Ranting, Raving, Lunatic Or Enlightening, Issues Addressing, Advocate?
Posted on Saturday, May 06 at 13:44 by Ivy_Ross
Growing up on Timiskaming First Nation reserve has taught me a lot of things. A community can turn a blind eye to the problems that they are currently facing. The main problem I find the youth of our community are facing is drug abuse. As one person, I cannot effect change but can only lead by example. To me, for now, that is enough. I am not denying my experimentation with drugs as it was treated as a passage of life on the reserve. Still, there seems to be talk about how we are always going to “help” the youth but never seem to actually “help” them.
As a youth of Timiskaming First Nation, it has always seemed like I had no impact on the community that I have always called my home. Perhaps being off the reserve for long periods of time now have taught me that if you are the only one who sees that elephant in the room then you should probably do something about it. This is now the case. That elephant in the room is smoking, doing drugs, and drinking in our homes and on our streets. That elephant is under age and is looking for any kind of attention just as long as it is attention. That elephant has broken into homes, stolen from its parents/aunts/uncles and as a community member this distresses me. That elephant has stared directly in my face and screamed for me to pay attention and I want that elephant to know – I see you. I hear your pleas!
How can we help as a community? As a community we all could lead by example. I am not saying that we all have to give up smoking cigarettes or to stop drinking. I am saying that we could start drinking responsibly. These youth are our future – the blueprints for our future. The youth of our community need more programs and initiatives available to them. They need incentives to succeed academically and we do not offer them such. We do nothing to encourage them as a community but help to enable them as people. We are always making promises to help them and to provide incentives but all we have left them with is a string of broken promises. The same string of broken promises we are always crying that the Government has given us. That is the legacy we are passing on to them. I am of the mind that it does take a community to raise a child. Still, when was the last time we honored the youth of our community? When was the last time we took a good look at what is staring us right in the face? How many of them are hiding secrets from us? There silence is deafening.
The youth of Timiskaming First Nation are currently straddling two different worlds that are in constant conflict with each other. One world, the reserve, holds the promise of the old traditional ways and their roots to their culture and heritage. The non-aboriginal world is holding the promise of escape and a fast paced lifestyle that they often view in the movies or on television. The experience of aboriginal youth today stands in sharp contrast to the life that was lived by those who are now commonly called generation x. The outside world is more competitive than the world of yesteryear that generation xers knew. We can not let our youth slip through the cracks. We need a net!
The non-aboriginal world is becoming a dangerous place for the youth of this community. The world off the reserve demands competitiveness and higher levels of education for the most menial of jobs. The non-aboriginal world is constantly changing but along with the changes that are good for the economy and the person there is also the allure of the fast paced life. That fast paced life has been prone to include drugs and alcohol. These are powerful forces that necessitate our attention as a community.
Why do the youth of this community appear to be angry? Why are they hurting themselves? Why are they trying to escape through drugs and alcohol? Why are they self destructive? What is missing from there lives that they feel acting out in school is a great way of getting our attention?
I, for one, am now paying attention. There is only so much I can do but I refuse to sit idly by and do nothing anymore. I will lead by example because that is all I can do right now. I will do whatever it takes to get these youth the help they are screaming so loudly for. I will take a look at the role I have played in perpetuating this problem. What are the roles of adults in the problems the youth are facing? Quite honestly, we have ignored them for so long that the drug abuse has now become the silent epidemic on this reserve. We can no longer sit back and think that the elephant is going to go away because we refuse to see it. That elephant is right in your living room and he or she is begging for your attention.
The statistics on drugs abuse among Aboriginal youth alone is staggering. According to recent statistics done by the Department of Justice, 57% of aboriginal youth have a confirmed problem with substance abuse between the ages of 12 and 14. 8% of youth affected by alcohol or illicit drug dependency between the ages of 15 to 24 and those are the ones least likely to get help for it (Statistics Canada: CCHS 2003). Just imagine how high those statistics would be for this isolated community alone.
As a youth of Timiskaming First Nation I would like to see a mentorship program taken up by the peoples of this community. There should be more focus placed upon the youth instead of putting them on the backburner. The youth of this community should have a roundtable to find out what exactly it is that they want and need in their lives. How are we ever going to fix what is wrong without asking them what they think is wrong? Once we know what is wrong, we, as a community and as facilitators, can take it from there. We can begin to address the issues as the youth of this community sees it. Guest speakers can be brought in over time and funding can be transferred from different programs or proposals can be written to different governmental agencies in order for those guest speakers to come to our community. The youth need to know the life, the path, they are walking is not all glitz and glamour like on television or the latest flick on the big screen. They need to hear from the horse’s mouth how ugly it can get out here in the non-aboriginal world. They need to learn basic survival skills and we, as adults, need to help facilitate that learning.
