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“A National Crime” Article in Swampy Cree

Written by Miles Morrisseau and translated by Diana Morrisseau

Miles Morrisseau

Contributing Writer

Miles Morrisseau is a Métis writer, journalist and multimedia producer from the Métis Homeland in Manitoba. He began his career as a writer/broadcaster for CBC Radio in Winnipeg. He produced documentaries on Sunday Morning, CBC radio’s flagship documentary program. As a national native affairs broadcaster, he covered the Mohawk Gambling War in Akwesasne, the Death of the Meech Lake Accord and was one of only mainstream journalists who had access behind the barricades during the Oka Crisis, entering on one of a handful of boats that smuggled in food and medicine. He was Editor-in-Chief of Nativebeat, the Beat of a Different Drum, which was chosen best Native American Monthly by the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA). He was Editor-in-Chief of Aboriginal Voices Magazine and Indian Country Today. He produced Buffalo Tracks with Evan Adams for APTN. As program manager for NCI-FM, Manitoba’s Indigenous Radio Network, he helped launch Streetz FM the first radio station by and for Indigenous youth in Winnipeg, MB. He has six children and seven grandchildren and has been with his partner Shelly Bressette for over 35 years. He lives in Grand Rapids, Manitoba on one of the last pieces of Métis land still in the hands of Métis people.

Diana Morrisseau

Translator

Tānsi, my name is Diana Morrisseau. My ceremonial name is kā wāskānisimot mikisiwiskwew, which translates to the round dance eagle woman. I attend ceremonies on a regular basis as I have a lot to be thankful for to our Creator. I was born into a big family of 10 siblings including myself as being the youngest and only six surviving. I was very fortunate to retain my Cree language all the credit to both my beautiful late parents Patrick and Matilda Buck from Moose Lake, Manitoba. It was my parents that kept the Swampy Cree language alive and thriving within our family unit growing up. I am a Cree language teacher. Teaching and sharing the language is a great passion of mine. I am also a wife to my loving husband, Marshall, and we have raised our five amazing children Dannielle, Carly, Jake, Dylan and Marshall together over the past 33 years. I am looking forward to the next phase of my life to becoming a grandmother as our lovely daughter in-law Gabrielle is with child.

Mitātomitanaw askiya aspin maskihkiwininiw Peter Henderson Bryce kākī misihkemot inato mīhcet awāsisak enipicik kiskinomātowikamikohk.

Omasinahikew Miles Morrisseau

Mwāc awiyak ohci nohte natohtawew maskihkiwininiwa Peter Henderson Bryce.  Kī masinahām tāpwēwin, kī wihtam tāpwe ani āhcimowina ohci kiskinomātowikamikwa, ekwa kī otiskawiskam pītos māmitonenihcikan ohci kā kihci pimātisīmakahki kekwona ekospī — the Canadian government and the leading Christian churches: Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, and Presbyterian.

1922 e ispanik, Bryce, oskāc awiyak kihci ntawīwew simākanisihkān ohci The Department of the Interior and the Department of Indian Affairs, kī masinahikanihkew ekwa kī māhmekiw The Story of a National Crime, being an Appeal for Justice to the Indians of Canada, masinahikewin e sōhkīmakāk mitoni itewina kī tāwahām mitehya ekwa māmitonenīcikana aniki kākī natawenimāt – the Canadian public-  ekwa kīyāpic pehtākaniniw aniskāc ohcīwin anihi ohtāhcimowiniwāwa kākī nohte ātotāk.

Ekota, Bryce — kākī masinahāk tahto askiy “itamahcihocik ininiwak” e ispanik 1904 until he was sidelined by Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs Duncan Campbell Scott ekospihk 1914 — kī nōhkōtāw kākinaw kekwon kākī miskahk ohci tahto askiya kākī natoniket inato maci isīyāwin aniki ininiwi awāsisak kākī nīpawistākik pīhci kiskinomātowikamikwa ōte Western Canada. Bryce kī miskam e osāmi ispahāmakāki ohpanahpinewina ekwa e kā kostātikwani pā pōni pimātisicik ōki awāsisak kākī itohtecik kiskinomātowikamikohk kākī pimpanītāniwāki ohci Catholic ekwa Anglicanayamihewikamikwa.

