01:11:03,258
And to me, that's true self
determination, you know,

914
01:11:03,300 --> 01:11:07,488
that's really us deciding how do
we want to care, for our children.

915
01:11:07,530 --> 01:11:09,888
And it's not up to Quebec
or Canada to do that.

916
01:11:09,930 --> 01:11:11,868
It really is up to our own nation.

917
01:11:11,910 --> 01:11:16,338
- For a century now, based
on discriminatory policies

918
01:11:16,380 --> 01:11:22,248
of Government, we have been
taking children away from their families.

919
01:11:22,290 --> 01:11:27,175
It started with Residential Schools,
it continued in the '60s Scoop

920
01:11:27,217 --> 01:11:31,953
and still today, children are
being taken from their families.

921
01:11:33,348 --> 01:11:37,938
And this legislation marks a
turning point to say no more.

922
01:11:37,980 --> 01:11:41,161
- Prevention in the truest
sense of a word, meaning that

923
01:11:41,203 --> 01:11:44,268
children do not ever enter
the Child Welfare System.

924
01:11:44,310 --> 01:11:48,108
So if our goal is to not only
keep children in communities,

925
01:11:48,150 --> 01:11:52,608
but to keep children from entering the
Child Welfare System at all, communities

926
01:11:52,650 --> 01:11:58,145
must have the right to Self-Determine what
that looks like for them.

927
01:12:08,100 --> 01:12:11,193
Mary Teegee
from Takla Nation has been

928
01:12:11,235 --> 01:12:14,328
an advocate, for Indigenous
rights for over 20 years.

929
01:12:14,370 --> 01:12:18,888
She has worked to advance
self-determination, and self-governance.

930
01:12:18,930 --> 01:12:22,008
The importance of culture
at the forefront of her mission.

931
01:12:22,050 --> 01:12:25,008
And now, for the first
time in colonized history,

932
01:12:25,050 --> 01:12:28,458
under bill C-92, Indigenous communities

933
01:12:28,500 --> 01:12:32,673
across the country have the opportunity
to develop, and implement their own laws.

934
01:13:04,230 --> 01:13:08,988
- I am Gitxsan, and I am a
proud Bear Lake Gitxsan.

935
01:13:09,030 --> 01:13:13,038
In order to know where you're going,
you have to know where we've been.

936
01:13:13,080 --> 01:13:17,238
So if you think about
pre-contact times, how we used

937
01:13:17,280 --> 01:13:19,998
to take care of our children, we took care

938
01:13:20,040 --> 01:13:24,528
of our children in community,
the whole old saying,

939
01:13:24,570 --> 01:13:28,278
of course the saying, it takes
a community to raise a child.

940
01:13:28,320 --> 01:13:33,933
Well, we live that, we lived
by our Ayook, we live by

941
01:13:33,975 --> 01:13:39,588
our Potlatch Laws, and
that's what maintains balance.

942
01:13:39,630 --> 01:13:42,153
We had holistic balance, pre-contact.

943
01:13:43,200 --> 01:13:46,578
And I think I always say
this, one of the first impacts

944
01:13:46,620 --> 01:13:48,783
of Residential School is heartbreak.

945
01:13:49,890 --> 01:13:51,588
It is not your fault.

946
01:13:51,630 --> 01:13:55,803
It is not our fault for
all the atrocities that

947
01:13:55,845 --> 01:14:00,018
have occurred and
how the societal ails that,

948
01:14:00,060 --> 01:14:04,818
all of the issues that we're dealing with,
it's not our fault, may not be our fault,

949
01:14:04,860 --> 01:14:10,533
but it is our collective responsibility
to fix that, to heal from that.

950
01:14:30,918 --> 01:14:35,337
- And when we talk about
those Ancestors, we will be the

951
01:14:35,379 --> 01:14:39,717
Ancestors of those not yet
born, because we are going

952
01:14:39,759 --> 01:14:43,850
to be taken back our
rightful place as the decision

953
01:14:43,892 --> 01:14:48,558
makers in our children, and
families lives long overdue.

954
01:14:48,600 --> 01:14:50,958
And that's what we're celebrating today.

955
01:14:51,000 --> 01:14:53,343
When we blow those
feathers in front of the Federal

956
01:14:53,385 --> 01:14:55,728
Government, in front of
the Provincial Government,

957
01:14:55,770 --> 01:15:00,708
in front of all our leaders,
it is with the best intent,

958
01:15:00,750 --> 01:15:03,843
it is for our children
and those not yet born.

959
01:15:04,800 --> 01:15:09,800
- And so today, after all
the decades of fighting,

960
01:15:09,990 --> 01:15:13,488
as of June 20th, a
Federal enabling legislation

961
01:15:13,530 --> 01:15:18,723
was passed so that we can assume authority
of our own children and families.