It all comes back to looking and treating them as our future. In reality, they are our future leaders and the future of our nation belongs to them. They are the seventh fire. Let’s show them our support by helping them. Let’s get doing instead of saying. No more broken promises. They deserve better than that.
[Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on May 7, 2006]
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nobody wants to mention is the drug trade itself.
Huge profits are made from this near-perfect example of capitalist
free enterprise. It creates its own repeat customers. Apparently, it
even has a terrific advertising campaign if kids grow up thinking
that intoxicants are a "Rite of Passage" into adulthood (who the
heck told them THAT??). And of course, intoxicants can
supposedly dull the pain too, creating a powerful attraction for
anyone who is unemployed or unemployable or in distress for
whatever reason.
The interaction of traffickers with kids is a wide open enterprise
which we should be ashamed to tolerate. If all drugs were
legalized, the trade could be brought under government control,
eliminating those irresistible profits, and treating the users who
want or need treatment. The intoxicants could all (as with alcohol)
be taxed, bringing $$$ into better use.
My view, that is.
Many thanks for a compelling, insightful story. I hope you'll write
more, in Vive le Canada. Best Wishes. - BC Mary.
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When you are up to your ass in alligators it is difficult to remember that the initial objective was to drain the swamp
In case there is any confusion, Im a girl, not a guy or young woman as opposed to a young man.
and word is, I might be getting called back there to head up Community Planing, but I might have to decline it. Time will tell I suppose. Have a good one!
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"The wind mocks me"- JA
A drug is a drug, kids aren't stupid. THey see through all our bullshit. Even non native kids know there is no magic odometer that goes off at 19 and says 'Ok, there you go, now you can drink responsibly'.
About seventy five percent of canadians are caffeined addicts and fall to pieces if they go a day without coffee or soda. Pot is the most banal of substances and even a quick reading of the history of prohibition will tell you there isn't an ounce of evidence that it is addictive or leads to harder drugs. Marijuana is gods medicine, like tobacco it doesn't need massive amounts of chemical displacement like the pharmaceutical companies (although cigarette companies came up with their own additives to cause cancer and create addiction). Kids are at the age where they are learning, we are at the age where we've been indoctrinated. They see no difference between people sucking down martini's and smoking a joint-and they shouldn't.
That's drugs. The real story, in particular about an isolated first nation, is economic and political. Reserves are essentially canadian gulags. Sure, they are gulags you can leave, but to what? Of course the idea is that you'll WANT to leave, and never come back, that will essentially solve the 'native problem', which is that the land belongs to natives, they never joined canada, and there are hundreds of treaties waiting to be negotiated.
So if you think that those around think 'you'll make something of the place just like you made something of yourself', then your pompous enough to be a white man, which is no doubt why nobody listens to you.
As for 'doing something', sure, you can try and talk all your neighbours into drinking less. I'm sure that will go over well.
If you want to look at reality, here's a start:
CTV.ca News Staff - February 16, 2004
A remote reserve in Quebec has been promised housing money since 1999, but it hasn't materialized. As a result, the 400 people who live in Barriere Lake are crammed into 58 decaying homes.
That's just a start. There's nothing wrong with mentorship, but if you think leaving and getting off drugs (fortunately you're not being a complete hypocrite and saying don't do drugs, since you did them yourself). makes you suddenly the man to be listened to, you're mistaken. Want to start mentoring? Get online and learn to build log homes and start building. As for mentorship, do a home video or DVD on your experiences with drugs. If kids are going to do drugs, then at least give them some experience that will help them deal with it. Adults too often come up with the idiotic 'just say no' line. If a kid is going to do drugs, that line isn't going to help. Start a website, chronicle your experiences, or better yet, start an organization and get the experiences of as many of your peers as possible for a website or DVD.
Want to lead by example? Start a trade and sell over the internet, better yet, start a co-op and sell online. Get the schools involved, get the elders involved. C0-ops are more in line with native ideology, so the power and resources stay within the band. It costs next to nothing to start selling over the internet. Paypal takes a percentage of sales, but little more. Go to a class and ask if they want to contribute to an online time capsule, ask the elders for their stories and put them into an online database. Get a collection of the stories and some pictures and put together a DVD and sell it with proceeds going to alcohol and drug treatment. Get artistic and set up an outlet at a store in Sudbury and North Bay.
