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♪
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Downloaded from
YTS.MX
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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX
4
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(♪♪♪)
5
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(children laughing)
6
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(laughing)
7
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(♪♪♪)
8
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(sighing)
9
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- I remember long ago,
10
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there was a black car
that came...
11
00:02:01,387 --> 00:02:05,925
and a man and his wife,
White people.
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And they were talking
to my mom and dad.
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I looked at the licence plate,
and it was from Pennsylvania.
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It was a black
and yellow licence plate.
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And that man,
finally, he said...
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"Would you like to come and live
with us, little boy?" he said.
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It scared me up. I don't know
who these people are.
18
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I ran into the bush
19
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and I stayed over there
with my dog.
20
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I had a little plastic sheet,
21
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and I stayed in the bush
for about a month,
22
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until I was sure they were gone.
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My mom said:
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"It was really quiet here."
25
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Lots of kids were gone.
26
00:02:55,542 --> 00:02:56,943
(Native language)
27
00:02:57,010 --> 00:02:59,445
"I'm sad", she said.
28
00:02:59,512 --> 00:03:01,648
Quite a few years later,
29
00:03:01,714 --> 00:03:05,318
we found out
there were different places.
30
00:03:05,385 --> 00:03:09,522
Some of them came home
and told us where they were.
31
00:03:09,589 --> 00:03:13,760
And they were different,
those young kids.
32
00:03:13,826 --> 00:03:17,430
Some of them were adults
when they came home.
33
00:03:21,935 --> 00:03:25,238
- So Canada's efforts
to assimilate Indigenous kids
34
00:03:25,305 --> 00:03:29,175
began in the 1840s with
the first residential school.
35
00:03:29,242 --> 00:03:31,911
(children praying)
36
00:03:31,978 --> 00:03:35,048
From the late 1950s
and early 60s
37
00:03:35,114 --> 00:03:37,183
to the mid-1980s,
38
00:03:37,250 --> 00:03:38,718
the mass removal of children
39
00:03:38,785 --> 00:03:41,287
continued through
the child welfare system.
40
00:03:41,354 --> 00:03:43,089
Tens of thousands
of Indigenous kids
41
00:03:43,156 --> 00:03:47,527
were removed from their families
and placed into White families
42
00:03:47,594 --> 00:03:50,163
in North America
and internationally.
43
00:03:50,230 --> 00:03:54,334
All of this is what we'd refer
to as the Sixties Scoop.
44
00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:55,868
In Canada,
you know, we have
45
00:03:55,935 --> 00:03:58,538
this sort of collective
amnesia about things.
46
00:03:58,605 --> 00:04:00,306
Well... And maybe
it's not even amnesia,
47
00:04:00,373 --> 00:04:03,042
cause amnesia means that you
actually knew about something
48
00:04:03,109 --> 00:04:04,711
and then forgot about it.
49
00:04:04,777 --> 00:04:06,813
But residential schools,
Sixties Scoop,
50
00:04:06,879 --> 00:04:08,281
people didn't know about it.
51
00:04:08,348 --> 00:04:10,116
That was, I think,
very deliberate,
52
00:04:10,183 --> 00:04:11,751
because you can, you know...
53
00:04:11,818 --> 00:04:14,487
Who wants to broadcast
it there and...
54
00:04:14,554 --> 00:04:18,524
We're on a program of
assimilating Indigenous people
55
00:04:18,591 --> 00:04:21,427
so that we don't have any more
fiduciary responsibility
56
00:04:21,494 --> 00:04:22,929
and we don't have
to, you know, share
57
00:04:22,996 --> 00:04:25,064
the resources of the land
and whatnot.
58
00:04:26,532 --> 00:04:28,368
I think truth is important
when we're looking
59
00:04:28,434 --> 00:04:32,372
at our collective
colonial history in Canada.
60
00:04:32,438 --> 00:04:34,374
If people don't know
the true stories,
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00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:37,243
the truth of what happened,
62
00:04:37,310 --> 00:04:39,212
then, they're never gonna
know who we are.
63
00:04:40,513 --> 00:04:42,048
And we've always been
storytellers,
64
00:04:42,115 --> 00:04:43,916
so here's one more.
65
00:04:43,983 --> 00:04:47,153
We got a lot more
coming, though.
66
00:04:47,220 --> 00:04:52,392
(♪♪♪)
67
00:05:05,104 --> 00:05:08,107
- Little Bird is a miniseries
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about one woman's experience
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00:05:11,144 --> 00:05:14,380
after being abducted
from her home in Saskatchewan
70
00:05:14,447 --> 00:05:17,383
and being adopted into
a Jewish family in Montreal.
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00:05:17,450 --> 00:05:21,087
And the story follows
her journey of discovery
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00:05:21,154 --> 00:05:22,689
to uncover the truth
of her past
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00:05:22,755 --> 00:05:25,925
and pursue her desire
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00:05:25,992 --> 00:05:28,895
to understand the story
that was stolen from her
75
00:05:28,961 --> 00:05:31,230
about who she is.
76
00:05:31,297 --> 00:05:32,899
(♪♪♪)
77
00:05:32,965 --> 00:05:35,768
- What we see with Little Bird
is one of those stories
78
00:05:35,835 --> 00:05:37,337
on a very, you know, personal...
79
00:05:37,403 --> 00:05:39,605
on a personal level.
80
00:05:39,672 --> 00:05:41,274
It's a family unit
81
00:05:41,341 --> 00:05:43,609
that's been taken apart.
82
00:05:45,111 --> 00:05:50,283
(Native language)
83
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My name is Elle-Maija
Apiniskim Tailfeathers.
84
00:05:55,188 --> 00:05:58,791
I come from Sapmi,
from the Norgga region.
85
00:05:58,858 --> 00:06:02,495
I'm also Blackfoot
from "Gainah" or Kainai.
86
00:06:02,562 --> 00:06:04,797
And I'm a filmmaker.
87
00:06:04,864 --> 00:06:07,066
- And action, kids!
88
00:06:07,133 --> 00:06:10,803
- So, we're witnessing something
really special right now
89
00:06:10,870 --> 00:06:13,072
in terms of Indigenous cinema.
90
00:06:13,139 --> 00:06:15,041
There's been
this massive movement
91
00:06:15,108 --> 00:06:16,642
towards narrative sovereignty,
92
00:06:16,709 --> 00:06:19,712
and that means
so many things.
93
00:06:19,779 --> 00:06:22,715
I'm just really proud to be
a part of this movement,
94
00:06:22,782 --> 00:06:24,917
but I recognize
there's a long way to go.
95
00:06:24,984 --> 00:06:26,686
It's flowers.
96
00:06:26,753 --> 00:06:28,788
You're not going to do it
right now, but...
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00:06:29,922 --> 00:06:32,759
- Hey, can you still
get me some water?
98
00:06:34,260 --> 00:06:36,529
(bucket dropping)
99
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Go!
100
00:06:41,968 --> 00:06:45,805
(Native language)
101
00:06:45,872 --> 00:06:47,407
- My name is Jade Willoughby.
102
00:06:47,473 --> 00:06:49,909
I'm from Whitesand First Nation
in Northern Ontario.
103
00:06:50,676 --> 00:06:53,513
As First Nations Indigenous
people, we're very community,
104
00:06:53,579 --> 00:06:55,281
we're very place-based,
you know.
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And that's the structure
that, you know,
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00:06:57,183 --> 00:06:59,352
was essentially attempted
to destroy.
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00:06:59,419 --> 00:07:01,454
And, you know, we're seeing
the ripple effects now
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00:07:01,521 --> 00:07:04,857
of what that was, but you still
see that cohesiveness.
109
00:07:04,924 --> 00:07:06,325
We're finding each other.
110
00:07:06,392 --> 00:07:08,728
And I think in this project,
that's what it is.
111
00:07:08,795 --> 00:07:11,697
So, for me, I'm giving
a voice, you know,
112
00:07:11,764 --> 00:07:13,766
to my grandmother's story
and her sister, you know,
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00:07:13,833 --> 00:07:15,968
and many other people
in my family
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00:07:16,035 --> 00:07:18,237
that have gone through this.
115
00:07:21,607 --> 00:07:23,376
- So, I'm Raven Sinclair
116
00:07:23,443 --> 00:07:25,845
and I'm from
Gordon First Nation,
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00:07:25,912 --> 00:07:28,614
Treaty 4 territory, Cree,
Assiniboine and Saulteaux,
118
00:07:28,681 --> 00:07:32,318
Crow and Red River
Métis ancestry.
119
00:07:32,385 --> 00:07:34,821
And I'm a professor
of social work
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00:07:34,887 --> 00:07:36,722
at the University
of Regina in Saskatoon.
121
00:07:36,789 --> 00:07:40,326
So, I am a survivor
of the Sixties Scoop.
122
00:07:40,393 --> 00:07:44,931
I was adopted
on my fifth birthday in 1966.
123
00:07:44,997 --> 00:07:47,633
And the experience
for me of reconnecting
124
00:07:47,700 --> 00:07:50,503
and learning about the Scoop
was really, really important.
125
00:07:50,570 --> 00:07:52,438
What was significant
about that is
126
00:07:52,505 --> 00:07:54,207
we all thought
we were the only ones.
127
00:07:54,273 --> 00:07:57,043
So, learning that this was one
of the assimilation projects
128
00:07:57,109 --> 00:07:58,511
of the government... ha-ha!
129
00:07:58,578 --> 00:08:01,147
governments,
provincial governments,
130
00:08:01,214 --> 00:08:02,882
was really important
because then, you know,
131
00:08:02,949 --> 00:08:05,318
we were able to, then,
depersonalize it a little bit.
132
00:08:05,384 --> 00:08:07,053
You know, then, you're
no longer thinking:
133
00:08:07,119 --> 00:08:08,955
"This is something that's
fundamentally wrong with me."
134
00:08:09,021 --> 00:08:10,623
It's something that's
fundamentally wrong
135
00:08:10,690 --> 00:08:12,358
with the system.
136
00:08:15,761 --> 00:08:18,130
- This role hits
very close to home
137
00:08:18,197 --> 00:08:21,200
because my dad, being
a member of the Sixties Scoop,
138
00:08:21,267 --> 00:08:22,835
changed my entire life.
139
00:08:22,902 --> 00:08:26,672
So, there was a level
of compartmentalization
140
00:08:26,739 --> 00:08:30,743
that had to happen where it was
like I need to sort of...
141
00:08:30,810 --> 00:08:33,746
separate my own
personal experience
142
00:08:33,813 --> 00:08:38,551
and sort of put that aside
so that I can focus
143
00:08:38,618 --> 00:08:39,986
on the work and do the work
144
00:08:40,052 --> 00:08:41,888
because stories like
this need to be told.