962
01:15:19,950 --> 01:15:23,688
No longer will you be
under the Provincial Child

963
01:15:23,730 --> 01:15:26,238
and Family Community Services Act.

964
01:15:26,280 --> 01:15:32,778
What you're going to be signing today is
a historic document that's going to state

965
01:15:32,820 --> 01:15:36,468
that you are going to make
your own Gitxsan laws,

966
01:15:36,510 --> 01:15:39,093
and that will be the law of the land.

967
01:15:40,170 --> 01:15:45,170
- No longer will a child be
ripped away from their family,

968
01:15:46,290 --> 01:15:48,588
their clans, their
community, and their lands

969
01:15:48,630 --> 01:15:53,328
where they have the right,
the innate the God given right to be.

970
01:15:53,370 --> 01:15:57,798
So long from time from
now, 100 years from now,

971
01:15:57,840 --> 01:16:01,728
they will remember this day
and they will say remember them,

972
01:16:01,770 --> 01:16:04,833
remember those Ancestors
of days gone by that

973
01:16:04,875 --> 01:16:07,938
fought, for our children
that fought for us

974
01:16:07,980 --> 01:16:12,980
so that we can grow up in the
warm embrace of our culture,

975
01:16:13,290 --> 01:16:16,663
of our land, of our families,
where we rightfully belong.

976
01:16:16,705 --> 01:16:18,467
That in this day we're starting today.

977
01:17:03,570 --> 01:17:05,628
Funding is absolutely critical.

978
01:17:05,670 --> 01:17:10,278
And along with that is ensuring that again,
it's a First Nations led process.

979
01:17:10,320 --> 01:17:14,658
Anything that is directed by the Federal
Government is not what communities need.

980
01:17:14,700 --> 01:17:17,058
We have a history of the
Federal Government saying

981
01:17:17,100 --> 01:17:21,183
that they know best when it comes
to First Nations, and it's a dark history.

982
01:17:22,410 --> 01:17:26,568
This isn't about charity,
help rescuing First Nations kids.

983
01:17:26,610 --> 01:17:31,398
This is about co-creating a
society where every kid counts.

984
01:17:31,440 --> 01:17:38,840
Every kid is worth the money, and we're
all richer when everyone's differences

985
01:17:39,000 --> 01:17:42,618
are not overcome, but they're celebrated.

986
01:17:42,660 --> 01:17:47,448
Recognize their skill base,
recognize their understanding.

987
01:17:47,490 --> 01:17:50,118
And when you do that, the
can take it, they take it over

988
01:17:50,160 --> 01:17:55,160
and you succeed because
it's their program, not ours.

989
01:17:55,617 --> 01:17:58,338
I think this program
is wonderful to bring them

990
01:17:58,380 --> 01:18:00,168
and get them away from that environment

991
01:18:00,210 --> 01:18:03,918
and show them something
else and give them a chance.

992
01:18:03,960 --> 01:18:07,878
Give them a fighting chance because that's
all we're about, giving them a chance.

993
01:18:07,920 --> 01:18:12,555
This river, this land is
what's going to teach them.

994
01:18:12,597 --> 01:18:14,538
We got to bring them.

995
01:18:14,580 --> 01:18:16,754
We got to bring them, maybe kicking and

996
01:18:16,796 --> 01:18:19,308
screaming sometimes,
but we got to bring them

997
01:18:19,350 --> 01:18:26,853
because it's all about knowing who you are,
and being proud of who you are.

998
01:18:40,440 --> 01:18:42,755
Justin Trudeau
made the announcement from

999
01:18:42,797 --> 01:18:45,381
Rideau Cottage, Friday,
saying the initiative will result

1000
01:18:45,423 --> 01:18:50,418
in fewer kids in care and will
reunite Indigenous families.

1001
01:18:50,460 --> 01:18:55,937
- Our Government is investing $542
million to Indigenous communities

1002
01:18:55,979 --> 01:19:01,128
to exercise full jurisdiction
over Child and Family Services.

1003
01:19:01,170 --> 01:19:04,158
This is vital to moving
forward on our promise

1004
01:19:04,200 --> 01:19:07,654
to address the unacceptable
injustices that too many

1005
01:19:07,696 --> 01:19:11,013
kids and families have
faced in the care system.

1006
01:20:03,930 --> 01:20:07,462
- Just the history of
who First Nations people

1007
01:20:07,504 --> 01:20:10,878
are, and what we've suffered is not known.

1008
01:20:10,920 --> 01:20:13,405
So that alone trying to
get that out there and say,

1009
01:20:13,447 --> 01:20:19,308
"No, there really was attempts at
assimilation. This is what happened."

1010
01:20:19,350 --> 01:20:23,250
When we don't face those truths,
it's hard then to make concrete change.