Ekospihk, ohpanahpinewin kī nīkānīmakan nipiwinihk ōta Canada. Āta anima ahkosowin e kinipi āsōwipanik kākinaw awiyak takī kācitinam, māka kī pakamiskākok   kā kitimākisicik, kā nipahākatosicik, ekwa kā mīcetokecik. Tako kakī miskahk kiskinomātowikamikohk, Bryce asici kī miskam ohpanahpinewin ahkosiwin ekwa nipiwin nawac ekitimākāk ininiwi iskonikanihk ispīhci ōki Canadians in general; yet the funding for care ekwa natawīkewin isi ininiwak was many times lower. Ekeniw  ohci ohtāhcimowin, kī masinahikāteniw pātimā ispī e kī sīkiskāt ta pōni atosket ohci kihci okimānahk ekospihk 1921 e ispanik, ta wāpahtinōsket Canadian government ekā kekwon e tōtaminit ekwa e kī misīkemot anihi kākī isi wāpahtahk tipinawe national crime. “ Tāpwe kitimākinākan anima…ōma ahkosiwin ekwa nipiwin kā ispanik ekā e nitawāpenikecik Department of Indian Affairs, kākī onastācik BNA Act wāwīskīspin ta pamiyācik kitininīminānak,” kī isi masinahām.

 Māwaci nistam kākī kakwe ayamītāwak Bryce omasinahikan, mwāc nikī kaskītān āta mwāc ahpō nīsomitanaw pāskekinikana.  Kī kosikwana pīkiskwewina ekwa tāpwewina kākī mōskinahk Bryce omasinahikewinihk osām mistahi ta nīpawistamān peyak apiwinihk.  Kiki ininiwak- wāwīskīspin aniki kākī paspīcik ininiwi kiskinomātowikamikwa ekwa aniki kā aniskaci wahkohtocik—kostāsāhcimowin kī mostastew ōta papakisini masinahikewin kā mōsītahk kitehinahk, kimāmitonenīcikaninahk ekwa kitahcāhkonahk.

Mona kayās kākī ispaniki ōhi āhcimowina: Nōkom kī itohtew kiskinomātowikamikohk  ispihk kā ātotāk awa Bryce. Bryce’s findings were not, in the parlance of our times, “fake news”. Ekīnakiskamāsot nakāsimowin, ekwa tāpoko ani kī pimpanina kiskinomātowikamikwa awasime mitanaw askiya.

Isi ininiwak, pimātisīmakan ōma kākī pe ispanik āhcimowin kā pimōtatāhk, ekwa kekwon kā natonamāk anohc minowīcetowinihk aniki anisininiwak ta ati nīpawistākik, ta pimōtatācik ōma kākī pe ispanik āhcimowin.  The centennial of Bryce’s omasinahikan ispaniw ita e ānimāk, ita kā mā miskikāteki mihcetomitanaw anikwahskāna ita kiskinomātowikamikwa kākī cimateki ekwa an historic mītātenītamowin by Pope Francis isi ininiwak ekospihk nīsomitanaw nīyānosāp e akimiht opaskowi pīsim, ispihk e kī kīyoket ita kākī cimatek Ermineskin Indian Residential School in Maskwacis, Alberta. Ana kihci ayamihewininiw kī ātotam ayamihewikamikwa e kī wīciyācik kihci okimānahk. “ Nimītāhten. Ninatohtamān pōnenītamowin, wāwīskīspin anihi tōtamowina mīhcet ayamihewikamiko atoskenākanak asici ayamihā  itāwina kākī isi wihcihitocik, not least through their indifference, e kī siwanācītācik ininiwi pimātisiwin akwa forced assimilation promoted by governments ekospihk, which culminated in the system of kiskinomātowikamikwa.”

