 We are also honored this morning with the presence of our elders and with this whole week their insights, understanding for what is going on with us as young people, the words of wisdom that have guided us the entire things of the way. We've decided that it would be good to have a panel discussion with them to discuss each one of them in their own words. What is important, what we're doing, how it works with indigenous purposes, what respect means, whatever comes to mind it comes with our heart to share with us this heart. So we'll begin with this end of the data and work our way down to the other hand to ask her, I mean to turn up. I just spoke away about a conversation and that will be the beginning of our morning. Haida kawa. Haida we have two ways of saying it to you, two ways of saying thank you. Kawa is to me just a common thank you. If you're speaking to a man greatly respected you say how us die. If you're speaking to a woman greatly esteemed you say how a cool job. So for Chris, wherever she might be right now. I think the one thing. How a cool job, Chris. And to all of you, how us die before this entire week that we have been together, really together and transformed. How us die, how a cool job. I will be honest. We have gatherings in Ottawa. I look at my time and if I have a free moment I rent home, talk to my wife or see my grandchildren. But when I'm out of Ottawa, I participate more on the evening sessions, et cetera, et cetera. And also I think I mentioned last year and you before, although we have on a schedule, not very much on in-week issues or that sort of stuff throughout the week. Although I really enjoy my time yesterday morning and talking with you individually. And I put in my 100% effort to share with you about my past, about my culture, about my family, about my experience. And I learned also lots from some of you who share your personal stories on METI and First Nation World. Thank you very much. Something struck when I was talking to my elders back home. It was so far back. It was still called Eskimo Point. Now, I'll feed it today. This gentleman has a strong feeling of passing on his language and culture to a younger generation. And he did that by recording what he believed and talking to young people what he believed. So I want to share with you just a very short reading from that man. He's no longer with us today. His name was Donald Suluk. And it's called Searing Knowledge. And this was recorded or written in 1987, sharing knowledge by Donald Suluk. Young people often ask their elders about life long ago. They ask about many things. And the person who is asked to explain as best as they can. Although there are some things that are no longer being done, many things are whole true today. Like having to wear a right kind of warm clothing to go out hunting when the weather is minus 40, minus 50. These days our elders and our young people have different kinds of knowledge. Elders know about things practiced long ago. And young people know more about how things are done today. For the good of everyone, elders and young people should communicate and share their knowledge. It is not good for a person to worry about something for a long time. When they can't do things properly, they tend to give up. If they worry, they begin to look worn out, like a person who is too tired, too cold, or too hungry. This can happen even when it appears there is nothing else wrong with their lives or with their relationship with others. If a young person's parents behave badly or don't act like adults, the young person may become very unhappy. And he will worry because he can't talk to them about it. He or she knows it is not her role to advise his elders. We should try to be good parents so that our young people will be happy. We should try to make sure our young people are not about us or afraid of us. Everyone knows it is frightening for young people when their parents are unhappy because the youngsters have nowhere else to turn. Parents must act properly. They should not just try to be bossy and make young people afraid of them. Being very frightened and making people comprehensive won't make things any better. I always told that we have to be wise like our elders. And of course, I have been also told that even sometimes elders do things that are wrong. And this is by Leid Daniels, who looks at Wachwiet. I really love sharing it. That's all for me. Thank you. I was struck by some words of John's this morning. He said that when he discovered he was Haida, he began looking for his heritage. I guess we have that in common because when I discovered that I was Metis, I thought, that can't be possible. There was a family gathering in Central Alberta and we didn't know whether we belonged to that group or not. But my niece and I went. It was a Sunday that we went down and we thought we would check them out. If we liked their looks, they were in. We would accept them as family. And if not, well, we would look elsewhere. But it turned out that they were all related to us. So they were in. But meeting that group that evening for supper, they had gathered at an old family site. And there was a family graveyard there. So that was the activity we checked out the graveyard. But that evening for supper, there were 1200 people that were served. So my goodness, and I thought I was an orphan. You sort of wonder which is better. But it was quite lovely. And also among this group was a genealogist from Edmonton who had been studying the Metis of Western Canada for quite a few years. And he was delighted to meet us because he had been