1011
01:20:24,630 --> 01:20:27,558
- Indigenous people have
always said that whatever you do,

1012
01:20:27,600 --> 01:20:32,703
your actions, you must think seven
generations down, it will carry on.

1013
01:20:35,430 --> 01:20:38,568
But there's also the
power of healing through

1014
01:20:38,610 --> 01:20:41,748
different actions and
different experiences

1015
01:20:41,790 --> 01:20:47,388
in your life where you can actually
clean up some of this all schmuck.

1016
01:20:47,430 --> 01:20:50,928
- If there's ever a key
in prevention, it truly

1017
01:20:50,970 --> 01:20:55,970
is teaching our ways, and
then it's okay to be Mi'Kmaw,

1018
01:20:56,647 --> 01:21:00,153
it's okay to be Cree,
it's okay to be Mohawk.

1019
01:21:01,950 --> 01:21:06,628
That we are just as important
as anyone else in this world.

1020
01:21:13,110 --> 01:21:16,736
It is the children that
count, and they rely on us to ensure

1021
01:21:16,778 --> 01:21:20,253
that they have all the opportunities
to reach their full potential.

1022
01:21:26,733 --> 01:21:29,868
I want to see
them not growing up and having

1023
01:21:29,910 --> 01:21:32,268
to recover from their childhoods,

1024
01:21:32,310 --> 01:21:34,848
that being First Nations
doesn't hold them back,

1025
01:21:34,890 --> 01:21:37,128
that it's a foothold of
them being successful

1026
01:21:37,170 --> 01:21:38,470
in whatever that dream is.

1027
01:21:41,271 --> 01:21:43,938
- We have to open this
up to the world, we have to.

1028
01:21:43,980 --> 01:21:46,518
When we are
proud and our kids, then our kids

1029
01:21:46,560 --> 01:21:48,610
will see that and the kids will be proud.

1030
01:21:50,160 --> 01:21:53,718
- The more efforts that we
can do in support filming,

1031
01:21:53,760 --> 01:21:58,760
radio, books, knowledge,
having dialogues in the Senate,

1032
01:21:59,173 --> 01:22:03,108
when you have a First
Nations person stand up

1033
01:22:03,150 --> 01:22:07,608
or a non-First Nations person
speak Mohawk in the middle

1034
01:22:07,650 --> 01:22:10,227
of Parliament, which had
never happened before.

1035
01:22:23,640 --> 01:22:26,658
- Those kinds of efforts bring awareness.

1036
01:22:26,700 --> 01:22:29,008
And the more awareness
we can have, the greater

1037
01:22:29,050 --> 01:22:31,308
chance we have of
actually realizing change.

1038
01:22:31,350 --> 01:22:32,538
- Are we where we should be?

1039
01:22:32,580 --> 01:22:33,888
No.

1040
01:22:33,930 --> 01:22:36,509
But have we made huge
strides and better than most?

1041
01:22:36,551 --> 01:22:39,137
I think we have over
the course of the last

1042
01:22:39,179 --> 01:22:42,200
number of years, but
we've got a long way to go.

1043
01:22:45,240 --> 01:22:48,948
It is not just about
reducing the number of children in care.

1044
01:22:48,990 --> 01:22:52,548
It is about creating healthy communities
that support everyone.

1045
01:22:52,590 --> 01:22:57,858
Giving them equal access to health
services, a safe home, and culture.

1046
01:22:57,900 --> 01:23:00,528
In order to do this, we
must ensure that funding

1047
01:23:00,570 --> 01:23:05,718
in the future is secure and approached
holistically, for generations to come.

1048
01:23:05,760 --> 01:23:07,038
- So that these families

1049
01:23:07,080 --> 01:23:11,448
and these children can
grow up safely together

1050
01:23:11,490 --> 01:23:13,938
and deal with the challenges they have,

1051
01:23:13,980 --> 01:23:19,203
but in a way where they really
honors who they are, that's magic.

1052
01:23:20,220 --> 01:23:24,138
- We can't say how we
feel other than grateful,

1053
01:23:24,180 --> 01:23:26,508
because at one point,
the Government was trying

1054
01:23:26,550 --> 01:23:29,616
to take this away from us, trying to take.

1055
01:23:29,658 --> 01:23:33,423
As it's worded, it's trying
to take the Indian out of us.

1056
01:23:34,350 --> 01:23:36,768
So we're grateful that we
even still have our culture,

1057
01:23:36,810 --> 01:23:38,268
and we still have our languages,

1058
01:23:38,310 --> 01:23:42,558
and we still have our songs,
and we still have our people,

1059
01:23:42,600 --> 01:23:47,600
because our people went
through a tremendous battle just

1060
01:23:47,687 --> 01:23:51,170
for us to be here today
and to have our culture.