Kayās, mweyes takok Canada —mweyes takoki anohc kā masinasteki akāmaskiya — ayamihewininiwi kiskinomākekamikwa kī māci mōsāhkinewak ininiwi awāsisak ekwa ayamihewikamikwa kī pāskītenikātewa akāmaskiy kīwetinohk kīcimōkomān askiyihk. Kihci ayamihewininiwak, māwaci kistenīhtākosicik ohci pākwayisihk, kī takosinak ekospī e kī isi kiskenītākok New France 1625 e ispanik.  Emistikōsiwi itāwina ekwa ayamihewatisiwikamikwa spread nekahpehanohk isi awasime mitātomitanaw askiya, ayamihewiskwewak ekwa ayamihewininiwak kī onaskitāwak mīhcet non-residential ayamihewininiwi kiskinomākekamikwa ohci ininiwi awāsisak.  Māwaci nistam kiskinomātowikamik — the Anglican Church’s Mohawk Institute in Brantford, Ontario — kī pāskītenikātew ekospihk 1831 e ispanik.  E ati ispanik māmawinitowin ekospihk 1867 e ispanik — ispihk British North America Act e kī onasiwatācik federal government ta nānākacīhācik “Ininiwak, asici askiya e iskonikāteki ohci ininiwak” — ayamihewikamikwa kī pimpanītāwak ātiht kapesi  kiskinomākekamikwa ohci ininiwi awāsisak.

Mitanaw askiya e ispaniki, ispihk 1867, the Indian Act kī onastāniwan onasiwewin.  E ati ispaniki mitāt askiya, the Indian Act kī ati misahcīmakan isko mitoni kākinaw kekwon e onasiwātācik nistam ininiwak opimātisiwiniwāwa ohci, kinika kiskinwomātowin.  By 1880 otatoskeniwāwa ayamihewikamikwa ta pimpanītācik kiskinomākekamikwa iskonikanihk kī masinahikātew in the act — ta māmowohkamātocik ayamihewikamikwa ekwa the state ta ayānācik ininiwi awāsisak mīno picikewinihk.  Ayamihewikamikwa asici otayamiyāniwi  atoskātamowiniwāwa, āsay kī māci panina emistikōsiwi kiskinwomākewina ohci ininiwi awāsisak. 

1904 e ispanik, Bryce, an Ontario maskihkiwininiw, kī mīnāw nīkānapiwin isi kihci ntawīwew simākanisihkān of the federal Department of the Interior and Department of Indian Affairs, nōsawi nīsomitanaw nīsosāp askiya e kī nīkāniskahk the Ontario Board of Health.  1907 e ispanik, the minister of the interior kī kakecimew ta natawāpenikenit nistomitanaw nīyānosāp ininiwi kiskinomātowikamikwa in Alberta, Manitoba, asici Saskatchewan, ekwa Bryce kī masinahām inato e kī kitimākinākōcikeyi wāpahtahk.  The Report on the Indian Schools of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories kākī mōsākinikāteki miskamowina by surveying the principals ekwa e kī natawāpeniketotāk kiskinomātowikamikwa, ewakomīna ayinānew atoske kiskinomākekamikwa asici nīsomitanaw tepakohposāp kapesi kiskinomākekamikwa.  Masinahikanihk kī ātocikātew, ohpanahpinewin itāspinewin, anihi mitāt nīyānosāp kiskinomātowikamikwa kākī ātocikāteki,    

“ nīsomitanaw newosāp percent kākinaw okiskinwomākanak kākī ayācik  kiskinomātowikamikohk kiskenihtākwan e kī nipicik,”  mekwāc peyak kiskinomātowikamik ita File Hills iskonikan, kekāc tepakohpomitanaw percent  okiskinwomākanak kākī natawi kiskinwahamākosicik aspin kākī pāskītenikāteki ekospihk 1889 āsa kī nipiwak 1907 e ispanik.  E atāmenītahk māmāsīs tahkinowepahikewin asici ekā e pītikwepanik oski pakitatāmowin  kiskinomātowikamikohk ita kā ahkosicik awāsisak kākī māmowi kanwenītākosicik asici kākī mino ayācik, kī masinahām: “ Ki kī opinenaw maci kekwon ahkosīwīnihk isi mitoni nimāmaskāten anihi itōtamowina ekā awasime nāspic kā ispaniki ispīc kā isi ātocikāteki.”