145
00:08:41,954 --> 00:08:43,756
And I think any other actor
146
00:08:43,823 --> 00:08:45,725
who wasn't
of Indigenous ancestry
147
00:08:45,791 --> 00:08:47,860
or have Indigenous
lived experience
148
00:08:47,927 --> 00:08:50,997
wouldn't necessarily
have to use those,
149
00:08:51,063 --> 00:08:52,665
like, mental coping mechanisms
150
00:08:52,732 --> 00:08:55,134
in order to do this role.
151
00:08:55,201 --> 00:08:56,802
(indistinct chatter)
152
00:08:56,869 --> 00:08:59,605
- All right, folks, let's go
to our first position, please!
153
00:08:59,672 --> 00:09:02,909
Again, from the very top,
but only until...
154
00:09:02,975 --> 00:09:04,310
- Can we just reset?
155
00:09:04,377 --> 00:09:06,279
- You want me
to reset it?
- Yeah.
156
00:09:06,345 --> 00:09:07,780
My name is Zoe Hopkins.
157
00:09:07,847 --> 00:09:10,816
I'm a writer and director
on Little Bird.
158
00:09:10,883 --> 00:09:13,953
I'm born in Bella Bella.
I'm Heiltsuk on my mom's side.
159
00:09:14,020 --> 00:09:15,388
That's where she lives.
160
00:09:15,454 --> 00:09:17,924
And I'm Mohawk
on my father's side.
161
00:09:17,990 --> 00:09:19,792
I live in Six Nations.
162
00:09:20,993 --> 00:09:24,196
Canada is still having
a reckoning with truth
163
00:09:24,263 --> 00:09:26,532
and what happened
and is still happening
164
00:09:26,599 --> 00:09:28,467
to our people
in this country.
165
00:09:28,534 --> 00:09:29,936
You know, we hear
166
00:09:30,002 --> 00:09:32,305
the term reconciliation
thrown around a lot.
167
00:09:32,371 --> 00:09:34,907
And it is very true
168
00:09:34,974 --> 00:09:37,777
that we can't have that
until there's truth.
169
00:09:37,843 --> 00:09:42,882
And this is a part of that kind
of frontline advocacy
170
00:09:42,949 --> 00:09:44,617
and activism on screen.
171
00:09:44,684 --> 00:09:49,855
(♪♪♪)
172
00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:23,122
- Folks, let's go to our
first positions!
173
00:10:23,189 --> 00:10:24,991
Rehearsal!
174
00:10:26,225 --> 00:10:27,860
- I was part
of the Sixties Scoop,
175
00:10:27,927 --> 00:10:31,764
so that's my connection
with this film.
176
00:10:31,831 --> 00:10:34,333
My character's name is Asin.
177
00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:38,070
I'm the granddad.
I'm doing granddad stuff now.
178
00:10:38,838 --> 00:10:42,375
My... slave name,
I like to call it,
179
00:10:42,441 --> 00:10:43,843
my adopted name
180
00:10:43,909 --> 00:10:45,344
- I was adopted at birth -
181
00:10:45,411 --> 00:10:46,846
is Eric Kurt Schweig,
182
00:10:46,912 --> 00:10:48,914
but the name...
I never met my mother,
183
00:10:48,981 --> 00:10:50,449
but the name that she gave me
184
00:10:50,516 --> 00:10:53,252
before I was taken away
was Ray Dean Thrasher.
185
00:10:53,319 --> 00:10:56,656
I'm Inuit, Portuguese,
German and Senegalese.
186
00:10:56,722 --> 00:10:59,558
My birthplace is Inuvik
in the Northwest Territories.
187
00:10:59,625 --> 00:11:03,262
It's just at the mouth
of the Mackenzie River delta
188
00:11:03,329 --> 00:11:05,131
underneath the Beaufort Sea.
189
00:11:05,197 --> 00:11:07,800
Why is it important
that this story be told...
190
00:11:07,867 --> 00:11:10,269
this story in particular
be told by us?
191
00:11:10,336 --> 00:11:13,939
Because every time
the other side tells it,
192
00:11:14,006 --> 00:11:16,308
they screw it up,
or they romanticize it,
193
00:11:16,375 --> 00:11:19,478
or they titillate the...
194
00:11:19,545 --> 00:11:21,147
any of the bad things
that go on,
195
00:11:21,213 --> 00:11:24,316
and it's stereotypical
and it's nonsense.
196
00:11:24,383 --> 00:11:26,485
The only time
that you can get
197
00:11:26,552 --> 00:11:28,988
the real meat and potatoes
from something like this
198
00:11:29,055 --> 00:11:31,123
is from First Nations people,
199
00:11:31,190 --> 00:11:33,459
from the source.
200
00:11:33,526 --> 00:11:35,995
- I knew when I became
a producer
201
00:11:36,062 --> 00:11:38,564
that I would only ever tell
202
00:11:38,631 --> 00:11:42,268
Indigenous stories
that multi-dimensionalize us
203
00:11:42,334 --> 00:11:44,837
and our experiences.
204
00:11:44,904 --> 00:11:48,007
I don't think there's
one Indigenous family
205
00:11:48,074 --> 00:11:51,977
that hasn't been impacted
by residential school
206
00:11:52,044 --> 00:11:53,879
or the child welfare system.
207
00:11:53,946 --> 00:11:55,948
I don't know one.
I've never met one.
208
00:11:58,884 --> 00:12:02,922
For me, because my community
is in Saskatchewan,
209
00:12:02,988 --> 00:12:05,491
Southern Saskatchewan,
Muscowpetung,
210
00:12:05,558 --> 00:12:10,062
I placed the story
in that region,
211
00:12:10,129 --> 00:12:12,164
because I wanted it
to be as close
212
00:12:12,231 --> 00:12:15,101
to my home community
as possible.
213
00:12:15,167 --> 00:12:18,637
So, I followed the river
near my reserve
214
00:12:18,704 --> 00:12:22,641
and, like, followed it
on Google Maps into Manitoba,
215
00:12:22,708 --> 00:12:26,512
and then I chose communities
that that river flowed through
216
00:12:26,579 --> 00:12:29,648
and had those coolees,
the valleys.
217
00:12:29,715 --> 00:12:32,184
(♪♪♪)
218
00:12:32,251 --> 00:12:33,686
- One of the things
219
00:12:33,753 --> 00:12:35,521
that is an important part
220
00:12:35,588 --> 00:12:38,457
of the protocol
of Indigenous storytelling
221
00:12:38,524 --> 00:12:40,593
is to work with community.
222
00:12:40,659 --> 00:12:43,195
And the first thing you do
is you go to community
223
00:12:43,262 --> 00:12:45,998
and you make an offering,
and you ask for permission,
224
00:12:46,065 --> 00:12:49,235
whether it's to tell a story
or to use a location.
225
00:12:49,301 --> 00:12:50,903
So, that's what we did
with Sioux Valley,
226
00:12:50,970 --> 00:12:53,806
and the relationship
just got stronger from there.
227
00:12:56,442 --> 00:12:58,811
- We've never had this sort
of thing happening here
228
00:12:58,878 --> 00:13:00,212
in the community
229
00:13:00,279 --> 00:13:04,250
and knowing that
Sioux Valley's hosting
230
00:13:04,316 --> 00:13:06,018
this crew that's doing
a film here.
231
00:13:06,085 --> 00:13:07,620
So, they're pretty
excited about it.
232
00:13:07,686 --> 00:13:10,589
Like, community members
that are participating.
233
00:13:10,656 --> 00:13:13,926
And I have young adult
children myself,
234
00:13:13,993 --> 00:13:15,361
and I went home at lunch
235
00:13:15,427 --> 00:13:16,929
and I was speaking
to my youngest son,
236
00:13:16,996 --> 00:13:19,532
and he's like:
"What's the Sixties Scoop?"
237
00:13:19,598 --> 00:13:23,068
And he didn't know, right,
what that was and...
238
00:13:23,135 --> 00:13:28,040
So, we had a chat about it
at lunchtime with my other son.
239
00:13:28,107 --> 00:13:31,877
And he says: "Well, didn't you
learn about that in school?"
240
00:13:31,944 --> 00:13:35,181
So, it's bringing awareness
about those dark times
241
00:13:35,247 --> 00:13:37,683
to our younger generation
that didn't know
242
00:13:37,750 --> 00:13:40,052
those sorts of things
took place.
243
00:13:40,119 --> 00:13:42,388
(♪♪♪)
244
00:13:42,454 --> 00:13:45,591
- It impacted
a lot of people here.
245
00:13:45,658 --> 00:13:48,093
When the young people
246
00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:51,497
that were adopted
of the reserve...
247
00:13:51,564 --> 00:13:53,566
I guess it's quite...
248
00:13:53,632 --> 00:13:58,771
It is a quite traumatic thing
that they never experienced
249
00:13:58,838 --> 00:14:01,407
because they're young,
250
00:14:01,473 --> 00:14:05,144
they never left the reserve
here, the community,
251
00:14:05,211 --> 00:14:08,380
and, all of a sudden, they're
taken to a different place
252
00:14:08,447 --> 00:14:10,149
with different parents.
253
00:14:11,250 --> 00:14:14,787
And they struggle
growing up out there.
254
00:14:16,021 --> 00:14:19,458
Once they come back
or trying to come back,
255
00:14:19,525 --> 00:14:21,126
it's very difficult
256
00:14:21,193 --> 00:14:24,496
because they learned
a different lifestyle
257
00:14:24,563 --> 00:14:28,500
and they're coming back
to a different home.
258
00:14:28,567 --> 00:14:31,670
Some of them, I guess,
they feel ashamed
259
00:14:31,737 --> 00:14:34,940
to be coming home of what
happened to them out there.
260
00:14:35,708 --> 00:14:38,410
Some of them never want
to come home.
261
00:14:39,645 --> 00:14:41,547
I guess this will
262
00:14:41,614 --> 00:14:44,650
open the eyes of a lot
of people out there now.
263
00:14:44,717 --> 00:14:48,520
(♪♪♪)
264
00:14:48,587 --> 00:14:50,522
- We're finally here
and I'm very excited
265
00:14:50,589 --> 00:14:54,560
because this expands
my heart to be here.
266
00:14:54,627 --> 00:14:58,364
I feel like very, very
emotional on this land.
267
00:15:00,032 --> 00:15:02,801
- You were talking about
smelling sweet grass...
268
00:15:02,868 --> 00:15:04,536
- Sweet grass and sage.
269
00:15:04,603 --> 00:15:07,239
So, we wanted to gift you
with those from...
- Miigwetch!
270
00:15:07,306 --> 00:15:09,575
- ... on behalf
of our community.
271
00:15:09,642 --> 00:15:13,712
It's always a great honour
to be gifted a star quilt.