researching our family as well. Later on, he and Gail Moran collaborated in producing a book on the Metis of Western Canada. So we have that thing in common, John. I didn't go as far as you did. But then Metis are nomadic people, so how could I? I've really enjoyed being with you all this week. I feel that it's quite a privilege to have listened to you as individuals, but also to learn what you're working on and what you're attempting to do in terms of relating to Indigenous people. It's almost like a dream come true to meet you and to know that there are people who are interested in our history and our lives and are doing something about it, even if it is just recording the history or whatever you're into researching. There needs to be a lot of further research into the health of Aboriginal people. When I was involved with the study of chronic diseases for Metis people, we know that our physiology is different from First Nations and Inuit. We were able to identify what were prone to the kinds of diseases that will affect us. It was not a happy picture, actually. I found out that I'm prone to heart disease and other circulatory illnesses. But it made me realize that in identifying some of the diseases that would affect us as a family, it was useful to know that we weren't at fault in our lifestyles for developing these kinds of diseases that we were already prone to them in some way. I hope that there will be more research in that area of physical illnesses, but also I understand that there's a new illness that is affecting the Inuit and it's sort of diet related. I just heard this about a week ago from a friend of mine whose husband has had this illness for over a year. It seems to be an intestinal disease, but probably, and it's very early in the diagnosis of that disease. I hope to get more information about it because in my working with the Inuit, they have enough to cope with without developing another disease to worry about. I'm glad to hear that Dr. Kirtmaier and his assistants in Montreal are working on studying Aboriginal mental health and probably just preparing some tools to address the issues. Finally, we are beginning to have a lot of psychiatric nurses and also even psychiatrists are cropping up amongst our population, so that's all good news. I think so much needs to be done to develop proper tools for examination and diagnosis that are suitable to each of the groups. There's a whole raft of research projects out there that you could undertake, should you wish to. This to me is a good start just to know what work is going on and perhaps what work that you will continue in the future. I've learned a great deal this week and I'm one of those that I think John described as looking tired and not well, but I'm just tired and today my hair is tired, so what can you do? David and I went to the Community Action and Police Committee meeting last night and I'm sure he's tired today. It's a committee that is made up of, it addresses race relations and diversity and each of us have been selected by our communities to represent our community on that committee. The committee is made up of most of the ethnic groups in Ottawa, but there are still a few missing. There are two groups of Somali people in Ottawa and those groups each have a representative on this committee and there are Muslims and everybody, African people. I just feel so privileged to be able to relate to representatives from those different groups. It's an opportunity to get to know them and to understand their histories and actually with the black community we've discovered that their history is similar to ours in terms of being shifted around and persecuted to some extent. When my great uncle escaped to the United States during the real resistance, that impact had on our family was quite explosive actually. First of all, the name change took place. The people in this little community of our family went off in different directions so that the whole family structure was. I guess we sort of went underground, although I didn't know anything until I started researching my genealogy. They dispersed to northern Canada and the western Canada and also to the United States, to Michigan and to Montana particularly. I'm continuing to sort out who these people are. Two years ago I discovered that we have Blackfoot relatives. My niece and I went to this. That was my daughter and I. I get those two mixed up because they're very close to me. Only one's dead. Anyway, we went to Montana to check them out. I followed the family of this great uncle. When he came out of isolation, he sent for his wife. She packed up the kids in a wagon and drove from Central Alberta to Montana. She had to go to anybody that she met on the way. She told them that she was going back home to South Dakota or somewhere. That's the direction she went. Then went into the United States and figured out where to go next. At least she had gotten out of the questioning period. The danger of running into people that she knew. Then when she stopped in the United States, she met a person who was traveling by horseback from Montana to this area where she was. She asked him if he knew her husband. He said yes. She said, well, when you get back, you tell him that where I am and I'm not moving another step until he comes to get me. She was sick and tired of driving these horses. The kids and the cows and chickens and extra horses all his way across Canada. Anyway, she was a teacher. He was a rancher. His homestead is still in Montana. The family uses it as a summer home. He's a legend in that area because he was a