Kī wītakan nawac e kisīwemakāk ekwa maskawisīmakāk pīkiskwewin ekospihk, ewako kītipenītam Duncan Campbell Scott.  Āsa e kī isi mamīcimiht peyakōskān ōta Canada, “ Confederation poets” — e māmawi ākanāsīmowi poets otatoskeniwāwa e kī wīcihikemakāki e osīcikāteki ātanōhkewina ohci Canada — Scott kī otinam nīkānapiwin ohci Department of Indian Affairs isi onīkānapiw simākanisiwikimāw ekospihk 1913, āsa ekota e kī atosket aspin ohci 1879 e ispanik .  Kī pimpanītāw the department  kekāc nīsomitanaw askiya, isko e pōni atosket ekospihk 1932 e ispanik.

Bryce kī atoskātam e mōsākināk masinahikewina isi kā itamahcihocik ininiwi awāsisak asici kākī isi ohpikicik ekwa kākī nihtāwikicik kiskinomātowikamikohk asici iskonikanihk, ekospihk 1904 isko 1914 e ispanik. Māka Scott kī kipiskam ta pakitinikātenik ekwa mwāc nāntaw kekwon ohci tōcikātew awa Bryce kākī isi natotamāt ta paminikātenik ohpanahpinewin isi kwesk pamīcikewin ekwa wāwīpac ta natawāpenikecik maskihkiwininiwak.  Ita A National Crime, Bryce kī itwew “masinahmākewin isi onakāskamākew Mr. D.C. Scott, ekwa opīkiskwewin ekospihk isi Deputy Minister, mwāc kekwon ohci tōcikātew ohci the Deparment ta mekināniwāk meskocipaniwin anihi masinahikewina kākī onastāniwāki.”  Awasime kī ati itwew Scott’s onakāskamowin e kī kipītinaminit his 1907 omasinahikewin ohci “ta ati ātocikātenik māmawopiwinihk ohci National Tuberculosis Association ekospihk 1910.”  Pātimā Scott e nīkāniskāk Department of Indian Affairs ekospihk 1913 e ispanik, mitoni kī nakāskam Bryce’s natonikewina, e kī itwet masinahikanihk reproduced in  A National Crime ekā Bryce e kī ohci atoskawāt the department since a bureaucratic reorganization ekospihk 1908 e ispanik —  tōtamowin Bryce kī isi masinahām “sāponākwan kakepātisiwin,” aspin Bryce isapoko e kī tāpitawi masinahikestamawāt the department  isko Scott e kipītināk atoskewin.

Āta, ātiht anisininiwak anohc kaskītāwak ta ayamihtācik omasinahikewin, Scott’s opīkiskwewin otitenihtamowin isi ininiwi kiskinomātowikamikwa ta siwanācihtācik ininiwi isīhcikewin isi nistam ininiwak ki ta pimātisīmakan misi maci wantōtamowinihk. E pīkiskwātaht parliamentary committee ekospihk 1920 e mino kanawāpahtahk kā isi natotamāt isi Indian Act, kī itwew:  “our objective is to continue isko ekā ta pimātisit peyak ininiw ōta Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic ekwa ekā ta takoki ininiwi kakwecīhkemowina asici ininiwi Department.”   The Indian Act onasiwewina ekospihk 1919–20, kākī onastāniwāki ohci Parliament, kī isi onasiwācikātew kākinaw ininiwi awāsisak etahto askiyinecik tepakohp isko mitāt nīyānosāp ta kiskinowahmākosicik “kīsikāw, atoskeyi, ahpō kapesi kiskinomākekamikohk e ati isi itasiwet Superintendent General.”   Onasiwewina kī itastāniwan simākanisīkān kā nānākaciyāt okiskinowamākana kā kīmīnit “the authority pohko ita ta pīhtoket e itenītāk ininiwi awāsisa e ayānit.”  Onīkihikwak kā sasīpihtawācik awa simākanisīkān ta isicisawācik awāsisa kiskinomākekamikohk kī tipayiketināwak nīswāpisk ahpō kī kipawāwak mitāt kīsikāwa, ahpō napoh, ekwa the act kī isi pakitinikātew “ pohko ani awāsis takī otinikāsow ekwa asekīwetāw isi kiskinomākekamikohk ohci awa simākanisīkān.”