272
00:15:13,779 --> 00:15:15,180
It's one of a...
273
00:15:15,247 --> 00:15:18,050
I guess something that's
signatory to our community.
274
00:15:18,117 --> 00:15:21,186
- I really appreciate
this honour.
275
00:15:21,253 --> 00:15:22,588
And I feel very...
276
00:15:22,655 --> 00:15:25,024
- And it's always a tradition
for the women to...
277
00:15:25,090 --> 00:15:26,525
like, whoever they're gifting,
278
00:15:26,592 --> 00:15:28,427
we wrap them in it, right?
279
00:15:28,494 --> 00:15:30,296
- Oh, my God.
- Ha-ha!
280
00:15:30,362 --> 00:15:32,264
(♪♪♪)
281
00:15:32,331 --> 00:15:34,566
- Thank you. Miigwetch.
282
00:15:35,401 --> 00:15:40,072
(♪♪♪)
283
00:15:46,011 --> 00:15:51,183
(♪♪♪)
284
00:15:52,584 --> 00:15:54,620
- Well, the Indigenous story
285
00:15:54,687 --> 00:15:59,725
or the Indigenous narration
is important.
286
00:16:01,327 --> 00:16:03,996
Crew members Indigenous,
287
00:16:04,063 --> 00:16:05,364
cast members
288
00:16:05,431 --> 00:16:08,033
and the authenticity
that the producers
289
00:16:08,100 --> 00:16:12,638
want to bring to not just
aspects of the story
290
00:16:12,705 --> 00:16:16,442
and how it's told,
but to inclusion.
291
00:16:16,508 --> 00:16:18,544
And it warms my heart.
292
00:16:18,610 --> 00:16:21,513
My name is Lorne Duquette.
293
00:16:21,580 --> 00:16:23,615
My Cree name is Mistatim.
294
00:16:23,682 --> 00:16:25,284
I come from the Cree Nation,
295
00:16:25,351 --> 00:16:28,120
Mistawasis Nêhiyawak
in Saskatchewan.
296
00:16:29,054 --> 00:16:33,258
My particular connection
to the Sixties Scoop is
297
00:16:33,325 --> 00:16:35,127
I had a girlfriend,
298
00:16:35,194 --> 00:16:39,331
and her and her two siblings
were apprehended.
299
00:16:39,398 --> 00:16:41,467
She was raised in a White home,
300
00:16:41,533 --> 00:16:46,505
and her adopted brothers
were older than her.
301
00:16:46,572 --> 00:16:50,976
And she suffered
sexual and physical
302
00:16:51,043 --> 00:16:52,378
and mental abuse.
303
00:16:52,444 --> 00:16:55,614
And she passed
in October 2016.
304
00:16:55,681 --> 00:16:59,385
And her two brothers
passed before her.
305
00:16:59,451 --> 00:17:00,986
This family,
306
00:17:01,053 --> 00:17:04,456
the mother
and her three children,
307
00:17:04,523 --> 00:17:08,394
none of them had children,
many of these siblings,
308
00:17:08,460 --> 00:17:12,698
and of course, the mother
had no grandchildren.
309
00:17:12,765 --> 00:17:15,434
So, the Sixties Scoop...
310
00:17:17,703 --> 00:17:21,774
literally wiped this family
off the face of this earth
311
00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:23,509
without...
312
00:17:26,145 --> 00:17:27,546
any...
313
00:17:27,613 --> 00:17:31,250
any offspring
to carry on their name.
314
00:17:31,316 --> 00:17:35,654
Like the dialogue my character
says at the funeral,
315
00:17:35,721 --> 00:17:38,690
my thoughts also turned
to our children
316
00:17:38,757 --> 00:17:43,796
who were lost and taken from us
in so many ways.
317
00:17:45,297 --> 00:17:47,366
And in this interview
that I'm giving today,
318
00:17:47,433 --> 00:17:50,335
I give my thoughts
and my memory
319
00:17:50,402 --> 00:17:53,572
to her and her siblings
and her mother.
320
00:17:53,639 --> 00:17:58,811
(chanting)
321
00:18:02,247 --> 00:18:06,418
- So, this situation
with residential schools,
322
00:18:06,485 --> 00:18:08,053
Sixties Scoop,
323
00:18:08,120 --> 00:18:11,190
it affected us big time
324
00:18:11,256 --> 00:18:13,225
mentally, emotionally.
325
00:18:14,827 --> 00:18:17,296
My name is Harold Blacksmith.
326
00:18:17,362 --> 00:18:19,898
I come from Sioux Valley
Dakota Nation,
327
00:18:19,965 --> 00:18:23,168
otherwise known
as Wipazoka Wakpa Oyate.
328
00:18:24,570 --> 00:18:25,904
Full-blood Dakota Sioux.
329
00:18:25,971 --> 00:18:29,141
I've lived here
my entire 60 years of age.
330
00:18:29,208 --> 00:18:32,611
Because of mom's experience
in residential school,
331
00:18:32,678 --> 00:18:34,913
she...
332
00:18:35,948 --> 00:18:38,217
To be told
that you're worthless,
333
00:18:38,283 --> 00:18:41,220
being told that consistently
on a daily basis,
334
00:18:41,286 --> 00:18:44,590
had an emotional, mental
effect on these people,
335
00:18:44,656 --> 00:18:46,358
including my mom.
336
00:18:46,425 --> 00:18:48,393
And...
337
00:18:50,129 --> 00:18:53,832
And when the Sixties Scoop
came in,
338
00:18:53,899 --> 00:18:55,400
they took my brother.
339
00:18:55,467 --> 00:18:58,670
My grandma and grandpa hid me,
they hung on to me.
340
00:18:58,737 --> 00:19:01,740
Back then, the law was:
341
00:19:01,807 --> 00:19:04,143
okay, you're going
to hang on to Harold?
342
00:19:04,209 --> 00:19:06,178
You have to adopt him."
343
00:19:08,580 --> 00:19:11,250
Ah, we grew up, we didn't
have no TV or nothing.
344
00:19:11,316 --> 00:19:14,953
Down south, we have
a big lake down there.
345
00:19:15,020 --> 00:19:16,388
It's still there yet.
346
00:19:16,455 --> 00:19:20,459
And we used to go
and fish out there and swim.
347
00:19:20,526 --> 00:19:23,061
And my personal experience was
348
00:19:23,128 --> 00:19:25,797
I've seen two of my cousins...
349
00:19:25,864 --> 00:19:27,966
they were picked up.
350
00:19:28,033 --> 00:19:30,636
I still remember
the individual's name.
351
00:19:30,702 --> 00:19:33,305
It was Mr. Malik, big tall guy,
352
00:19:33,372 --> 00:19:35,307
Hindu guy, glasses.
353
00:19:35,374 --> 00:19:38,110
He had a brown Ford Torino.
354
00:19:40,279 --> 00:19:42,080
And those guys
shared their story.
355
00:19:42,147 --> 00:19:46,285
He took the door handles off
from the inside,
356
00:19:46,351 --> 00:19:49,488
so once he closed the door,
the kids couldn't open it.
357
00:19:49,555 --> 00:19:53,292
And he lured them
with pop, candy.
358
00:19:54,092 --> 00:19:55,494
And he wanted to...
359
00:19:55,561 --> 00:19:57,462
I don't know what...
I think the saying was
360
00:19:57,529 --> 00:20:00,999
that he wanted to talk
to their caregivers, whatever.
361
00:20:01,066 --> 00:20:03,035
So, the boys got in
362
00:20:03,101 --> 00:20:06,738
and he closed
the doors on them.
363
00:20:06,805 --> 00:20:11,210
And one of my cousins
was, you know...
364
00:20:11,276 --> 00:20:12,678
He had a look on his face.
365
00:20:12,744 --> 00:20:16,515
And I think they knew
that they were in trouble
366
00:20:16,582 --> 00:20:18,083
when they got in the vehicle.
367
00:20:18,150 --> 00:20:20,352
I'll never forget that look.
368
00:20:23,188 --> 00:20:26,425
My grandma and grandfather
told me in Dakota...
369
00:20:26,491 --> 00:20:29,328
they said:
"Don't talk to anybody,
370
00:20:29,394 --> 00:20:31,697
don't talk to any strangers."
371
00:20:31,763 --> 00:20:33,265
And about that time,
you know,
372
00:20:33,332 --> 00:20:36,301
you see this police
vehicle out there,
373
00:20:36,368 --> 00:20:37,970
the one bulb on top of the hood,
374
00:20:38,036 --> 00:20:39,972
they were the kind
of vehicles that were...
375
00:20:40,038 --> 00:20:42,007
You didn't know who to trust.
376
00:20:42,074 --> 00:20:46,378
And that's another big factor
that today, modern day,
377
00:20:46,445 --> 00:20:47,813
we don't talk about it
378
00:20:47,879 --> 00:20:49,648
because there were
trust issues back then.
379
00:20:49,715 --> 00:20:52,251
There was a Mr. Malik
and there were other people
380
00:20:52,317 --> 00:20:54,186
that were collecting children.
381
00:20:54,253 --> 00:20:58,190
And we didn't know
who to trust, you know.
382
00:20:59,424 --> 00:21:03,695
I'm sure today, if our
leadership could do something...
383
00:21:03,762 --> 00:21:05,297
Back then, they probably
would have stopped
384
00:21:05,364 --> 00:21:06,765
these visitors coming in.
385
00:21:06,832 --> 00:21:08,467
They should have stopped them.
386
00:21:08,533 --> 00:21:13,472
(♪♪♪)
387
00:21:15,674 --> 00:21:17,609
- When you're telling
388
00:21:17,676 --> 00:21:19,478
any Indigenous story,
389
00:21:19,544 --> 00:21:23,282
for the most part,
no one's ever gotten it right
390
00:21:23,348 --> 00:21:25,651
unless they were truly
391
00:21:25,717 --> 00:21:27,886
an Indigenous
storyteller, right?
392
00:21:27,953 --> 00:21:29,655
No matter how hard
393
00:21:29,721 --> 00:21:31,156
people have tried
to get it right,
394
00:21:31,223 --> 00:21:35,360
they can't because the process
of authenticating
395
00:21:35,427 --> 00:21:39,931
all of the threads
of the story is very complex.
396
00:21:39,998 --> 00:21:44,770
And I take my 30 years
in this industry
397
00:21:44,836 --> 00:21:48,273
and 25 years
of creating content.
398
00:21:48,340 --> 00:21:50,142
I draw from that
399
00:21:50,208 --> 00:21:52,311
and know that once
you start a project,
400
00:21:52,377 --> 00:21:56,315
you need what I call
a circle of advisors.