Go to the band council and ask what you can do to help lobby the government for better housing. If you have contacts off reserve all the better because government has a habit of ignoring reserves-they hardly ever vote! Get politically active. If you've got specific issues, this is a good place as it's pretty left wing and more 'native friendly' than a lot of sites. Start posting.
If they are not 'listening to you', its because you've learned too much from the white man: how to talk and know whats best for everyone. I'm maliseet so I hear it all the time, particularly council members. If you want to 'lead', then stop talking and start doing.
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The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.... : Albert Einstein
I do what I can and if that is only to lead by example I will. Im rather young yet and that is no excuse but I need to finish my education before I can even think about going back to TFN Rez.
Secondly, I do what I can, even though I am across the country in BC, to help make my community a better place to live. I feel rather defensive and feel I must inform you that I am the reason why we are even looking at youth.
Before there was nothing. The thought and practices at the time were that drugs and alcohol abuse were "rights of passage". When you think about it, it is still treated this way. Kinda goes along the same vien as "boys will be boys" right? Wrong. Drugs are just wrong period but I am not going to harp on some elses livestyle as THEY need to make the change on there own. You can always show someone the door, but there is no way in hell you can shove them thru it.
I started to help make youth intiatives. A Rec Centre, Dances, Youth Council, etc...things that will help keep the youth informed. Things like, world politics, leadership training, sitting in on sentate committee meetings..etc etc. They need to broaden there understanding and realize that they are worth something. Did you feel worth something growing up on the rez? Did you know that the price for living allowance has not changed for post sec students in some communities for the past 20 years? Do u know where these kids go to make there money whether or not they are in Urban Centres? I do. Look at Yonge Street...native men and women and non native men and women...do u have any idea how much are students? Most arent aware of emergency funding or bursaires...they are uninformed.
Also, I am not naive enough to think that I can do this alone either. I have been involved in the polticial aspects of my community since I was 15 and that is now 7 years ago. Because of my age I am not taken seriously unless I am at a BOD meeting, council meeting or HRK committee meeting or in a position where my specializations benefit them.
Perhaps I am becoming cyncial in my view on this but...I am not trying to be a "white man" or "native" or anything. I am just trying to be human. Maybe the problem with humanity is that people see the line dividing us but not realizing that it is in these differences that bring us together. Or maybe its just a fanicful dream. Who knows?
As for initiative for housing, that was completed a few years ago my by mentor. I know my place and duties within my clan and my family but that does not limit me. Another very valid reason for why they have not taken me seriusly until a few days ago, those who were in positions and power and corrupt..were fired. We, a few of my friends back East and those whom I have worked closely with on the community needs files, etc, have organized a drug task force committee.
I feel it is high time someone stop thinking about all the big issues like Housing. You know, its easier to think about the community as a whole but I specialize in Youth at Risk and Family Violence. It is my belief that this prolly feds my imense distain for drugs and or alcohol but that is neither here nor there.
What are you doing to help your community and how long have you been at it? Change does not suddenly happen..it takes time. Im young and almost done with University. I plan on going back to help make my community a better place to live. One thing at a time is more manageable. Wouldn't your agree?
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"The wind mocks me"- JA
It sadden's me to see a young person write such negative remarks in regards to their community. I must admit that you have touched on some truth however you have put all the youth in the same basket. I have lived and work in this same community all my life except during my education years. I dont no who you are nor does it really matter the only thing I wish is that you give the true facts. Each and everyone of us has elephants some are good and some are bad some are big and some are small we have many youth today who are out getting a good solid education and have not taken any kind of drugs or alcohol. Perharps the ones you hang around with are the unfortunate ones that do take this stuff. But you should be proud of your community who came such a long way if you really lived here all your life you would have seen the changes maybe you dont like the speed it has taken. In my time University was only a dream but some of us realize this dream today all my children are either in university or on their way to university. I'm proud and have always been proud of our youth and have seen improvement over the years, racism is practically non existent compared to my days, leadership is getting more and more involved.People expect immediate change unfortunately things dont happen like that. I was an elected official and fought for the youth. I have learned and with time you will learn that we cannot carry the world on our shoulders and that is what you are trying to do. If we take one positive step today we have accomplish more than we think you just have to take the time to see what you have done.It is easy to blame the local official but look closely at the policies set out by the government the restrictions the more level of education you have the more you face these new problems Yes our youth are discouraged but that does'nt make them bad. Some and I repeat some do take drugs and alcohol to forget on a short term. You seem to be a nice person but also a very angry one. Our tradition tells us before we blast out and critize take a step back look listen and think I am getting up in my years I dont consider myself has an elder but I have seen alot in my life. Never took drugs nor abused alcohol but seen many do and try to understand why. I found out that these problems are not unique to our people but to every nation in the world the difference is because we are in a small community it is more visable if we could put another nation of people in a small community like ours you would see the same problems just different color of people. I dont tell you this to try and make you give up but to tell you slow down critize in a constructive manner and dont put everyone in the same pot. You may be young and energetic but it will take it's tole. You can accomplish more in a lifetime that in just a few months or years.Continue your fight for the youth you can make a difference. Remember this " No one wants to listen to a person that always on the attack mode not even you".