Kiki anihi onasiwewina isi Indian Act that made attendance compulsory, Scott asici the Canadian government kī sīhcihewak awāsisak ta itohtenit kiskinomākekamikwa e kī kiskenītākik, ohci Bryce omasinahikewina, e āhkosīmakāki ekwa kakwespanenihtakwaniniki. Ita A National Crime, Bryce kī itwew “ inikohk ohci [the government’s] criminal disregard isi ininiwi asotamākewina ta pamināt Indian wards of the nation.”

Ispihk Bryce e pakitināk A National Crime, itwestamākewak kī nīkāni kiskenihtamak ta kīkātowāniwāk. Tāpiskōc the Vancouver Province  kākī āhcimot māmiskōtamākewin ohci masinahikewin ita House of Commons:  “ Fireworks kī itenihcikātew isi kākinaw otapiwak ohci the House e kī nīmāskwecik anima masinahikan.”

Itāhcimowin, kī itasinahikātew, “kī itenihcikātew ta wāpahtinōskāniwāk aniki ininiwak ohci Canada ekā e paminikāsocik ekwa e mescinecik ohpanahpinewin ohci.  The Minister  kī itwew mēkwāc māmiskōtamākewin onakihtamākewina aniki ininiwak ekā e ohci nānākacihyīcik ekwa kī itwew awāsime mistahi sōniyāw natawenihtākosiw isi maskihki ekwa kiskinomāke tōtamowina…mona esām inato wīpac isi the department to waken up.   Maskihkiwininiw Bryce atāmenimew Mr. Duncan Campbell Scott the poet who is deputy minister of the department.”

Isi ininiwak, kinwes kī ispaniw ta nīpayistākik kākī ispanik. Mīhcet mona ohci kakwe kanawāpahtamak tāpwewin. Kī kiki pimātisiwak ekosi isi. Anihi wantōtamowina kākī kakwātakīkocik kī pītokwepaniniw otahcākowāk, ekwa kākī isinawesick kī wantōtawewak aniki kākī sākihācik.

Nōkom Lydia e kī paspīt ohci Kinosew Sīpi ininiwi kiskinomātowikamik ōta

Kinosew Sīpi, Manitoba.  Mwāc ohci kiskenītaminiwa ōsisima tānisi kākī ispanīkot mweyes pōni pimātisit.  Nikī kiyokān mīhcetwāw e nīpihk itāwin Dauphin, Manitoba, kī takan kiskinomātowikamik ekota, nisikosihk Lily wīkihk māna nikī kapesin asici mekwāc kākinaw ininiwi sōskanātahīwin mayinewotowin e ispanik.  Dauphin has a population awasime ayinānew kihci mitātomitanaw ekwa is served by nīso kihcina meskanawa.  Āta mwāc nikiskisin ta takok kiskinomātowikamik, e kī pimpanītāniwāk ekota ohci 1914 isko 1988 e ispanik.  Mohkāc ohci ātocikātew, tāpiskōc ekā e kī ohci ispanik, mwehci Bryce otatoskewin kākī isi nāstāniwāk ekwa e kī wanikiskisitōcihkātenik isko wīpac 1990s. 

Wīpac 1990s e ispanik kī kecihnāhopaniw e kī kweskipanik isi Indigenous-Canadian history.  Owāwi pīsim 1990 e ispanik Elijah Harper, a Manitoba MLA,  kī apiw onasiwewikamikohk e micimināt mikisiw mīkwona ekwa kī asenam ta sītoskāk the Meech Lake Accord osām ekā ohci kanawāpahcikāteniki onasiwewina ohci nistam ininiwak pīhci māmawinitowin, thereby ending a constitutional-reform process that required unanimous provincial support.  Kākī itwet Harper ohci māmiskōtamākewin: “Āskaw peyakwāw in Canadian history anihi ānimisiwina ohci ininiwak kā nahāpahcikāteki, ekwa āskaw peyakwāw in history anima wantōtamowin of our systems kā itiskākocik ininiwak e ātocikātek.”