401
00:21:56,381 --> 00:21:59,484
We can't afford
to not be authentic
402
00:21:59,551 --> 00:22:03,288
because we're reclaiming
these stories.
403
00:22:05,524 --> 00:22:08,593
- With the consultations
404
00:22:08,660 --> 00:22:11,563
and the back and forth
about building the house,
405
00:22:11,630 --> 00:22:15,767
it was a combination
of shared experiences.
406
00:22:15,834 --> 00:22:20,505
In the Ojibwe communities,
they had...
407
00:22:20,572 --> 00:22:25,143
what they would have is
they would have these milk cans.
408
00:22:27,079 --> 00:22:29,915
And that's where
they kept their stuff
409
00:22:29,981 --> 00:22:31,817
that they needed to keep cool.
410
00:22:36,988 --> 00:22:41,393
I'm lucky that I remember
my grandparents' house.
411
00:22:41,460 --> 00:22:44,830
For me, it was one
of the most loving,
412
00:22:44,896 --> 00:22:48,233
peaceful, grounding times
413
00:22:48,300 --> 00:22:49,968
that I've spent
414
00:22:50,035 --> 00:22:51,837
when I was younger
415
00:22:51,903 --> 00:22:53,372
because I would just
lie on their bed...
416
00:22:53,438 --> 00:22:57,409
Because they didn't have
much in way of furniture.
417
00:22:57,476 --> 00:23:00,479
My grandmother, Nokom,
would be maybe sewing
418
00:23:00,545 --> 00:23:03,181
while my grandfather, Numshun,
419
00:23:03,248 --> 00:23:04,583
humming to himself.
420
00:23:04,649 --> 00:23:07,519
And then for me,
I was taking it all in.
421
00:23:07,586 --> 00:23:10,922
So, we had many people
that were contributing
422
00:23:10,989 --> 00:23:13,091
to the look
423
00:23:13,158 --> 00:23:15,794
and to the feel of all
these different locations.
424
00:23:19,398 --> 00:23:24,603
(Indigenous language)
425
00:23:25,604 --> 00:23:27,038
From Muscowpetung
First Nation
426
00:23:27,105 --> 00:23:28,540
in Saskatchewan,
near Regina
427
00:23:28,607 --> 00:23:30,742
in the beautiful
Qu'Appelle Valley.
428
00:23:30,809 --> 00:23:34,012
And this is my beautiful
niece, Jennifer.
429
00:23:35,313 --> 00:23:37,582
Yesterday, when I walked
onto the set,
430
00:23:37,649 --> 00:23:38,984
it just brought back
431
00:23:39,050 --> 00:23:41,686
some really good memories
of childhood.
432
00:23:41,753 --> 00:23:44,523
Even that clothesline
with the clothes hanging
433
00:23:44,589 --> 00:23:46,091
and blowing in the wind.
434
00:23:46,158 --> 00:23:49,394
Yeah, this is how
we lived back then.
435
00:23:49,461 --> 00:23:51,463
That was our reality.
436
00:23:51,530 --> 00:23:53,365
No running water!
437
00:23:55,267 --> 00:23:57,636
Sometimes no electricity.
438
00:23:58,570 --> 00:24:00,205
And...
439
00:24:00,272 --> 00:24:02,274
But like I did say,
you know,
440
00:24:02,340 --> 00:24:04,109
we never thought
of ourselves as poor
441
00:24:04,176 --> 00:24:06,411
because we had
everything we needed.
442
00:24:06,478 --> 00:24:08,113
We were...
443
00:24:08,180 --> 00:24:12,617
Our parents, our grandparents
were able to provide for us.
444
00:24:12,684 --> 00:24:15,787
- Every single department
445
00:24:15,854 --> 00:24:19,224
worked with myself and Sharon
446
00:24:19,291 --> 00:24:23,829
to... like,
on every single detail
447
00:24:23,895 --> 00:24:26,965
to ensure authenticity.
448
00:24:27,032 --> 00:24:30,035
There was photos
up in the corner I know
449
00:24:30,101 --> 00:24:32,704
of my grandma on the house
in the reserve
450
00:24:33,972 --> 00:24:37,576
that the art department based
Little bird houses off of.
451
00:24:37,642 --> 00:24:41,446
My great-grandfather,
Noel Pinais, built this house.
452
00:24:41,513 --> 00:24:44,115
And, then, this is
my grandmother,
453
00:24:44,182 --> 00:24:45,817
Dorothy Pearl Pinais,
454
00:24:45,884 --> 00:24:49,521
in the porch area of the house,
Little bird house.
455
00:24:49,588 --> 00:24:52,724
To have... My grandmother
only lived till 2000,
456
00:24:52,791 --> 00:24:55,160
so she never got the apology.
457
00:24:55,227 --> 00:24:57,329
She never got anything
that was deserved to her
458
00:24:57,395 --> 00:24:59,965
for having endured
residential school.
459
00:25:00,031 --> 00:25:02,167
And seeing these photos
on the walls
460
00:25:02,234 --> 00:25:03,568
in some of the sets,
461
00:25:03,635 --> 00:25:06,071
like, she gets to live on
in the story.
462
00:25:06,137 --> 00:25:10,609
And that's really
special for sure.
463
00:25:10,675 --> 00:25:14,479
And seeing how the house
looks like her house
464
00:25:14,546 --> 00:25:18,517
and how some of the characters
are her,
465
00:25:18,583 --> 00:25:21,386
just... but not her,
466
00:25:21,453 --> 00:25:24,189
it's... I think it's...
467
00:25:24,256 --> 00:25:25,590
Yeah, it means a lot.
468
00:25:25,657 --> 00:25:27,392
Like, more than I ever
could have thought
469
00:25:27,459 --> 00:25:29,694
when Jennifer first asked me
about this project.
470
00:25:29,761 --> 00:25:32,898
I had no idea
it would grow to be
471
00:25:32,964 --> 00:25:37,802
such a project
of the heart, for sure.
472
00:25:37,869 --> 00:25:43,074
(♪♪♪)
473
00:25:46,344 --> 00:25:47,746
- I am Tanya Brunel
474
00:25:47,812 --> 00:25:51,550
and I am currently
living in Winnipeg.
475
00:25:51,616 --> 00:25:55,153
I'm Métis from the Red River
region in Manitoba.
476
00:25:55,220 --> 00:25:58,523
I grew up in a predominantly
French community
477
00:25:58,590 --> 00:26:01,860
southwest of Winnipeg.
478
00:26:01,927 --> 00:26:04,095
And I'm a producer.
479
00:26:04,162 --> 00:26:05,997
When I first came
on board this project
480
00:26:06,064 --> 00:26:08,500
and we were looking
for places to start filming,
481
00:26:08,567 --> 00:26:13,538
I was visiting communities
all across Western Manitoba
482
00:26:13,605 --> 00:26:16,908
and in every single community
that I visited,
483
00:26:16,975 --> 00:26:19,177
whether it was, you know,
the person that was...
484
00:26:19,244 --> 00:26:20,579
that I was talking to,
485
00:26:20,645 --> 00:26:22,080
that was showing me
the community,
486
00:26:22,147 --> 00:26:23,682
maybe they were
a survivor themselves
487
00:26:23,748 --> 00:26:25,083
or they knew someone
488
00:26:25,150 --> 00:26:27,819
who was coming home
and reconnecting.
489
00:26:27,886 --> 00:26:32,924
But every single community was
touched by the Sixties Scoop.
490
00:26:32,991 --> 00:26:37,195
(♪♪♪)
491
00:26:37,262 --> 00:26:38,663
- Bonjour.
492
00:26:38,730 --> 00:26:41,566
(Native language)
493
00:26:41,633 --> 00:26:43,969
Obviously, right beside
the Brokenhead River,
494
00:26:44,035 --> 00:26:45,437
where I'm from.
495
00:26:45,503 --> 00:26:47,472
My name is Gordon Bluesky.
496
00:26:47,539 --> 00:26:50,909
I'm the ogimaakaan, the Chief
of Brokenhead Ojibway Nation.
497
00:26:50,976 --> 00:26:53,545
So, we're located
about 60 kilometres
498
00:26:53,612 --> 00:26:56,648
north of Winnipeg
off of Highway 59.
499
00:26:56,715 --> 00:26:59,217
Our community has
about 700 members
500
00:26:59,284 --> 00:27:02,087
situated within our community.
501
00:27:02,153 --> 00:27:05,023
And we also have a large...
502
00:27:05,090 --> 00:27:07,292
about two thirds
of our total population,
503
00:27:07,359 --> 00:27:08,793
living in urban centres,
504
00:27:08,860 --> 00:27:10,662
like the city of Winnipeg.
505
00:27:11,596 --> 00:27:15,066
My story starts with Sixties
Scoop here in Brokenhead.
506
00:27:15,133 --> 00:27:17,602
My two sisters,
507
00:27:17,669 --> 00:27:21,439
we were apprehended in 1977
508
00:27:21,506 --> 00:27:23,041
from our grandmother's house
509
00:27:23,108 --> 00:27:25,143
just at the corner
59 Highway there.
510
00:27:25,210 --> 00:27:28,647
For me, leaving
the community here,
511
00:27:28,713 --> 00:27:32,384
and when I was just a young boy,
I don't remember a lot.
512
00:27:32,450 --> 00:27:35,520
Obviously, I do have
some small memories
513
00:27:35,587 --> 00:27:39,624
of what we could only assume
to be my grandmother.
514
00:27:39,691 --> 00:27:41,726
But where my memories
do start
515
00:27:41,793 --> 00:27:43,662
is when
my trauma started.
516
00:27:43,728 --> 00:27:45,363
When I went to the city
of Winnipeg
517
00:27:45,430 --> 00:27:47,132
and I got put
into foster care,
518
00:27:47,198 --> 00:27:49,567
and the things that I've seen
there, it just...
519
00:27:49,634 --> 00:27:51,636
I've dealt with those things.
520
00:27:51,703 --> 00:27:53,238
I've released a lot of that,
521
00:27:53,304 --> 00:27:56,107
but I was carrying that trauma
for a lot of years.
522
00:27:56,174 --> 00:27:57,976
And when I left Winnipeg,
523
00:27:58,043 --> 00:28:00,011
I was adopted ultimately
in a small town
524
00:28:00,078 --> 00:28:01,980
outside of Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania.
525
00:28:02,047 --> 00:28:04,382
You know, it was just
like they put me on Mars.
526
00:28:04,449 --> 00:28:09,254
(♪♪♪)
527
00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:13,091
You had no idea
who these people were.
528
00:28:13,158 --> 00:28:14,659
We had to go stand
529
00:28:14,726 --> 00:28:16,327
in front of a judge
530
00:28:16,394 --> 00:28:18,029
and pledge allegiance
and all that stuff
531
00:28:18,096 --> 00:28:19,531
at a very young age.
