Build enduring relationship with First Nations in Canada
Is Saskatchewan a racist haven? Are First Nations relations there a disaster? No more and no less than anywhere else in Canada.
In the days following a jury’s decision to acquit a farmer in the shooting death of a young First Nations man, Colten Boushie, all I can tell you is it’s complicated. After a life spent in Saskatchewan, I can tell you everything you’re hearing on multiple sides of the debate is not necessarily all true. After a life spent in journalism, I can tell you that is always the case with big issues and big stories, no matter the issue. Such is the reality of fiery headlines.
Is it serious? Yes, it’s the most serious issue Saskatchewan will ever face.
Is it real? Yes, and not just at the sterile level of public policy, but at an intensely human level as well. I am heartbroken when friend and Creative Fire colleague Bonnie Leask tweets: “I look over at my husband, my rock, my Cree man I worry for him, for me, for our family and our communities as I read ‘not guilty’ ever so gently, he holds me as I sob. I feel the strength we have together and know we will continue to fight for what is right in a system so wrong.”
Is there progress? Creative Fire, where I once worked and Leask toils today, used to be owned by white guys like me. Now it’s majority-owned by the economic development arm of English River First Nation, led by an impressive young First Nations president, and home to some of the best young First Nations minds and leaders you will ever meet.
Is the Indigenous Rights Framework announced by Prime Minister Trudeau this past week important?
When a jury includes none of your peers, something must change. I’ve been covering and observing Chief Perry Bellegarde, head of the Assembly of First Nations, most of my life. He’s a Saskatchewan guy. He pulls no punches. He started out rough — as most of us did — and has matured into a fine leader. On questions like this framework, which I have little ability to understand, he says it’s important. If the Chief says it’s not just important, but critical, I default to his informed position.
Is there hope? Yes. I have been the Big Brother of a Cree Little Brother from the impoverished Little Pine Reserve in Saskatchewan since 1984. I have visited that kid in jail and I have watched him graduate from high school. I have seen the Office of the Treaty Commissioner introduce to every classroom in Saskatchewan treaty information kits advancing the thesis “we are all treaty people.” I have seen initiatives which encouraged First Nations students to become journalists soar to success. I have seen controversial diversity hiring targets at the newspaper of which I was supposed to be leading crash and burn. This is complex stuff with no easy wins, no easy answers.
Is there a path forward? My experience in attending elementary school with First Nations kids has made all the difference in my outlook. It taught me we can move ahead with simple respect, a willingness to talk openly, to walk side by side and to stand in mutual support.
If First Nations teach non-First Nations the wisdom of their culture and the depth of their knowledge of life and community, and if non-First Nations communities extend the same consideration, we have a chance to build a community that works. The secret is openly and frankly sharing our abilities, cultures and knowledge and mobilizing that intensive exchange of experience and insight to build communities where all are welcome and all are respected.
That is the future of places such as Saskatchewan and that is the future of Canada. It is about maintaining a constructive frame of reference, no matter the odds. If we can do that together, respecting the culture, rights and ways of each other, we will find the path forward. There will be reason for hope in building an enduring relationship between First Nations and Canada.
That’s not so complex.
My experience in attending elementary school with First Nations kids taught me we can move ahead with simple respect, a willingness to talk openly, to walk side by side and to stand in mutual support