sharpshooter and an excellent hunter. Of course, he knew how to survive in the wilderness, which may not be useful today, but certainly was then. It's interesting that the action of one person can really fracture a whole community or whatever and causing them to spread out into different areas. You'll probably find that in some of your readings as well, that there used to be a community here, but they left. Our family never talked about anybody, relatives or whatever. I remember one night, I must have been about three or so, but I was wakened up in the middle of the night that we had visitors. There were two men who were traveling through our area, and I was frightened of them, but I was being shown off to them, well, here's our latest baby, blah, blah, blah, but I didn't want to have anything to do with them. They were very white, but they were my mother's brothers. I remember that one was named Isaac, and I had never heard that name before, so I didn't want to have anything to do with them. When I began researching my genealogy, these two guys were going north. That's all I remember from that. I didn't even know what north was. But anyway, it was something quite exotic according to the atmosphere in the room, and I believe that they went north to the lubricant settlement and established themselves there, and the community is named after them. So I probably have relatives there, but it's on my to-do list to check them out. The Blackfoot outside of Calgary were very welcoming to us when we went there, and their descendants of my great-grandfather had six sons, and some of them, well, with the dispersion of everybody, some went to Montana and into married with the Blackfoot Nation. One of their descendants was adopted by the North of Calgary or somewhere, and they adopted him. He grew up with them, and they adopted him, and in the 60s he became their chief. It's a sick-sick reserve just outside of Calgary, and there they have this wonderful museum. It's so beautiful and has such extreme artifacts. In the foyer, they have huge paintings of all of their traditional chiefs and in their regalia and wonderful feathers and the whole thing, and it comes together like this, all these separate portraits. And then in the middle is my relative, their matey chief, whom they adopted as, so he's supposedly Blackfoot as well, and he's wearing a sports jacket and slacks. What word? Where's the regalia? But anyway, I've talked too long. I want to wish you all every good success in your work and also as you grow and overcome some of your shyness in venturing into the lives that you've chosen. I hope you will realize and appreciate the fact that the Creator and the spirits of our ancestors will be with you. Thank you. We were going to have her speak before, but I guess she had to go out for a minute, but I just want to say thank you for the invitation that I received for the university to come and speak on behalf of the people. I'm sitting here and listening to my elders speak about their knowledge and their people, and they were chosen to come and speak on their behalf. And I'm thinking about all the things I received to help me understand about the history of our people and all the medicines I received to help me understand who I am as an individual, as a megalomal person. I'm trying to make this short like, because I can be long winded. Our brother received his blanket that represents his community, his family, his brothers, his sisters, connecting with the animal spirit, which is the eagle clan and the crow clan, and learning about them and connecting with them and connecting with the land. Like I said, our people were always connected with the land, but they have forgotten. And we're here today to remind them a lot of our people back home need to stand up and take a hold of this, who they are, and be proud and value themselves. An elder had shared something with me a few years ago, what she had gone through, what happened to the screen. And she had received a peace pipe, and she didn't feel like she was worthy of it. So one night she went to bed, and the creator, Great Spirit, whatever you want to call him, or the guardian angel, came to her and asked her, why would you not feel worthy to carry this peace pipe? He said, you were chosen to carry these things to help your people. And she didn't know that word in her language, so when she woke up, she turned to her husband and asked, what does this mean? And he shared it in his language, you don't feel worthy enough, because this is what the spirit told her, you have to feel worthy for carrying these things in your life. These are your ancestors, these are the tools, or the medicines, I wouldn't call them tools, medicines that our ancestors carried, and we're just carrying them on. I just received a little bundle from my elder here, and I thank her. And like I said, the last 30 years of my life, I've been collecting my bundle and learning about the sacredness and to value that, because that's part of me. Our ancestors used these medicines to help them with their spirituality, to help them with their health. They honored all the animals and prayed to them when they took their lives. Everything was so sacred, and I said, oh my God, we were beautiful people. I had to feel that pride, I had to instill that pride back in me. And using all these medicines helped. I sat with an elder one time out west, and my first spiritual gathering I went to. And she said, while we were talking, she said, I seen a drum beside you. Have you ever asked for it? I said, I don't think so, because I don't know anything