532
00:28:19,597 --> 00:28:21,032
I was five years old.
533
00:28:21,099 --> 00:28:22,634
So, I had no idea
what was going on,
534
00:28:22,701 --> 00:28:24,002
but it was in the papers.
535
00:28:24,069 --> 00:28:26,938
Native American kids
are da-da-da-da-da.
536
00:28:27,005 --> 00:28:28,540
We were always in the papers
537
00:28:28,606 --> 00:28:30,041
on some sort of thing
538
00:28:30,108 --> 00:28:32,143
because, again,
I felt like we were
539
00:28:32,210 --> 00:28:34,045
the only Indian children...
540
00:28:34,112 --> 00:28:36,514
probably on the planet,
it's how I felt at the time.
541
00:28:36,581 --> 00:28:40,351
So, for me, it's just
a matter of understanding
542
00:28:40,418 --> 00:28:43,021
that the Sixties Scoop
story isn't...
543
00:28:43,088 --> 00:28:45,457
like, it's not unique,
unfortunately.
544
00:28:45,523 --> 00:28:48,827
There are thousands of us
that were taken out of Manitoba,
545
00:28:48,893 --> 00:28:51,196
thousands of us taken
across the country.
546
00:28:51,262 --> 00:28:53,064
There are still thousands
that are out there
547
00:28:53,131 --> 00:28:54,933
in the world right now, lost.
548
00:28:54,999 --> 00:28:57,302
What we used to call
the stolen generations.
549
00:28:57,368 --> 00:28:58,903
I don't know what people
call them now, but...
550
00:28:58,970 --> 00:29:01,039
It's the Sixties Scoop.
551
00:29:03,108 --> 00:29:05,510
- It refers
to the mass apprehensions
552
00:29:05,577 --> 00:29:07,278
and removals
of Indigenous children
553
00:29:07,345 --> 00:29:10,348
that started in the 50s
554
00:29:10,415 --> 00:29:13,418
and then just as this
exponential increase
555
00:29:13,485 --> 00:29:14,886
in the 60s.
556
00:29:14,953 --> 00:29:17,255
At that time,
social work schools
557
00:29:17,322 --> 00:29:19,290
were starting to pump out
social workers,
558
00:29:19,357 --> 00:29:22,060
most of whom were,
you know, upper-class,
559
00:29:22,127 --> 00:29:24,763
White, privileged people
560
00:29:24,829 --> 00:29:27,398
and who never met
an Indigenous person,
561
00:29:27,465 --> 00:29:29,400
let alone gone into a reserve
562
00:29:29,467 --> 00:29:32,871
or gone into an Indigenous home.
563
00:29:32,937 --> 00:29:35,039
They didn't have the same
sort of level of awareness
564
00:29:35,106 --> 00:29:36,875
of, you know,
the big picture
565
00:29:36,941 --> 00:29:39,944
or even the fact that
the government was attempting
566
00:29:40,011 --> 00:29:42,380
to assimilate
Indigenous people.
567
00:29:43,481 --> 00:29:45,650
- The removal
of Indigenous children
568
00:29:45,717 --> 00:29:49,220
was the responsibility
of child welfare.
569
00:29:50,188 --> 00:29:52,157
In Saskatchewan,
in particular,
570
00:29:52,223 --> 00:29:54,959
there was a pilot project
called AIM,
571
00:29:55,026 --> 00:29:57,395
Adopted Indian Métis.
572
00:29:57,462 --> 00:30:00,265
- This is a special
adoption program.
573
00:30:00,331 --> 00:30:03,268
For the past five years,
the number of children
574
00:30:03,334 --> 00:30:04,903
in care of
the Department of Welfare
575
00:30:04,969 --> 00:30:09,107
has been increasing
by approximately 180 a year.
576
00:30:09,174 --> 00:30:11,709
We have had great
difficulty in placing
577
00:30:11,776 --> 00:30:13,244
Indian and Métis children.
578
00:30:13,311 --> 00:30:15,413
- Kids were being apprehended
all over the place
579
00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:17,282
and they just couldn't keep up.
580
00:30:17,348 --> 00:30:20,118
And so they created
this program
581
00:30:20,185 --> 00:30:24,389
really to disseminate
the need for adoptive...
582
00:30:24,455 --> 00:30:27,592
foster and adoptive homes
for Indigenous kids.
583
00:30:27,659 --> 00:30:30,395
And so they advertised
584
00:30:30,461 --> 00:30:33,264
and they took pictures of kids
and posted in different...
585
00:30:33,331 --> 00:30:36,167
You know, like
the "Regina Leader Post"
586
00:30:36,234 --> 00:30:37,702
and "The Star Phoenix"
587
00:30:37,769 --> 00:30:39,337
and church groups
and stuff like that.
588
00:30:39,404 --> 00:30:41,573
I think that they were
well-intentioned,
589
00:30:41,639 --> 00:30:43,441
but again, you know,
they didn't know...
590
00:30:43,508 --> 00:30:46,411
they had no idea, really,
what they were doing.
591
00:30:47,946 --> 00:30:51,649
A BC social worker
by the name of Bridget Moran
592
00:30:51,716 --> 00:30:55,687
went public with her concerns
and she said:
593
00:30:55,753 --> 00:30:57,989
"We were putting
children into homes
594
00:30:58,056 --> 00:30:59,991
about which we knew nothing."
595
00:31:00,058 --> 00:31:02,393
And then she concluded
by saying:
596
00:31:02,460 --> 00:31:04,362
"The biggest contributor
to child abuse
597
00:31:04,429 --> 00:31:06,998
in the province
was the government."
598
00:31:07,999 --> 00:31:10,268
Why were so many kids
being apprehended?
599
00:31:10,335 --> 00:31:11,769
There were kids
that needed care.
600
00:31:11,836 --> 00:31:13,805
There was social disarray
going on.
601
00:31:13,872 --> 00:31:17,342
I mean, people were raised in
these total institutions, right?
602
00:31:17,408 --> 00:31:19,777
Total institutions that were
fraught with sexual abuse
603
00:31:19,844 --> 00:31:21,312
and physical abuse
and violence.
604
00:31:21,379 --> 00:31:24,182
They came out traumatized,
had kids.
605
00:31:24,249 --> 00:31:26,184
It was kind of a disastrous mix.
606
00:31:26,251 --> 00:31:28,653
But Indigenous people,
we've always been blamed
607
00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:32,957
for the conditions and
the outcomes of colonialism.
608
00:31:34,726 --> 00:31:37,328
- So, I was scooped
at a central park
609
00:31:37,395 --> 00:31:40,431
at age five years old
610
00:31:40,498 --> 00:31:43,368
and made a ward
of the courts through...
611
00:31:43,434 --> 00:31:45,270
At the time, it was called
Children's Aid.
612
00:31:45,336 --> 00:31:47,739
So, me and my younger
sister and brother
613
00:31:47,805 --> 00:31:50,575
had been scooped
out of the park.
614
00:31:50,642 --> 00:31:52,176
We had been left alone
615
00:31:52,243 --> 00:31:56,080
and a neighbour called,
concerned for our wellbeing.
616
00:31:56,147 --> 00:31:57,882
And luckily enough,
we were able
617
00:31:57,949 --> 00:31:59,651
to be placed
all in the same home.
618
00:31:59,717 --> 00:32:03,554
So, me and my two siblings
grew up in the same foster home
619
00:32:03,621 --> 00:32:06,991
for years and years and years.
620
00:32:07,058 --> 00:32:08,726
But I had memories of my home.
621
00:32:08,793 --> 00:32:10,194
I had memories of my mom.
622
00:32:10,261 --> 00:32:13,231
I had memories of my dad
and his home community.
623
00:32:13,298 --> 00:32:15,934
And that was always
in the back of my mind.
624
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:18,002
(♪♪♪)
625
00:32:18,069 --> 00:32:21,839
I grew up
in a Lutheran foster home.
626
00:32:21,906 --> 00:32:24,475
Christian people.
627
00:32:24,542 --> 00:32:29,647
So, coming into the community
where it was so different and...
628
00:32:29,714 --> 00:32:31,916
I had a real identity crisis
629
00:32:31,983 --> 00:32:33,918
as far as religion
and spirituality
630
00:32:33,985 --> 00:32:35,853
and what I believed in.
631
00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:39,090
And everything I thought
I believed my whole life,
632
00:32:39,157 --> 00:32:41,626
I questioned it
when I came home.
633
00:32:41,693 --> 00:32:43,328
(indistinct)
634
00:32:43,394 --> 00:32:46,197
- Okay. Yeah.
635
00:32:46,264 --> 00:32:48,566
- I made these bird...
636
00:32:48,633 --> 00:32:52,403
- That's beautiful.
Very nice, Uncle.
637
00:33:06,117 --> 00:33:09,053
- I said: my name
is Walter Greyeyes
638
00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:11,255
and they're going
to interview me,
639
00:33:11,322 --> 00:33:13,624
but I don't know what
they're going to talk about.
640
00:33:15,460 --> 00:33:17,795
Some of the people
that are coming back now,
641
00:33:17,862 --> 00:33:21,232
they were taken away
when they were younger.
642
00:33:21,299 --> 00:33:22,900
They're coming home now
643
00:33:22,967 --> 00:33:26,804
and they don't know how long
they're going to be
644
00:33:26,871 --> 00:33:29,007
and whether they're going
to stay, you know.
645
00:33:29,073 --> 00:33:30,575
I got a nephew
in the States.
646
00:33:30,641 --> 00:33:33,111
I got two nieces
in the States.
647
00:33:33,177 --> 00:33:34,746
I don't know
where they are,
648
00:33:34,812 --> 00:33:36,214
whether...
649
00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:37,982
One is in Arizona,
650
00:33:38,049 --> 00:33:42,487
one is in Pennsylvania,
and their brother.
651
00:33:42,553 --> 00:33:46,624
So, you know, I don't know
if I'll see them again,
652
00:33:46,691 --> 00:33:48,226
which would be nice.
653
00:33:48,292 --> 00:33:53,498
And the Sixties Scoop
here in 1968.
654
00:33:54,866 --> 00:33:58,803
Did anybody here remember
that big accident out here?
655
00:34:00,671 --> 00:34:02,507
1968, right, Rick?
656
00:34:02,573 --> 00:34:04,075
Where the casino is,
657
00:34:04,142 --> 00:34:06,511
where all them crosses
are on the road.
658
00:34:06,577 --> 00:34:09,614
Nine people got killed
on one night.
659
00:34:09,680 --> 00:34:12,116
And they hit it on.
660
00:34:13,484 --> 00:34:14,819
Then, after that,
661
00:34:14,886 --> 00:34:18,823
that's when they start
taking the kids.
