Library Life Stories Part 4; Indigenous Peoples

This presentation is the fourth in a series of "Life Stories" put on by the Coquitlam Public Library intended to raise awareness of people who are from marginalized groups and how they have experienced prejudice, social exclusion or stigma.

First up was Caren Lafontaine from Saskatchewan, who is from the Lakota First Nation and Metis on her maternal side and who has a Scottish paternal lineage. Caren was raised primarily by her mother in the First Nations culture with very little Scottish influence. Ms. LaFontaine is one of five Indigenous Community Roots Practitioners employed by Ministry of Children and Family Development in the North Fraser region. She works with indigenous children and youth that are in temporarily ministry care.

She said that In British Columbia less than 10% of the population is indigenous yet 68% of the youth and children in ministry care are from the first nations community. There would appear to be an obvious over representation on indigenous children and youth in ministry care. This is a clear indication of the lingering generational trauma that has been inflicted upon all levels of the First Nations community by residential schools.

Although the last residential school in British Columbia was closed down in the mid 80's, we are still seeing the results today, she says, because the generational trauma caused by residential schools has never been addressed. Of all the First Nations youth in ministry care, 71% are Metis, the remainder either being from other First Nations or are Inuit.

LaFontaine said that quite often these children in ministry care have lost all connection to their culture. She works to find their region of origin and tries to find connections to their extended family. Part of the Ministry's focus has also been to integrate First Nations culture into adoptive homes in small ways rather than trying to work their schedules around major cultural events in First Nations communities. This includes having elders visit children at their adoptive home so that they are reintroduced to their culture gradually in a familiar environment.

In many cases, she said, the elders start with the basics such as teaching a few words in their language or teaching their origin story, and the oral stories of their tribe or peoples. For those interested, they can be taken out canoeing or they can learn to cook traditional foods or make traditional medicines utilizing traditional resources. Quite often arts such as carving or singing and dancing are ways that youth can be introduced to their culture in a fun participatory manner.

The second speaker was Ojibway Elder Maria Reed, whose spirit name is White Hawk Woman and who also works with the Ministry of Children and Family Development as an elder in the Surrey region. Elder Reed comes from a background where she was raised without knowing of her First Nations ancestry. She was not removed from her home but her background was not discussed by her parents because of the threat of residential school and the social ramifications of being indigenous. Her parents moved from their original home west to settle in Maillardvlle, here in Coquitlam, in order to avoid having their children sent to residential schools.