Peyak pīsim e kī ispanik, kipahikan kī cimacikātew e kī nakāhtinikātek metawewin ekā ta mahkisīhtāniwāk isi Kanesatake Mohawk territory nekahpeyanohk ohci Montreal kī mācipaniw tepakohpomitanaw ayinānewosāp kīsikāwa Oka crisis.  Wīkātow e takwākinohk, e ispanit takwākini pīsim nistomitanaw interview asici CBC  ohtāhcimostamākew Barbara Frum, Phil Fontaine, kihci okimāw ohci Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, kī āhcimow e kī kakwātakiyīt ekota Fort Alexander ininiwi kiskinomātowikamikohk ita Manitoba.

Āsa ekospihk ininiwak kī māci āhcimowak tāpwewin, nistam ohci Red Power movement ekospihk 1960s e ispanik isi naspasinahikewinihk, kitohcikewinihk asici waskawīwinihk ohci 1970s e ispanik, ekwāni asici āstepewinihk ohci 1980s ekwa 1990s e ispanik. Kā ispipaniki akītāsona ohci ininiwak e māmawintocik e natawīsocik, kī miskamak peyakwan ohtāhcimowiniwāwa ekwa e asepaniniki isi

kiskinomātowikamikohk kākī takoki Canada āniskāc askiya. Kākī isi ayāk kiskinomātowikamikohk, kī isi kanawāpahtam a national crime by Bryce, peyakwanohk kakwatakenimowin, āhkwatisowin, asici nanepewisiwin.

Awasime kā āhcimocik ininiwak ohci kākī pe ispanīkocik, kī ati mōskinamak tāpwewin kākī kātāniwāk isi askiyihk ekwa otānwehtamowiniwāwa tipinawe wīnawāw.  Ōhi āhcimowina kī wīcihkemakana isi ininiwi mino pimātisiwin ekwa ininiwak kī māci tōtamak ininiwi isīcikewin, pīkiskewin, naspasinahikewin ekwa kitohcikewin.

The Royal Commission on Aboriginal People (RCAP), kākī onastāniwāk ispihk e kīsākamakāk Oka crisis, kī mōskinikātewa mīhcet āhcimowina e kī wanikiskisitocikāteki, ahpō e kī kātāniwāki ewakomīna āhcimowina ohci

kiskinomātowikamikohk.  Mekwāc e atosket, commission historian John Milloy unearthed Bryce’s omasinahikewin, ekwa kī tako masinahām omiskamowina ita eyoko iskawāc masinahikewin.

The commission’s otatoskewin kī masinahām ininiwak okakwatakenimowiniwāwa mona pohko ohci kiskinomātowikamikohk māka mīna ohci otaskiyiwāwa kākī wanītācik ekwa opimātisīwiniwāwa ekwa kākī siwanācītāniwaniki ohtinini itāwina asici nipi kākī āpacītāniwāk for mining, timber,and hydroelectric development.  The RCAP masinahikan itastew kihci masinahikewin ohci   Indigenous-Canada relations.

Kakwatakenimowin kā ātocikātek anihi pāskekinikana kī wīcihkemakana ta osītāniwāk Aboriginal Healing Foundation (AHF), which supported community-based Aboriginal-directed healing initiatives ta kanawāpahcikātek kākī pe ispanik kakwatakenimowin pīhci Canada’s ininiwi kiskinomātowikamikohk, ewakomīna intergenerational impacts.  Kī atoskemakan mitāt peyakosāp askiya ekwa kī kīsi paniw 2009 e ispanik.

Nikī itapin AHF’s director of communications nīso askiya, māka nikī takosinin e ati kīsi pipohk 2006 e ispanik e ati kīsi atoskemakāk foundation.  Otatoskewin asici media āhcimowina, as well as community and kitchen-table discussions kī wīcihkemakan isi ininiwak ta āhcimocik ekwa ta natonākik funding for their communities. Kī ānimōhcikātew, oski sōnīyās ohci federal government to fund oskāyi programming ekwa ta atoskātāk mīhcetomitanaw front-line programs isi nistam ininiwak, āpīhtayikosānak, ekwa Inuit  itāwina akāmi Canada. Mwāc ohci ispaniw.