662
00:34:18,890 --> 00:34:21,859
Some went to the States.
663
00:34:21,926 --> 00:34:25,596
Some went to different
communities.
664
00:34:25,663 --> 00:34:28,833
But most of the people
that were older
665
00:34:28,900 --> 00:34:31,602
looked after their siblings.
666
00:34:32,403 --> 00:34:34,639
I've made the crosses.
667
00:34:34,705 --> 00:34:36,240
I do that every once in a while.
668
00:34:36,307 --> 00:34:39,644
Every four, five years,
I'll make a whole set.
669
00:34:39,710 --> 00:34:40,978
It's...
670
00:34:41,045 --> 00:34:45,116
I think about
the people, the kids,
671
00:34:45,183 --> 00:34:47,552
and what they thought,
what they did,
672
00:34:47,618 --> 00:34:49,587
what they went through.
673
00:34:49,654 --> 00:34:51,622
You know, that...
674
00:34:54,592 --> 00:34:57,895
It must have been hard on them.
675
00:34:57,962 --> 00:35:00,131
I know it's hard on me.
676
00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:05,403
It's hard on everybody.
677
00:35:07,138 --> 00:35:09,574
See... the fellow here,
678
00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:11,008
that was one of them.
679
00:35:11,075 --> 00:35:13,744
Her parents were killed
on that road.
680
00:35:15,046 --> 00:35:17,381
- I'm Mary Chief
from Brokenhead
681
00:35:17,448 --> 00:35:21,352
and they used my house
for Little Bird,
682
00:35:21,419 --> 00:35:23,721
the production of Little Bird.
683
00:35:24,789 --> 00:35:28,526
Like, I don't really
know about...
684
00:35:28,593 --> 00:35:30,661
the children getting
apprehended.
685
00:35:30,728 --> 00:35:34,866
It's just that, like,
it happened to my family.
686
00:35:34,932 --> 00:35:39,103
When my parents were killed
on that highway there...
687
00:35:47,812 --> 00:35:52,617
(♪♪♪)
688
00:35:52,683 --> 00:35:57,388
Yeah, it's really hard
to talk about it yet
689
00:35:57,455 --> 00:35:59,657
because there was
no counselling.
690
00:35:59,724 --> 00:36:03,361
Like, there was nobody
to talk to us about it,
691
00:36:03,427 --> 00:36:06,597
to get everything out.
692
00:36:06,664 --> 00:36:08,399
And my...
693
00:36:08,466 --> 00:36:11,602
There was 11 of us.
694
00:36:11,669 --> 00:36:15,573
And me and my brother
that was the oldest son...
695
00:36:15,640 --> 00:36:20,578
I was 18 and he was 20... 20.
696
00:36:20,645 --> 00:36:22,914
And then, we looked after them
697
00:36:22,980 --> 00:36:26,551
because those ones from...
698
00:36:26,617 --> 00:36:28,686
those nuns were
trying to take...
699
00:36:28,753 --> 00:36:31,489
They kept coming back and forth,
back and forth,
700
00:36:31,556 --> 00:36:34,992
and, well, they seemed like
they're trying to help,
701
00:36:35,059 --> 00:36:37,795
but, you know,
as if they were trying to find
702
00:36:37,862 --> 00:36:42,900
something wrong in the house,
and then trying to take them.
703
00:36:43,935 --> 00:36:45,436
I was in the hospital
for a month,
704
00:36:45,503 --> 00:36:49,574
and then I got my sister
to look after them,
705
00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:52,143
and when I came out
of the hospital...
706
00:36:52,210 --> 00:36:56,347
I was in there for about
almost three weeks, I guess.
707
00:36:56,414 --> 00:36:58,282
And then, when I came back,
and I said:
708
00:36:58,349 --> 00:37:02,019
"Where's Tuttle?"
709
00:37:02,086 --> 00:37:03,588
That's his nickname.
710
00:37:03,654 --> 00:37:05,756
And I...
711
00:37:05,823 --> 00:37:08,226
And nobody didn't want
to say anything.
712
00:37:08,292 --> 00:37:11,829
So, I phoned this lady,
the Child and Family...
713
00:37:11,896 --> 00:37:13,998
that worker at the time.
714
00:37:14,065 --> 00:37:18,502
And she said:
"He's in Winnipeg."
715
00:37:18,569 --> 00:37:20,972
So, I went to that office,
and looking around for him,
716
00:37:21,038 --> 00:37:26,177
like, I'm home now, I could,
you know, take him home with me.
717
00:37:26,244 --> 00:37:30,114
So, he was around, what,
718
00:37:30,181 --> 00:37:33,117
about five, six years old
at the time,
719
00:37:33,184 --> 00:37:35,019
and then, all of a sudden,
I found out
720
00:37:35,086 --> 00:37:39,190
that he was adopted
out into the States.
721
00:37:39,257 --> 00:37:43,027
He was adopted out
to a minister.
722
00:37:44,729 --> 00:37:48,666
And when he came back...
723
00:37:50,301 --> 00:37:54,472
he was so very quiet
all the time, and...
724
00:37:54,538 --> 00:37:57,208
he said he was abused.
725
00:37:58,409 --> 00:38:03,547
(♪♪♪)
726
00:38:21,265 --> 00:38:23,401
- I was an only adopted child.
727
00:38:23,467 --> 00:38:24,935
I didn't have any of my bro...
728
00:38:25,002 --> 00:38:26,671
I'm the oldest of seven.
729
00:38:26,737 --> 00:38:28,306
I have three brothers
and three sisters,
730
00:38:28,372 --> 00:38:30,308
but we were all parcelled out
all across Canada.
731
00:38:30,374 --> 00:38:32,176
I had to...
732
00:38:32,243 --> 00:38:33,678
Every time I got into a...
733
00:38:33,744 --> 00:38:35,112
Whether it was alcoholism,
734
00:38:35,179 --> 00:38:37,415
whatever kind
of situation I was in,
735
00:38:37,481 --> 00:38:40,084
it was just like
from the time I was five,
736
00:38:40,151 --> 00:38:42,687
I had to stand up
and take beatings.
737
00:38:42,753 --> 00:38:44,722
So, it wasn't any different
than that.
738
00:38:44,789 --> 00:38:46,924
I just thought:
I gotta stand up.
739
00:38:46,991 --> 00:38:50,294
I can't...
There's nowhere else to go.
740
00:38:50,361 --> 00:38:53,297
I have no one to run to.
This is it.
741
00:38:53,364 --> 00:38:55,466
I have to...
Like I did when I was a kid,
742
00:38:55,533 --> 00:38:57,735
I gotta take care of myself.
743
00:38:57,802 --> 00:38:59,570
There has to be
744
00:38:59,637 --> 00:39:01,072
happiness and acceptance
745
00:39:01,138 --> 00:39:02,540
somewhere in this world,
746
00:39:02,606 --> 00:39:04,075
but I have to fight for it.
747
00:39:04,141 --> 00:39:05,509
It's not for free.
748
00:39:05,576 --> 00:39:08,212
Once I get it,
you have to fight to keep it.
749
00:39:08,279 --> 00:39:10,815
And that's what I did.
750
00:39:13,784 --> 00:39:18,089
(♪♪♪)
751
00:39:18,155 --> 00:39:20,157
- One of my favourite lines
752
00:39:20,224 --> 00:39:22,626
in the script,
753
00:39:22,693 --> 00:39:25,763
in describing
the Little Bird family
754
00:39:25,830 --> 00:39:29,433
and how they all sleep
together in their room.
755
00:39:29,500 --> 00:39:32,069
And it still makes me cry
to think about it.
756
00:39:32,136 --> 00:39:34,839
There's love
in this family.
757
00:39:34,905 --> 00:39:39,443
And that's been
a guiding thought,
758
00:39:39,510 --> 00:39:41,912
you know, to me throughout
directing this show.
759
00:39:41,979 --> 00:39:44,048
And I wrote it on a paper,
a big paper
760
00:39:44,115 --> 00:39:45,483
in our production office.
761
00:39:45,549 --> 00:39:48,085
I wrote: "There's love
in this family."
762
00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:54,592
(♪♪♪)
763
00:39:55,459 --> 00:39:58,362
- Hey! Do you think
that was funny?
764
00:40:09,240 --> 00:40:13,144
- Today, the scene I will be
playing is a huge scene
765
00:40:13,210 --> 00:40:17,448
and it's the one when I get
taken away from my mom
766
00:40:17,515 --> 00:40:19,550
and I get put in a cop car.
767
00:40:19,617 --> 00:40:22,520
- As a mother, like,
you just can't even imagine
768
00:40:22,586 --> 00:40:26,223
or fathom going through this.
769
00:40:26,290 --> 00:40:28,092
And just seeing her play it
770
00:40:28,159 --> 00:40:29,994
just puts me at
an emotional state.
771
00:40:30,060 --> 00:40:33,597
I'm usually crying
watching these scenes,
772
00:40:33,664 --> 00:40:35,166
these harder scenes.
773
00:40:35,232 --> 00:40:38,502
So, it's just really...
it really just, as a parent
774
00:40:38,569 --> 00:40:42,540
and as aboriginal
and just being affected,
775
00:40:42,606 --> 00:40:47,878
it just really grabs
a hold of you.
776
00:40:49,814 --> 00:40:51,482
- I want to go
with my mom!
777
00:40:51,549 --> 00:40:53,517
- Hey! Hey! Hey!
Go in our car!
778
00:40:53,584 --> 00:40:55,019
Hey! No! Hey!
779
00:40:55,085 --> 00:40:57,521
- You cannot do that!
You can't do that!
780
00:40:59,156 --> 00:41:02,126
- Ah!
- What the hell
is she doing?
781
00:41:02,193 --> 00:41:03,861
- Running.
782
00:41:05,896 --> 00:41:09,467
- Ah! No!
- No! No!
783
00:41:09,533 --> 00:41:14,238
No! No!
- No! Give me my...
784
00:41:14,305 --> 00:41:16,073
Ah! Ah!
785
00:41:16,140 --> 00:41:18,876
- And cut!
- Cut! Cut!
786
00:41:18,943 --> 00:41:20,978
- How's the mark?
787
00:41:21,045 --> 00:41:22,947
- The thing I'm
thankful for the most
788
00:41:23,013 --> 00:41:24,548
is that she's able to...
789
00:41:24,615 --> 00:41:26,050
You know,
they yell "cut!"
790
00:41:26,116 --> 00:41:28,586
and she's able to go back
to her happy little self
791
00:41:28,652 --> 00:41:31,856
and it's not affecting
her afterwards.
792
00:41:31,922 --> 00:41:33,557
(♪♪♪)
793
00:41:33,624 --> 00:41:38,496
- I think it's very,
very, very fun.