about this stuff. And I didn't, because my parents weren't brought up with it. So, well, a drum is coming to you, and if you do this is what you should do with it when it does. I said, oh, okay. And she told me a lot of things. We were up all night, I kept the poor old lady up, but I had to pour out my heart. Anyway, the drum that some people hold represents the whole community. The whole universe. There's the animal that they took the life of a deer, or an elk, or a moose, whatever they use. And the tree, and then whatever design that's on there or a logo, whatever you want to call it, represents something. Especially the big drum, the teaching that came to me from a young man, I don't even know who he is. Like I said, when the spirit moves people, they'll share their stories. And it represents the whole community, the people that are there to help one another. We talk about the beat of the drum represents the heartbeat of Mother Earth. And I know there was more to it than that. So when that teaching came to me, I said, that's it. And I'll share that teaching with you people. I haven't shared it with our people yet, not too many, maybe one on one. Because I would get overwhelmed by this. The big drum on the top part of the drum represents the women. That's why it's the heartbeat of Mother Earth, the women. And the bottom of the drum represents the man, not because he's less than us, because he's the hunter. He's closer to the land, goes fishing, provides the food for our people. The straps that ties the two hides together represents the council members. The people that work for us, the medicine men, so forth. And the other one that goes the other way represents the people. And we all hold on to one another as a community. And the stand that some don't have stands, but that's okay. There's a reason behind it. The stand represents the creator that holds us all. All these teachings, like everything we make, there was a purpose behind it and a meaning and there was value. These are our bundles we carry. We carry the whole community. We speak on behalf of our community to bring healing to our people. They take back their bundles to honor themselves. And I thank you that we can share, because we had talked about bridging that gap, sharing those teachings. And there's a lot more. Like I said, I can go on and on and on, but I'm not. I'm going to have to stop myself because there's my sister here that needs to speak to. But I thought I'd share that with you. And because you're trying to learn about what our people are about. Like I said, there's so much more. And a lot of our people don't have all this knowledge also. So we have to bring that back, because it has been lost or forgotten, because he was beaded out of them. So like I said, I thank you all for hearing our stories, hearing the heart of our people speak to you. And this is your bundle you're going to carry to bring to your people or to acknowledge the elders in a sacred way. Like I said, I thank my elder. And I had shared a few things about the bundle yesterday, because some people said, what is a bundle? Well, you have your own bundles there too, I see. The knowledge, do you want to carry the knowledge? That's a lot, not only for our people, but for your people to gain understanding. Well, Aliyo, thank you. So I have to say, I would like to share a song after. That's okay? Absolutely. Okay? Absolutely. Quick, okay now. I was told I had my microphone on wrong. So I said, I have to button up my shirt? He goes, no, you have to put it lower. So I have to unbutton my shirt. People say I bring a lot of sometimes humor and I sat, and why do that too as well? First of all, we have this understanding too, as well as part of like the clown medicine. We also have a lot of stories about the trickster. And what the trickster reminds us is sometimes too, we get so serious, that don't take yourself so seriously. Life's not meant to be serious all the time. We're here also to enjoy ourselves, that we have a good life. A good life is pamadzuin. So that's why I try and incorporate humor, because I do a lot of events. And one event was very heavy. And dealing with not only the disclosure, for example, of the murdered and missing, and for example, the residential school. So afterwards, it's a reminder too as well, because it changes your energy. And I always say that, I always remember that too, especially too as well. And I see that school can get pretty intense. Going back, I was going to say to as well, one of the things I learned this week too, is that there's good food here? And speaking of food, I love listening to, for example, Farrah. And she mentioned one of the biggest things is the Jerusalem artichoke. And she brought samples here on the table over there. And that's indigenous. It was an indigenous food product. And she was wondering why it was lost, like First Nations stopped using it. And I said, well, you've got to also understand too as well when the history and how, for example, for us, it's different again because of the reserve system. Even then, you were watched so much. And the degradation of the knowledge included the degradation of our understanding and connection to plants. Even when I was a little girl growing up, we had a medicine person across the road. And the police would come in harassing saying, if you make medicine, we're going to throw you in jail. And so people don't understand the system of oppression that we've been through. We didn't understand it either until all this residential school, TRC, came out. For us as Algonquin too, as well, the uniqueness is