I know what you are getting at but it just keeps coming back to me....
I may have hung out with the unfortunate ones and there must have been a lot of those. It is disturbing to see this solely as my own personal choice in friends. The people I hung out with are not only unfortunate (according to you)but seem to be forgotten. Define unfortunate. But now it all has your attention. Perhaps it is because I am a youth and feel like anyone between the ages of 11-12, 17-19, and the elderly, are all but forgotten. You may not see it that way because of your own experience and personal standards but that is how a lot of people feel and or think.
Education wise, sure we are all going off to University or College. And your lucky to have your children in university or college but Im sure you help to support them while they are there. Has it never occured to you that most are not as lucky as your children? Has it never occured to you that not all had the opportunity to go to school and have there parents help out by sending money, food, etc? Do you know the extent some have been willing to go to in order to make money? Think street involved. Ive seen it.
I know my article has upset you Arden but that is how I channel anger. Something constructive? Maybe. As for the racism part, maybe it is almost non-existant to you, but it is existant to a lot of us. You might not get the same treatment a lot of us do. Have you ever asked your kids? Have you ever asked them about being called a free loader because of the funding that pays for their tuition? Do your children look native? I hate to say it but those who are racist, they dont care what colour your skin is, just as long as it isnt theres. Its a sad but VERY disturbing truth.
I am not attacking you personally or anything remotely like that Arden. This is merely to point out a few "flaws" in what you are saying.
But I am not naive Arden. I know the blind cannot lead the blind. I may have been angry but do I not have a right to be outraged? Step away from your job, your perception and turn 45 degrees, clear your mind of your own experiences and stop looking at things from YOUR perspective. Now look at how other people live and do just to survive. Can you tell me honestly tell me that you understand how the life of the "unfortunate" is? Have you EVER been unfortunate in your life? Bad choices...what if they are the only choices that youth feels is available to them to drown out what is going on in their lives? There are years that have been asking questions...
I know how it is to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders. A lot of the youth do. It was my choice to
write the article and I am sure leadership is outraged. They have every right to be. I am not going to make them or try to make them feel guilty for it. Everyone is entitled to an opinion even when we may not agree with it.
Still, we all talk about help and recognition for these kids but no one does anything. The school has Student of the Month but wheres the incentives to stay in school? Wheres the incentives to succeed? More importantly, wheres the incentives and validation for those of the "unfortunate" trying to get out? Where's their recognition for a job well done?
Education is its own reward but you know something...living off 675 a month in city centres like Sudbury, Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Regina, Rouyn Noranda, Quebec City, Montreal or Saint foy - is unrealistic. You do what you gotta do is what I hear from a lot of people who have been higly street involved to pay bills. How many of taken off their clothes to pay bills? How many have sold their bodies to support their children or to just simply put food on the table? How many even sell their academic work to make ends meat? Nothing is as simple as you think if you are not willing to look at it all from different perspectives.
The unfortunate...I feel for them. I really do. The thing is that I know the unfortunate and the privelledged. There is a class system therein. The unfortunate often stay down and the privelledge often rise. Yet, I refuse to not do something. Im sure leadership is doing the best they can. I am sure there are bigger things like meetings concerning land management, economic development,health, more land issues, etc...Things that DEMAND attention (like the fed govt always does) but if youth are the future...then Im sorry you see the people that might lead the community as just unfortunate. I truly am sorry Arden.
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"The wind mocks me"- JA
No incentive to stay in school you say?????
The youth of Timiskaming First Nation reserve used to have to go to French school in order to obtain any education but through the hard work of our very own people we have had our own English school for over ten years now. It is called Kiwetin school and offers quality education up to grade eight.