794
00:41:38,562 --> 00:41:43,601
And a lot of the people
here try to help me,
795
00:41:43,667 --> 00:41:46,570
and also, like my mom said,
796
00:41:46,637 --> 00:41:48,839
how she tries
to check up on me,
797
00:41:48,906 --> 00:41:50,407
some people do that too.
798
00:41:50,474 --> 00:41:52,109
Yeah.
799
00:41:54,445 --> 00:41:56,714
- We have seen
a lot of trauma on screen
800
00:41:56,780 --> 00:41:59,650
when it comes
to Indigenous people.
801
00:42:00,484 --> 00:42:02,920
And it is a part
of our story.
802
00:42:04,021 --> 00:42:07,424
But I think
that it's important
803
00:42:07,491 --> 00:42:09,560
to tell the story
804
00:42:09,627 --> 00:42:14,498
in a way that acknowledges
the trauma,
805
00:42:14,565 --> 00:42:19,603
but also respects the person
that is witnessing it,
806
00:42:19,670 --> 00:42:22,973
the audience,
and the actors,
807
00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:25,309
the people who are
performing it.
808
00:42:26,110 --> 00:42:29,947
Like, there really is nothing
worse than going to set
809
00:42:30,014 --> 00:42:34,718
and doing a traumatic scene
as an Indigenous person
810
00:42:34,785 --> 00:42:36,754
and not seeing
one Indigenous person
811
00:42:36,820 --> 00:42:38,222
on the crew.
812
00:42:38,289 --> 00:42:42,126
So, we were just trying
to come at everything
813
00:42:42,192 --> 00:42:45,429
through the lens
of recognizing
814
00:42:45,496 --> 00:42:48,265
how the stories of trauma
815
00:42:48,332 --> 00:42:52,236
might impact the person
816
00:42:52,303 --> 00:42:55,773
on camera, on the crew,
817
00:42:55,839 --> 00:42:58,142
in the audience.
818
00:42:59,043 --> 00:43:00,678
It's not void of trauma,
819
00:43:00,744 --> 00:43:05,816
it's just being careful
about how you tell the story.
820
00:43:11,021 --> 00:43:12,623
- I can't step on my shadow.
821
00:43:12,690 --> 00:43:14,391
- Hey, you,
are you hot?
822
00:43:15,225 --> 00:43:16,660
- It's been really wonderful
823
00:43:16,727 --> 00:43:20,064
to work with these
young child actors
824
00:43:20,130 --> 00:43:22,199
who are all growing up
in their communities,
825
00:43:22,266 --> 00:43:27,237
who are connected to community
and culture and language
826
00:43:27,304 --> 00:43:30,874
and are living full,
joyful lives.
827
00:43:30,941 --> 00:43:34,078
Because to have joy is
a really radical thing
828
00:43:34,144 --> 00:43:36,347
as an Indigenous person.
829
00:43:36,413 --> 00:43:37,848
You know, we're not
supposed to be here,
830
00:43:37,915 --> 00:43:39,583
so the fact that we're
even able to laugh
831
00:43:39,650 --> 00:43:40,951
and to feel joy,
832
00:43:41,018 --> 00:43:43,854
that is a very, very
significant thing.
833
00:43:45,723 --> 00:43:48,592
To think about
834
00:43:48,659 --> 00:43:50,094
what our communities look like
835
00:43:50,160 --> 00:43:51,662
when there are no children.
836
00:43:51,729 --> 00:43:53,697
You know, what...
837
00:43:54,798 --> 00:43:57,267
what is a nation
without its children?
838
00:43:57,334 --> 00:44:00,170
That's such a violent thing,
you know.
839
00:44:00,237 --> 00:44:04,775
(♪♪♪)
840
00:44:07,244 --> 00:44:09,279
- I am an Indian chief.
841
00:44:09,346 --> 00:44:11,415
I am an Indian father.
842
00:44:11,482 --> 00:44:12,883
I am an Indian man who hurts
843
00:44:12,950 --> 00:44:14,585
when I see our Indian
children taken away
844
00:44:14,652 --> 00:44:16,086
from their families,
845
00:44:16,153 --> 00:44:18,756
their land, their traditions,
846
00:44:18,822 --> 00:44:20,424
stolen and removed.
847
00:44:20,491 --> 00:44:23,627
The Spallumcheen Indian Band
has taken legal action
848
00:44:23,694 --> 00:44:25,963
against the provincial
government
849
00:44:26,030 --> 00:44:29,266
to stop the stealing
of our Indian children.
850
00:44:29,333 --> 00:44:31,301
- Wayne Christian, he's a...
851
00:44:31,368 --> 00:44:33,537
he was the chief
of Spallumcheen Indian Band,
852
00:44:33,604 --> 00:44:35,005
or Splatsin.
853
00:44:35,072 --> 00:44:37,307
And he became chief at 19,
854
00:44:37,374 --> 00:44:38,776
and his platform
was child welfare
855
00:44:38,842 --> 00:44:41,211
because that was
the community that out of 300,
856
00:44:41,278 --> 00:44:43,013
they had 100 children
apprehended.
857
00:44:43,080 --> 00:44:46,517
And one weekend,
a social worker turned into...
858
00:44:46,583 --> 00:44:48,485
and apprehended 38 kids.
859
00:44:48,552 --> 00:44:51,088
- In my mind,
the provincial government
860
00:44:51,155 --> 00:44:55,492
has never really recognized
our rights or even our culture.
861
00:44:55,559 --> 00:44:57,661
There's always been a conflict
with our culture
862
00:44:57,728 --> 00:44:59,430
and the non-Indian culture.
863
00:44:59,496 --> 00:45:01,865
And one of the quickest ways
to assimilate a people
864
00:45:01,932 --> 00:45:05,769
is to destroy the family unit
and take the children
865
00:45:05,836 --> 00:45:07,905
and force them to live
in non-Indian homes
866
00:45:07,971 --> 00:45:09,840
to learn a different
value system.
867
00:45:09,907 --> 00:45:12,710
And henceforth, in my mind,
it's a planned type thing.
868
00:45:12,776 --> 00:45:14,211
(♪♪♪)
869
00:45:14,278 --> 00:45:16,280
- They stole our land.
870
00:45:16,346 --> 00:45:17,815
They stole our culture.
871
00:45:17,881 --> 00:45:19,216
They stole our language.
872
00:45:19,283 --> 00:45:21,618
And now, they're stealing
our children.
873
00:45:21,685 --> 00:45:23,020
- They set up a caravan.
874
00:45:23,087 --> 00:45:25,923
They marched on
the provincial government.
875
00:45:25,989 --> 00:45:27,791
And he did make
a difference, yeah.
876
00:45:27,858 --> 00:45:29,493
They became
the only band in Canada
877
00:45:29,560 --> 00:45:31,361
to have jurisdiction
over their children.
878
00:45:31,428 --> 00:45:33,831
- We want full control
of child welfare matters
879
00:45:33,897 --> 00:45:35,532
in our community, period.
880
00:45:35,599 --> 00:45:37,901
Like our first preference
is to rebuild the family.
881
00:45:37,968 --> 00:45:40,304
Were trying to get the parent
and the child back together,
882
00:45:40,370 --> 00:45:41,905
and that type of thing.
883
00:45:41,972 --> 00:45:43,941
And the second one is
with relatives, and on and on.
884
00:45:44,007 --> 00:45:45,542
The last resort, in our minds...
885
00:45:45,609 --> 00:45:48,378
We have to get that child,
in terms of a placement...
886
00:45:48,445 --> 00:45:50,481
We'll put the child,
as a last resort...
887
00:45:50,547 --> 00:45:51,915
I think there's seven of them.
888
00:45:51,982 --> 00:45:53,550
We'll place them
with a non-Indian family
889
00:45:53,617 --> 00:45:55,018
off the reserve.
890
00:45:55,085 --> 00:45:56,553
Because that would be
the last resort.
891
00:45:56,620 --> 00:45:58,856
Or if that's the wishes
of the parent, you know.
892
00:45:58,922 --> 00:46:00,991
Like, we have to consider also
893
00:46:01,058 --> 00:46:02,526
if it's the wishes of the child.
894
00:46:02,593 --> 00:46:04,595
Those are the things
we consider with our legislation
895
00:46:04,661 --> 00:46:06,396
because we listen
to our people.
896
00:46:06,463 --> 00:46:10,634
(indistinct conversation)
897
00:46:11,635 --> 00:46:13,303
- The experience here
on Little Bird,
898
00:46:13,370 --> 00:46:15,906
there definitely
is a respect to the story,
899
00:46:15,973 --> 00:46:17,407
to what it is we're telling.
900
00:46:17,474 --> 00:46:20,144
Because some of the crew
members don't realize
901
00:46:20,210 --> 00:46:22,045
that that's my auntie,
that's my uncle.
902
00:46:22,112 --> 00:46:23,514
You know, that's right,
in a way.
903
00:46:23,580 --> 00:46:25,182
That's my auntie,
my uncle that's crying.
904
00:46:25,249 --> 00:46:26,884
It's the same for a lot
of people on our crew.
905
00:46:26,950 --> 00:46:29,753
And... So, it's also
an educational point
906
00:46:29,820 --> 00:46:31,688
for our non-Indigenous
friends here.
907
00:46:31,755 --> 00:46:35,392
So, there's a lot
of on-set learning going on,
908
00:46:35,459 --> 00:46:37,494
a lot of questions
being asked.
909
00:46:38,395 --> 00:46:39,730
We're more visible now
910
00:46:39,797 --> 00:46:41,632
than we were ten years ago
on film sets,
911
00:46:41,698 --> 00:46:43,400
and I recognize that.
912
00:46:43,467 --> 00:46:44,935
There were times I'd come,
show up to work
913
00:46:45,002 --> 00:46:47,271
and I'd be the only
Indigenous person on set.
914
00:46:47,337 --> 00:46:50,407
It'd be like, you know,
this is like how Manitoba is.
915
00:46:50,474 --> 00:46:51,975
And it's like, no, it's not.
916
00:46:52,042 --> 00:46:53,544
There's a huge Indigenous
population here,
917
00:46:53,610 --> 00:46:55,179
you're just not seeing them.
918
00:46:55,245 --> 00:46:57,915
- There is one, it's just
the way it's written.
919
00:46:57,981 --> 00:46:59,616
- Working with Maija
and things like that,
920
00:46:59,683 --> 00:47:01,151
she fights
for what she wants.
921
00:47:01,218 --> 00:47:04,254
And a lot of people
might look at that
922
00:47:04,321 --> 00:47:07,257
as just a director or whatever,
fighting about something.
