I was raised in Bunibonibee Cree Nation, an isolated community in northern Manitoba filled with mostly other Cree people, and it shaped who I am. It structured how I think. When I was growing up, I thought the rest of the world was just as nurturing and loving as my own community — a place where all people helped each other in times of need, a place where people respected each other and shared what they had with each other. Bad things sometimes happened, but somehow it always felt like there was more good than bad.
However, in some ways it was all a facade. My parents, one a residential school survivor and the other a day school survivor, made a choice to be the best parents they could be in spite of what they experienced as children who grew up in a world that was being colonized — in spite of their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents being told that everything they knew about themselves and their world was wrong and unclean.
There are many other Indigenous families who have been irreparably damaged by the intentional undermining and derogation of their culture and identity. There is ample evidence of that in urban areas, where many people are openly struggling to survive on the streets and in poorer neighbourhoods, as well as in too many First Nations reserves in Canada.
I am thankful for my resilient parents, who, like many other Indigenous parents, found a way to shield my siblings and me from the hardships of life, at least in our formative years. Because of parents like them, we are seeing many healthy Indigenous people who are thriving today, in spite of what happened to them and their families. It is important to remember that all families, including Indigenous families in this country, want what many Canadians already enjoy — a good life. A life that allows us to care for everyone in our families and communities in the most positive and healthy way.
But right now, in this bountiful country we now know as Canada, the original people of this land, with a few exceptions, are living in Third World conditions, treated with disdain and disrespect and forced to live in abject poverty. The questions we all need to ask ourselves are the four w’s and the h! What, When, Where, Why and How.
Let the People Speak: Oppression in a Time of Reconciliation will start you on a path to answering those questions for yourself — where you as a Canadian citizen fit into all of this, and how you may find a way to help change the course of history, starting from where you are. If you are hoping our country is truly that place where everyone is getting what they need to be healthy contributing members of society, you should be involved.
Let the People Speak sets out in plain English what a treaty is and what the sacred agreements signed generations ago have to do with what is happening today. The sacred agreements signed between the British Crown and the First Nations of this land — agreements that essentially formed what Canada is today — laid out how original inhabitants and newcomers should live peaceably with one another. You will clearly see how the acknowledgement of sharing the land and seeing the treaties fulfilled can help this country live sustainably and be the beacon of human rights protection it portrays itself to be.
Indigenous history is finally being taught in many schools in Canada and even shared at dinner tables and book club meetings. But not everyone has had the chance to learn about the remarkable history of the First Peoples and how things came to be the way they are today. Sheilla Jones does an incredible job summarizing federal Indigenous political history in Canada over the past 150 years, with a particular focus on the past fifty years. Reading the results of her in-depth research on the subject, including how treaties come into play, will help get you up to speed on what you need to understand if you are interested in being part of a country that cares for all of its people. Others have written extensively on historical Indigenous issues. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples contributed five volumes; the Truth and Reconciliation Commission illuminated a sorry chapter in Canada’s treatment of Indigenous children, and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Inquiry Report has added more. The question still to be answered: what do we do to keep old patterns from repeating themselves?
The place I came from is what Canada can and should be for all of us — a country that cares for all of its citizens, willingly helps others in times of need, and knows the value of sharing. But more than that, the country I would like to see for my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren is most likely the same country you want to see, too. A country where all children receive the best education that allows them to compete for opportunities and become the self-sustaining citizens we all want to be, while understanding the importance of helping others who struggle.
The discussion about raising treaty annuities explored in this book can lead to a real path of reconciliation, one that does not oppress anyone. While First Nations citizens are resilient and have the ability to overcome great tragedies, their voices in their own homelands are not being heard. We hear some of the leaders and advocates who know how to get media attention, but the average citizen who is the most impacted by Canada’s colonial policies is largely ignored. To me, I see the strength and winds of change contained in these voices.
As natural stewards of the land, ordinary Indigenous citizens have this country’s best interests at heart, and have an outstanding capacity to welcome others. The time to include the original people of this land in decision-making on all aspects of this country, especially in how it affects their daily lives, is now. What is the alternative? To keep living in denial that Indigenous people deserve better? To keep spending money on problems that seem unsolvable?
Let the People Speak: Oppression in a Time of Reconciliation will challenge you as you see the repeated patterns of how the Government of Canada has intentionally tried to do away with the Treaties through assimilation and termination policies — even to this day with Canada’s “Rights Recognition Framework” — in order to keep denying the original people of this land their fair share of resources as intended in the treaties. To live in ignorance is bliss, but at what cost? If you would like to see everyone in Canada contributing to enriching our society, in whatever unique way people might choose, then this book is for you.
Sheila North
Former Grand Chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO)