This recommendation comes with a little story....

This recommendation comes with a small story. 

I am Metis even though I am SUPER white passing. For those of you who aren't Canadian, that means that I am part indigenous. "Metis" in Canada is when you are mix of French (our settlers) and one of the different indigenous people across the country.  

Despite growing up in a town called Penetanguishene (Land of the Rolling White Sands) my family didn't do much to teach me about my native hertiage. So when I went to art school I applied to one up north that had a big Indigenous Art program. Our Dean at the time was indigenous, half the student body which was very small was indigenous and one of our student projects throughout the year was to put on the community Pow Wow.  Through that experience I learned more about my hertiage however, I'm still very insecure about my knowledge. 

....last week when I met up with one of my friends who currently works in Canadian politics she asked if she could ask me a question. I said sure???? because she doesn't normally ask before asking me a question. 

And she proceeded to be VERY white and ask me what I thought about indigenous communities and the way they manage the money/grants that the government affords them. She asked what roles Chiefs play in things and was completely condescending while doing so. You could tell that she VERY MUCH disagreed that these communities were given funds that they could do with what they please and thought that if that's what our country was doing that these communities should be better than what they are. (Her opinion without having ever been to a reserve.)

It took A LOT for me not to be angry. It took a lot for me to be patient and explain how life on reservations and in inuit communities is (please note I've never been to an inuit community however I watch tons of documentaries and read a lot of media to do with the indigenous people of Canada which doesn't make me an expert but does give me an idea).  

To be honest I was really appauled within the conversation. 

I sat there and I explained what a Chief was, how one would come to be Chief and that in many communities it wasn't really just up to the Chief what do wo with these funds. There was normally a group of advisors put together who would vote on how they allocated the funds. Instantly she asked who these people where? JUST other people from the community? 

It got harder throughout the conversation - I did my best to paint a picture for her. These are remote areas where there really aren't a lot of jobs. Employment is rampant because many of these communities especially inuit communities are so far away food/supplies etc are astronomically priced to the point where the residents can't always afford them.

They DO NOT have the infrastructure that you (speaking to her) would be accustomed to. Without looking at any financials I can tell you that the majority of these families BARELY make it. These communities are plagued with addiction, alcoholism, mental health issues that stem from years and years of mistreatment from the Canadian government including the fact that there are still survivors from residential schools. They do not have hospitals for the most part. They do not have mental health professionals. The majority of the residents don't make it through high school. They have VERY limited police/mounty services. 

When these communities get money from the government they have a laundry list of things that there community needs. They may only be able to fund 10 - 25% of what they actually need. They normally have town hall meetings and then they vote on where the money goes. When you have 15 things that are dire for your community and you can only pick 3 that get done - how do you choose correctly? Do you look at long term gain? Do you look at what is in most need? Do you choose the thing that touches the lives of the most people? At that point what is the right choice? And given the situation would a politician, an economist or someone with 3 degrees of your choosing make any better of a decision than the community's counsel?

It hurts me to know my country's history with the indigenous people. It hurts me to know that they still go through SO much - YES EVEN TODAY. It hurts me to know that (in my opinion) my government does not do enough. And while I'm very white passing it hurts me to see how things that plague these communities are still able to plague my own family despite the fact that we do not live on a reserve, that we are blessed to have jobs and are blessed that none of my relatives were ever in residential schools. 

And it hurts to know how much racism and poor opinions like my friends still exist. 

All that to say, I watched a Canadian film recently that was based on a true story of an inuit lacrosse team. It won tons of awards and was shown and many film festivals. It's a feel good movie so don't be too scared lol - but in watching it you at least get a glimpse of what life can be like in one of these communities. 

I fully recommend this film and I just sent that friend an nicely worded email with a link and my login info so that she could watch it while she self isolates after coming back from Cuba.