even recently. I had to digest all that is that this whole residential school system started here, Ottawa. The founders of Ottawa U, the old Blake Brothers, again, played a big part of that in the creation of the residential school system. And so that's why when we talk about reconciliation, I'm glad that we're in also a learning institution because it evolved to a learning institution, but also too as well. An example is, if I remember correctly, in 1941, one of the statistics is they had 41 residential schools across the Dominion. They had 61 outposts and 18 Indian hospitals. So for us as Algonquin and Nishnabek here, too, as well, yes, we were chased off this area too and there's stories about Indian hunters and the creation of our reserves and the scatter of our people. And coming from Lake Attu Mountains, which is by Oka, which is a traditional lands, and leaving there and spreading out to Quebec, Ontario. And I remember one of the stories too, as well, they said that is they didn't like us very much at these outposts, these newcomers, but every time we'd leave and try to get away from them, they'd follow us. Because if you read in the history books too, there was this love-hate relationship and because they needed Indians to survive because of the knowledge again of the plants, the land, the game. So again, and here we are today. So that's why I brought the little display too, as well, over there in the corner and from our cultural center. The example is I spoke about the canoe, but I brought in the snowshoes. One pair of snowshoes was made by Elder Kamanda, but it shows our housing. But even the snowshoes, that was knowledge in itself. Like the average hunter would have about four pairs of snowshoes, because again it was because of the consistency of the snow, they would be different. So that's knowledge too, as well, our housing, and you'll see the cradleboard. So there's all teachings towards that. Now we're going to go really quickly. So one of the sessions that I didn't sit in yesterday is what they spoke on the grandmothers. And I've been part of the grandmothers for a number of years. I wasn't an official grandmother until two years ago. I have a grandchild, but I've always been a helper. And even when we were small, my mom was very insistent on the culture and the language. And we were four. I remember going to the powwow at Bittaby Lake with William. And we'd have Indians from all over the states and the region. And I always remember going back and one summer, we liked going there because we were like, kids running wild. And when we'd meet other Indian kids and we'd learn our dances and run in the bush. And I remember this as a little girl. We were going there because he'd go camp. And my parents having to go straight because the police were there. And the police were there to stamp out the fires. And they were threatening to arrest everybody for what we take for granted today. We even have powwows here now on Carleton University. And the powwow was also just a celebration of coming together. Like I said, if you look at the winters here, sometimes you didn't survive. So you celebrate that you survived another winter. So that's what the powwow gathering is. And you dance. And what my sister said here was also to do with the drum. We call that odewey gun. It's a hard instrument. And you drum. And you dance. You drum in honor of being alive. To honor that you're still here. So that's why, and then with the grandmothers, just really quickly, what we did in our community, we would meet in the lodge. And some of the things that we've done is like we did a restorative justice session for a youth. And I talk about that because then we had, that was, people wanted to know how effective that was. So I wish I had more time. I would talk about that. Also, they would talk about, we went with the court cases too, as well, with the right to hunt and fish. Plus also too, as well, this whole lands claim. So there's big issues in terms of also like historical. And that's why I like sitting down and I'd say myself too. So I always found myself to say, you're an elder. And I said, I feel funny about that. I said, because I've always been a helper. And I'm not sure. And then I do try and get elders. I said, you want to come and talk in Ottawa? And he said, no. So the elders told me to go ahead and speak because I'm in Ottawa. I work in Ottawa. I work at Minwash and Lodge. But at the same time, I'm still connected back home. We do the language symposiums and stuff like that. So now to close, I brought a little, I had a little poster done. And it's maybe just a little summary of, I always said that it's done by Douglas Cardinal, who used to come and sit with us also in the Lodge. And why I, I need a little stick. I'll go down here, son. Why I brought this to as well is because what he did was, he explained to me one day why he made this poster. And I know it might be a little dim from the way back. It was the two world views. You have the non-native world view and a native world view here. And he started at the top. He said like, the native, if you look at the parliamentary system, it operates, he said it operates on man's law. So it's a hierarchy system. Even the government is a hierarchy system. While the native view was in a circle, it was based on nature's law. And it's based on off the land and in the circle, everybody. So this would represent again, like the consensus system and the system here of majority rules. And the leader or the king makes the decision. So again, then you go down to as well, like with, he said, like