We are more than feathers and drums

All Canadians should research their shared history with Indigenous communities to recognize and acknowledge the part all ancestors played, beginning with original contact which was welcoming, friendly and helpful.

The fact Indigenous people nursed ancestors of newcomers back to health upon arrival, recognizing they were near death, seeking a place of safety, fleeing discrimination, oppression and mass murder in Europe, seeking health, leaving behind famine and poverty, seeking freedom to practice their own religions and so much more in what was termed the new world (research “Dismantle Doctrine of Discovery”).

Descendants of those newcomers have benefited greatly through the generations, however, unfortunately, have lost their memories of how their great lives have come to be — basically due to their governments keeping the truth from them, lying to them about Indigenous people and ultimately benefiting at the expense and demise of the Indigenous populations under the false belief of the Doctrine of Discovery.

The waking up process is difficult for some yet there is now no reason to not take up the responsibility of not just correcting wrongs and ensuring history is rewritten in truth. This is happening all over Canada as First Peoples are given first priority.

All legislation, policies and regulations must be scrutinized and addressed with this view in mind and there can no longer be anything done without our consent, knowledge and involvement; nothing about us, without us.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has declared there is no relationship more important to Canada than that with Indigenous peoples. He is absolutely right as without the Indigenous peoples, there would be no Canada.

We nursed you when your ancestors arrived, we saved your skin in the War of 1812, the list goes on and on.

When Canadians realize why the

North West Mounted Police (now RCMP) was first established (to keep control of or kill the Indigenous people) and realize all policing in Canada flows from that earliest organization, they begin to see and understand how national policing later affected provincial policing and eventually regional policing up to this day.

Is it any wonder then policing all over Canada has not done justice to the Indigenous women who have been murdered or gone missing? The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls must not be an exercise in futility.

It represents a massive amount of work that started with Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) in the mid- to late-1980s and resulted in the first ever report, “Breaking Free (1989),” which first identified the need for Indigenous women’s safety, followed by summits, resolutions to Native Women of Canada and partners joining in who all accepted the call to finally have a national inquiry for which ONWA pushed and took the lead all along the way.

Indigenous women’s lives matter. They are the foundation of our families, communities and nations.

This is why we need a full investigation into each and every incident of policing involving Indigenous women and family members — now.

Every Canadian should be mortified with the latest, very public murder. It screams and begs the question: why was an officer able to get his gun out and kill a young Indigenous woman when he was on wellness check in the Maritimes?

The only answer is he already had his gun out and, my friends, that is the reality and it speaks volumes.

These incidents are inexcusable and need to be punished. There can be no impunity for law enforcement any longer — First Peoples are first priority. Let’s get it right this time as the time to act is now. No more nice, patronizing and placating words. Let’s see action.