The school offers counseling services as well as ongoing incentives to support positive behavior and academic achievement. Such as, student of the month which is a certificate of recognition plus 20$ for the winner of a draw where all the students are put in, and the ones who do not receive the 20$ get a sticker from the principle. At the end of the school year 10 students who have previously received student of the month receive 50$. Awards are also given for perfect attendance.
Many classrooms have award systems of their own such as prizes for student of the week, prizes for children who read the most books and so on. Not only are actual awards given but the teacher to student ratio is small so teachers recognize their students progress and achievements. No one falls through the cracks at Kiwetin.
I attended Kiwetin school myself and it provided a healthy environment for me with constant support and encouragement to continue my education. The teachers at Timiskaming District Secondary school have mentioned to Kiwetin that our students are well prepared when they attend high school. They are especially talented in French and math.
Kiwetin school also offers students the chance to learn their own language, Mrs. Bertha Chief teaches the students words and numbers in Algonquin.
Another special program available for our youth attending Kiwetin is the National Native Alcohol and Drug Prevention Program where two alcohol and drug prevention workers come into the school and educate our youth on drugs and alcohol through workshops. These people also go to T.D.S.S.
Also, the grade eight graduation is made a huge event to encourage youth to have more graduations in the future. They are the only elementary school I have heard of that actually has grad gowns for their graduates and also one of the few where the leader of the community attends the graduation. I am presently working at a clothing store where we sell quite a bit of formal wear and we have a lot of customers attending non-native schools who have told me that they do not have grad gowns or any member of leadership attending their graduation but at Kiwetin the chief himself attends. The gymnasium where the graduation is held, is decorated with tons of excellent assignments and pictures of the grade eight graduates and they are given a diploma and a gift when they are presented with awards specific to their personal strengths. The Hazel McBride Kane and the Arlene Chasle awards are also given out at the graduation.
Another benefit to our youth who are pursuing their education is that once they leave Kiwetin they are never alone. We have a liaison worker who goes to Riviere de Quinze and T.D.S.S. She and Lynn Marie Gravel go out of their way to support the youth there in high school. They give youth letters of congratulations when they obtain high school credits and even go to the extreme of doing wake up calls for the youth who have a little trouble getting out of bed in the morning. I am not aware of everything they do since a large percentage of their work is confidential but I do know a lot of youth are still in school because of them. In the schools there are also educational trips as well as a trip organized by the liaison worker and the students themselves are involved in fund raising for the trip.
On Timiskaming First Nation reserve there is also a recreation center which contains a pool table, air hockey table and I am pretty sure there is a ping pong table. The staff there also organize toonie lunches and trips to Canada’s Wonderland. They have movie nights, go to the beach, and they have carnivals on the March Break. They offer many other services but these are just to name a few.
There is a pow wow committee, a new Drug Task Force, and more recently, there are two WWF wrestlers who are going into the community to talk to the youth about drugs and alcohol. The grade eights from Kiwetin just had their graduation on the 20th and along with the end of year activity day, Alan Laronde got some people from Nippissing University and Canadore College to come speak to our youth about their programs.
Just to name a few other benefits to our community; Ted Nolan has came to speak to our youth, and we had a High Risk Kids Workshop which was a huge success. There has been tons to help our youth make the right choices.
Ultimately, drug use and misuse is a choice. Ever hear the saying “You can offer a horse water but you can’t make him drink it.” Timiskaming First Nation has the resources necessary to treat and prevent drug and alcohol abuse but ultimately the choice is up to the individual. I do realize that drug and alcohol abuse exists in the community but it is no different than any other French, Asian, or Caucasian community and it does not mean we do not have appropriate services. If you know the people who do abuse drugs and alcohol you will notice that these people are also great people who continue to care about our youth as well.
I have seen cracks to fall through in the community but instead of just bashing it I make my own efforts to solve the problem. I am guessing that you were at the High Risk Kids Workshop since you seem to care a lot about our youth but when we worked on the topic of suicide where were you? Myself and some volunteer youth did a “Walk for Life” to raise money to bring a suicide prevention workshop into the community. The fundraising was successful since the community members made huge donations and with the help of Jessica Chevrier we got our workshop. This was an excellent opportunity for anyone interested in helping our youth with issues like self injury and suicide.
Another thing I organized but THE YOUTH of the community made successful was the “Royalty on the Rez” pageant. The youth are involved in making a difference in the community, are you?