Mistahi pehtamowin. Sewipicikan ta matetin ita AHF office, ekwa semāk e māci ayamiyāk nikī kiskenīten ta kostāsāhcimot ana awiyak kā pe ayamit.  The foundation kī wīcihyew ininiwa ta mino ayānit ohci kākī pe isi kakwatakītānit, māka mīhcet nistam step e kī natowenītākik ta pehtākosicik. Kī natowenītamak ta tāpwetākocik awiyakwa. Tāpwewin kī paspīykok, ekwa kī nohte ayamitotamak otāpwewiniwāwa tipenimisowinihk—māka kī āniman ta miskawācik awiyakwa ta natohtākocik.

Mwāc nīsta nikī ohci kiskenīten nitāhcimowin, ahpō tānisi nōkom Lydia kākī isi paspīt.  Mona nikī ohci kiskenīten ispihk kākī pimātisit. Wīkātaw kākī ati kiskenītamān e kī itohtet kiskinomātowikamikohk, mwāc nikī ohci kiskenīten tānisi kākī isi pakamiskākot—ekwa kīyāpic mwāc nikiskenīten. Ahpō pātimā the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s atoskewin, the evidence is still being discovered, uncovered, and recovered.  Anohc cihke askiya, āhcimowina ohci kākī paspīcik ininiwak, nitati kiskenīten of nutritional, medical,ekwa pharmaceutical experiments performed on ininiwi awāsisak asici kakwatakīwewin isi electric  tehtapiwina ekwa isolation closets.

Mona nāspic ni nohte kiskenīten tānisi kākī ispanik kiskinomātowikamikohk ita nōkom Lydia kākī itohtet; osām mistahi nika itenīten.  Māka ni wāpahten inato nitiskwecākan otānisimāw e naspitawāt Lydiawa, ekwa ekosi mīna e isi pimōtayisot.  Peyak kīsikāw ni mamāmitonenimāw nitānis e pimohtet pīhci kiskinomātowikamikohk ekwoni nitati māci māton.

Cindy Blackstock — the executive director ohci the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and a member of the Gitxsan First Nation — kī itwew Bryce’s otatoskewin nīkānenihtākwaniniw.  Blackstock kikiotatoskenākana, asici the Assembly of First Nations, kī nohtinikewak mitāt nīyānosāp askiya isi onasiwewin e itwecik the federal government e kī wantōtawāt nistam ininiwi awāsisak kā kanenītākosicik by providing them less funding than the amount provided to non – ininiwi awāsisak.  Kī pōni nōtintowak ekwa newomitanaw-$billion agreement in principle, ekosi government e kī isi asotamāket ta kweskastāt the system ekwa ta tipahmawāt aniki awāsisak asici owītisānīhiwāwa.

“The federal and provincial governments kī kiskenītamak ekwa kī otinamak ekā kwesk ta tōtawācik nistam ininiwak, āpīhtayikosānak, ekwa Inuit awāsisak, which has produced, and continues to produce, devastating results,”  Blackstock kī itwew,  “The public kī kiskenītamak anihi wantōtamowina, ta isi kwesk astācik, ekwa e kī kisiwāsicik by the government inaction, māka ōhi wantōtamowina mwāc kinwes miciminikātewa public attention ta sīhcihācik government kwesk ta tōtāk.”

Kī ati itwew: “ Mīhcet kihci mitātomitanaw of caring Canadians kī ikiskamak e osāwinākwaniki papakowayāna ispihk kā miskawācik awāsisak ita ekā e kiskinawācītāniwāki anikwahskāna nīpinohk, ekwa in response the federal government implemented more [ of the] Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action in a couple of months than they had in the previous nikwotwosik askiya….kīnānaw kākinaw ta kī ayamihtāyahk the TRC calls to action, ekwa ta

isicisāmawākok kākinaw kā nīkāniskākowākok ta kakwecimākok kekwon e tōtākik ta onastācik, ekwa ta māmasinahikīyāk isko ta mīnopanik.”

In this age of reconciliation, we must reconcile our shared history.  Ininiwak kīyāpic isi pimātisiwak ekosāni that the rest of the country has conveniently pakitināk kayās.  Pimātisīmakan ōma āhcimowin, ekwa otatoskewin asici otayamiwin Dr. Peter Henderson Bryce kīyāpic ta kī pehtākwaninik isi wīsakihtākwaninik tāpiskōc pōtācikan kākī pe pōtācikātek mitātomitanaw askiya kākī isi natawenimāt anisininiwak — the Canadian Public.