I’ve been really bad about writing in my journal. So much time has passed already. A lot of things have happened, but each thing just seems to be part of my whole summer. I always thought at home that time passed differently between the school year and the summer. But this is like summer on steroids, with each day flowing into the next like, well, like a river.
There are a few things I want to write down here, so I don’t forget. Noki and Dad tell me some pretty important things. I think I should try and remember them.
The stories that Noki tells are about why things are the way they are. And I’m starting to see how her stories of way back are really about the things we are going through now. She told me how her sister lost her status when she married her husband because he was English. But then non-Indigenous women would get a status card just because they married a Native man. She said there have been changes to try to get rid of gender discrimination, and a new generation of people are getting their status back. She talked about not letting people call it a “tax card” at the store. It’s a treaty card, a status card, NOT a tax card.
One night, Dad tried to explain treaties to me, and how if you are a Canadian citizen, then you are a treaty person. He says we are all treaty people. Not just Indigenous people, but all people who have to live with the way things were made when treaties were signed. But there were people who didn’t sign treaties back in the day. And they don’t consider themselves treaty people because they never surrendered lands in the first place! It’s so complicated.
I’m surprised how interesting I find this stuff. Dad talked to me about taking Indigenous Studies in the fall. He said I could learn a ton more about the government and how it has treated Indigenous peoples. He even used the word “genocide,” which I sort of get.
I’ve been going to the youth circle every week for the past three weeks, and that’s where I’ve really learned that a person’s stories are the way to know them.
Reed, Dre’s cousin, finally spoke last week. He said he is sad, but that’s not why he hadn’t been sharing. He said that he didn’t see the point because the police aren’t doing their job and finding out what happened to his sister. He is so angry, like he wants to avenge her death or something. But why can’t the police keep people safe in the first place? I couldn’t help but think about the people dragging the river we drove by when I first got here. Every time I think about it, I just feel sick to my stomach.
A girl named Jenna talked about her boyfriend being messaged by another girl. I mean, I can see how it would make you mad. But then she mentioned that after her mother disappeared last year, everything was just huge and hard to deal with.
A guy named Toby said that he is Cree and something else. But he didn’t know what else because he doesn’t know who his dad is. He keeps asking his mom, but she won’t tell him anything. He said he has tried asking in a kind way, but his mom just makes it into a fight. He said he was really tired because his mother had another party the night before, with tons of people he didn’t even know. “They listen to terrible music and they stink,” he said, giggling.
Some of the kids have been talking about reclaiming spaces and places. I don’t really understand. But I think it’s like being proud of who you are as an Indigenous person, everywhere and anywhere. And making our presence as Indigenous people known, so that we don’t stay invisible. One girl she said she is no longer shy to wear her beadwork everywhere, and not just at powwows. She talked about how she used try to blend into the background. She didn’t want to bring attention to herself as an Indigenous person in Winnipeg. Now, she says, “No, dammit. This is our land, our space. I’m proud of who I am and who my family is. I am reclaiming this space.”
Elaine talked about the different meanings of reclaiming space. Some groups are reclaiming actual lands, and not just public spaces. Lots of new learning for me for sure. All the stories are connected in some way, and all the people are connected by the stories they tell each other. I guess I just have to figure out where my own story fits into all this.
It’s pretty ironic that all this learning will stop when and if I go to university.