I am not saying this stuff to boast or to put you down I just want you to be aware that great efforts are being made toward positive change in the community and if you truly feel like an outsider, instead of writing negative comments about the place so many people call home write up a proposal for what you want to see in the community. Since you are continuing your education I know that you have community support and you have the knowledge to write up a nice proposal. You say “I would like to see a mentorship program taken up by the peoples of this community”. Why not let it be you! Get your ideas together and if you need a hand call home and get my number, I will for sure help you out with the mentorship program. A community doesn’t need to be on it’s last straw before receiving a service like that, nor do you need to be physically present in a community to make a difference.
Another suggestion I’d like to make is to call home and give your email to teachers and leaders and ask them about positive changes and about any youth accomplishments. I sometimes call home to congratulate leadership or youth when they have made accomplishments. Just on the 20th I called a youth back home to congratulate her for graduating. A two minute call lets him/her know that you recognize their efforts and encourages them to continue. When they graduate or when they get a good mark on a test, it would make a huge difference in their lives to have someone as educated as yourself to call home and say, “Way to go!” or “I’m proud of you!” Don’t forget that leadership could use some encouragement too. Right now our community has accomplished a lot, imagine what we could do if we all supported each other. Think of how it feels to successfully complete a semester of university, think of how it feels when your family members congratulate you. Does it make you want to do even more the next time around? We are family members to our leaders and if they have our support we will empower them to make unimaginable things happen in our community.
Even though a few people might be offended by the negativity in your comments it is never to late to see the positive and make more positive happen. You seem like someone who does care so just make your energy positive and I am sure you will make a huge difference.
I am not sure if you are home for the summer but if you are, make a proposal to run a mentorship program for youth, using your summer job. As a student I agree that 675$ is not enough to live on but the education department has been working hard to get us more and I think it has went up by $100 as of September 2006, don’t quote me on that but I am pretty sure they are making progress.
If we are grateful for what we do receive and we thank the people who get us what we do have thus far maybe it will encourage them to work even harder for us. Just don’t forget to deposit just as much as you withdraw from your community because that is what will make our community stronger and another benefit is that it will provide our youth with great role models.
Good luck in your studies and all your future endeavors.
Steph
This will be my last responce, In regard to your latest reply. I have like any other parent struggle to support and keep my children in school and I have seen many parents on social benefits do the same.I have also seen students do it on their own. We are and will always be in charge of our own destiny some people are fortunate to have the support and the tools to help them along when others if they are willing will develop and make their own tools.
I also read the responce from Stephanie and she hit the hammer on the nail quoting " You can lead a horse to water but you cant make him drink". Your grand parents had the same struggle this is a part of life. There are some people of all ages wants everything handed to them with little or no effort and when they dont receive they blame the world.Their are does who go and get want they want. It only depends on your determination what I see from you is determination but you dont have to put the world down be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem. Take the advice from Stephanie get involved contact the local politician or whoever you feel confortable with and my last advice is never put everyone in the same pot. We have a lot of intellegent young individuals in our community and a lot of hard working supportive parents. " you dont throw away the basket of apples because one is no good".
That is exactly the response I was waiting for.
I wasnt necessarily out to only point out how I view things, as this is an opinion article, but also to get a reaction and people thinking. We have and can all become so stagnant in it that we fail to really "see" anymore.
I know that people were talking and thats what i wanted. People needed to pull together but Im sure it has died down to nothing. But i am also aware that TC was there this past week.
All I know is that pro active is better than being blatantly reactive. The changes that are occuring in the community that I now work for...there obvious. Pro Active.
I wish you the best of luck on ur future endeavours too. Im positive that you will succeed. You got the confidence and determination to do it. My hope is to one day see you in a position of power to help effect change. Change I know you see a need for as well.
Im sorry to say this but, I will not be returning to Timiskaming First Nation. I am not naive to think what I have to offer is needed there. Currently, what I offer the community I work for is guidance, leadership, mentorship, and I work with the Youth. The changes in the Youth that I work with is amazing and I am desperately needed here. Im also an essential member of a women's organization and am contracted to stay on with them for a full 3 years soo...Im bound by my own obligations. I do have dignity. haha, although Im sure some people dont see it that way. Caring what people think about me has never been my issue or my thing.
Maybe someday I will return and work in Timiskaming First Nation but it will not be under the supervision of the band. Mine will be under the supervision of MCFD.
I have learned that dreams are important and I fully intend to follow mine. Mine...just hasnt called me back East. Follow ur dreams Steph. Make them a reality. They deserve it.
Ivy
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"The wind mocks me"- JA