again, the person at the top rules. Again, this one is also to always incorporating nature's law. Here they had, he said patriarchal system. It was a patriarchal system. And it's the dominion over nature and conquering our own nature. Well, he said there's more of the matriarchal system, but I think it's more matrilineal system. And where women are at the center, also the power, and you share power. The second part really quickly is what he looks at is also to as well, like it goes with the justice system. And the system tends to be like, where they have the half man here, is that it's based on good and evil. Either good, you're either good or you're evil. You either pass or you fail. In an educational. And the native justice or understanding is that we're all on our own journey here and we're all born innately good. But sometimes we fall off our path as we come here and it's like the crooked good. So how do we get back on back into balance and nature? Then again with the education system, it's like knowledge. The understanding is, he was saying that people, even with children, they were born tabla rasa, meaning they're born with clean slates and all you have to do is fill them up with knowledge. But the native understanding is we're also born with our own spirit and inner knowing. And you're only smart when you have your degree or diploma or whatever. But the other understanding too as well is that it's also your intuition. So he's saying like, this is powerful too, passing down knowledge from generation to generation. But also the native understanding is not coming from knowledge, it's also powerful because that's the creativity. And it's almost like the left brain, right brain. So again too as well, like the institutions here, you have like your computer labs and we have the lodge. The thing is too as well on both sides, one comes with the nature. The other one is the creation coming from the creation of cities. And he always said too as well, there's no right or wrong way, each system has its merits and each system has its, what's the name for that? There's the merits but also what's the opposite of merits but drawbacks. And I think our biggest, biggest challenge, especially to, and I see that too as well, like as we're gathering here today, how do we balance both systems? Because if we overdevelop too much here, what are we doing to the earth? And so that's where I think when we're coming together for like what we're doing this week, I think that's our challenge to as a people and for us as our understanding is too as well because we're here for the next seven generations. We're here for such a short time. And what are we leaving behind for our future children's children's children? And that's where, what knowledge to and our actions. So I guess that's it for me. So I say mi guach. I don't know how I'm going to do this and hold this gadget. Hold that gadget. This song I'm going to sing is not from our territory. It's from, it's from up this way. I'm not sure exactly what tribe but it's further up north. And but this man that came to our territory and shared some of his stories and his knowledge and his songs, he gave us a song to use. It's a healing song. You might know once I start singing it. And we're here together to heal one another and to help one another and to share our stories and responsibilities for being here on Mother Earth. And not to feel bad about it or anything but let's do some actions, you know. Like I said, a lot of the stuff I've learned my parents didn't know this or my grandparents and I've learned this, how to carry my bundle and I had to go out west to go for my spiritual healing and things started coming to me slowly. But like I said, it has to come slowly because if it comes too fast, these healings, it's overwhelming, it's overwhelming. So I'm surprised I didn't get too emotional because I do. I mean, I would have had everybody crying here. We don't want that. So when I did this song, I think it's a healing song, a healing bear song. So, I'm going to take off your... Hello. These bears, I said let's go there. There's two bears. So we drive up, I put the window down and I said, and he's walking away like that and they're like, what does big age walk like that? And I said, and I'm laughing because I said, hi bear, I said, do you have a big bear? Look at your own ass. I'd like to thank very much from the heart David and Joe and Esther for their services through the week and taking care of our needs and answering our questions. It's been an honor to serve with you and I look forward to doing it again. We're going to be on break for 15 minutes and I'm going to say one thing. I've been debating this in my mind whether it would be understood or not, whether I should say it. Sometimes when I do that, I shouldn't say it. Say it. But I am going to say it. I looked around the room, I noticed that there are... First, I was preface by saying we hide at people. I made sure I called a mantra, you know. I looked around the room the other day and I noted that only four or five of us in this room are working together are men. The rest are women. And it's a good and a right thing because I think we men have dominated this universe for way too long, this world, in many places other than here. And to keep in mind what I believe it was Chief Joseph when he said, a people is not defeated. A people are never defeated until the hearts of their women are on the ground. Thank you for honoring us with your presence and with everything that you contributed this day. Every woman, every man here. And we reconvene in 15 minutes.