923
00:47:07,324 --> 00:47:09,293
But myself, as a storyteller
924
00:47:09,359 --> 00:47:10,794
and also as an Anishinaabe man,
925
00:47:10,861 --> 00:47:13,730
you know, it feels
so important for them
926
00:47:13,797 --> 00:47:16,266
to fight for these stories
or just for these takes.
927
00:47:20,838 --> 00:47:23,574
- We deserve to lead the front
in telling our own stories.
928
00:47:23,640 --> 00:47:26,210
We deserve space
in this industry.
929
00:47:26,276 --> 00:47:29,179
Narrative sovereignty
is a very tangible thing.
930
00:47:29,246 --> 00:47:33,650
It is something that we can
achieve as an industry.
931
00:47:33,717 --> 00:47:38,255
It just requires a major shift
in power structures.
932
00:47:38,322 --> 00:47:41,525
And it needs to move
beyond just us being,
933
00:47:41,592 --> 00:47:45,028
you know, consultants
on our own stories.
934
00:47:45,095 --> 00:47:47,564
And I think we are
seeing that shift.
935
00:47:47,631 --> 00:47:50,968
(indistinct conversation)
936
00:47:53,704 --> 00:47:55,505
- Having women on set,
937
00:47:55,572 --> 00:47:57,808
just especially
Indigenous women,
938
00:47:57,875 --> 00:48:00,944
just makes me feel less fear.
939
00:48:01,011 --> 00:48:02,279
(laugh)
940
00:48:02,346 --> 00:48:04,748
Like, I try not to be
intimidated by...
941
00:48:04,815 --> 00:48:08,018
well, one, all the men,
but also White men on set.
942
00:48:08,085 --> 00:48:09,419
I've been...
943
00:48:09,486 --> 00:48:11,655
I just love that I could
probably be more myself
944
00:48:11,722 --> 00:48:13,123
instead of being guarded
945
00:48:13,190 --> 00:48:14,758
because you waste so much energy
946
00:48:14,825 --> 00:48:17,394
trying to protect yourself
and all this stuff.
947
00:48:17,461 --> 00:48:19,763
Whereas when I'm with
Indigenous women on set,
948
00:48:19,830 --> 00:48:22,232
I feel like I can let
a few walls down
949
00:48:22,299 --> 00:48:25,269
and actually let
real creativity flow.
950
00:48:27,971 --> 00:48:30,674
I'm only just learning
about the Sixties Scoop
951
00:48:30,741 --> 00:48:35,112
and how that affected
a lot of our people growing up.
952
00:48:35,178 --> 00:48:38,515
But both my parents are
residential school survivors,
953
00:48:38,582 --> 00:48:42,519
so I have an idea
of the trauma
954
00:48:42,586 --> 00:48:46,223
and baggage,
all that comes with.
955
00:48:46,290 --> 00:48:48,025
I think it's important...
956
00:48:48,091 --> 00:48:49,693
(sigh)
957
00:48:49,760 --> 00:48:51,161
... that others hear about it.
958
00:48:51,228 --> 00:48:54,197
Just because how are
things going to change
959
00:48:54,264 --> 00:48:56,500
if we can't get people
to really empathize
960
00:48:56,566 --> 00:49:01,038
with our history
and all that?
961
00:49:01,104 --> 00:49:03,407
- Here we go!
We're rolling!
962
00:49:04,207 --> 00:49:06,810
- Something that I've spoken
about before is
963
00:49:06,877 --> 00:49:09,046
the controversy of having
964
00:49:09,112 --> 00:49:12,883
non-Indigenous women stepping
into Indigenous roles,
965
00:49:12,950 --> 00:49:15,252
casting someone who may look
Native but isn't Native.
966
00:49:15,319 --> 00:49:16,987
And some people are like:
967
00:49:17,054 --> 00:49:18,522
"Well, does that mean
that, you know,
968
00:49:18,588 --> 00:49:21,558
"you can only
play a Native?"
969
00:49:21,625 --> 00:49:23,894
And I'm like: "Well, no,
it doesn't mean that.
970
00:49:23,961 --> 00:49:27,864
"What it means is that I carry
those stories in my DNA.
971
00:49:27,931 --> 00:49:29,833
"So, when I tell that story,
it's going to be different
972
00:49:29,900 --> 00:49:31,902
than somebody who doesn't
have the life experience
973
00:49:31,969 --> 00:49:34,037
of being brown
or being Native."
974
00:49:34,104 --> 00:49:37,407
Right now, I mean, we've lived
where it's been like this,
975
00:49:37,474 --> 00:49:40,177
where Native people in
the country have been like this
976
00:49:40,243 --> 00:49:42,713
and the mainstream
have been here.
977
00:49:42,779 --> 00:49:45,148
So, until it starts
to go here,
978
00:49:45,215 --> 00:49:46,984
it's really...
979
00:49:47,050 --> 00:49:49,252
You know, like,
then we can start talking
980
00:49:49,319 --> 00:49:52,089
about playing roles
as human beings.
981
00:49:52,155 --> 00:49:53,523
But until then,
982
00:49:53,590 --> 00:49:55,459
you know, we need
to express ourselves,
983
00:49:55,525 --> 00:49:57,694
we need to step
into our light,
984
00:49:57,761 --> 00:50:00,864
we need to reclaim those roles.
985
00:50:00,931 --> 00:50:02,632
- Let's see.
Look at me.
986
00:50:03,667 --> 00:50:06,136
- I can remember as a kid,
I saw Tantoo
987
00:50:06,203 --> 00:50:08,805
and I was like: "Ah!
That's a Native woman on TV!"
988
00:50:08,872 --> 00:50:11,274
Because it was so rare
to see ourselves.
989
00:50:11,341 --> 00:50:13,076
And now, you know,
this generation,
990
00:50:13,143 --> 00:50:14,444
we've got APTN
991
00:50:14,511 --> 00:50:17,014
and we've got
Indigenous radio stations,
992
00:50:17,080 --> 00:50:18,515
and it's not a big deal
993
00:50:18,582 --> 00:50:21,351
to turn on the TV
and see an Indigenous person.
994
00:50:21,418 --> 00:50:23,053
But myself growing up,
995
00:50:23,120 --> 00:50:24,988
that was so rare.
996
00:50:26,123 --> 00:50:28,125
- I'm a young actor, obviously!
997
00:50:28,191 --> 00:50:29,659
I'm new to this still.
998
00:50:29,726 --> 00:50:31,595
I'm just...
999
00:50:31,661 --> 00:50:33,030
I'm taking it all in.
1000
00:50:33,096 --> 00:50:34,498
And then, I'm also
talking to my mom,
1001
00:50:34,564 --> 00:50:36,400
who's also watching it with me
and she's an actor.
1002
00:50:36,466 --> 00:50:39,302
So, learning how she did
things is so different.
1003
00:50:39,369 --> 00:50:44,474
So, I'm just grateful
that I came in at this time.
1004
00:50:45,509 --> 00:50:48,111
- To know that what you do
as an artist...
1005
00:50:48,178 --> 00:50:50,113
And this is what I tell
my daughter:
1006
00:50:50,180 --> 00:50:52,416
is that as artists,
we are only channels.
1007
00:50:52,482 --> 00:50:53,850
It's not about us.
1008
00:50:53,917 --> 00:50:56,086
It's not about me personally.
1009
00:50:56,153 --> 00:50:58,522
It's about the character
that I am bringing through
1010
00:50:58,588 --> 00:51:00,891
and it's about the grandmothers
and the ancestors
1011
00:51:00,957 --> 00:51:02,826
bringing that story through us.
1012
00:51:04,027 --> 00:51:08,932
(♪♪♪)
1013
00:51:08,999 --> 00:51:11,001
- There's a lot of people
1014
00:51:11,068 --> 00:51:14,871
with good intentions who want to
support Indigenous productions,
1015
00:51:14,938 --> 00:51:18,742
but aren't necessarily
willing to recognize
1016
00:51:18,809 --> 00:51:20,377
that the systems in place,
1017
00:51:20,444 --> 00:51:22,546
the power structures in place
need to be dismantled.
1018
00:51:22,612 --> 00:51:24,714
Because, you know, we're having
these conversations
1019
00:51:24,781 --> 00:51:26,683
around diversity and inclusion.
1020
00:51:26,750 --> 00:51:30,854
I'm so tired of hearing
those two terms
1021
00:51:30,921 --> 00:51:33,557
because inclusion
inherently centers
1022
00:51:33,623 --> 00:51:35,325
White voices, settler voices.
1023
00:51:35,392 --> 00:51:39,029
It just means that we get
a little bit more resources.
1024
00:51:39,096 --> 00:51:43,100
But we're not witnessing
actual change and action
1025
00:51:43,166 --> 00:51:44,768
on the part of settlers.
1026
00:51:44,835 --> 00:51:47,370
It's Indigenous voices
who are continually having
1027
00:51:47,437 --> 00:51:49,406
to do that labour
and to make that change.
1028
00:51:49,473 --> 00:51:52,876
- Quite often,
we are put into...
1029
00:51:54,744 --> 00:51:57,581
these relationships
where we have to partner
1030
00:51:57,647 --> 00:51:59,649
with a non-Indigenous partner.
1031
00:51:59,716 --> 00:52:02,352
And that's been
a real challenge,
1032
00:52:02,419 --> 00:52:05,622
and it's been a challenge
on multiple productions
1033
00:52:05,689 --> 00:52:08,758
because it's hard
acknowledging privilege.
1034
00:52:08,825 --> 00:52:10,427
It really is.
1035
00:52:10,494 --> 00:52:12,762
And in order for these
relationships to work,
1036
00:52:12,829 --> 00:52:14,464
you have to.
1037
00:52:14,531 --> 00:52:16,066
And you have to recognize
1038
00:52:16,133 --> 00:52:19,069
that if you say
that you're here to support,
1039
00:52:19,136 --> 00:52:20,770
then you have to support.
1040
00:52:20,837 --> 00:52:22,239
And what does that mean?
1041
00:52:22,305 --> 00:52:25,442
Because, you know,
when I sit here
1042
00:52:25,509 --> 00:52:27,010
and say I need support
and I need help,
1043
00:52:27,077 --> 00:52:30,247
that's not weakness,
that's...
1044
00:52:32,282 --> 00:52:34,351
So, it doesn't mean
that I need you to step in
1045
00:52:34,417 --> 00:52:36,319
and fix something, right?
1046
00:52:36,386 --> 00:52:38,788
I'm saying I need you
to step back and listen.
1047
00:52:38,855 --> 00:52:41,591
- There's been some
upsetting experiences
1048
00:52:41,658 --> 00:52:43,960
that I've had on this production
1049
00:52:44,027 --> 00:52:48,064
that are reflective of being on
the receiving end of paternalism
1050
00:52:48,131 --> 00:52:50,133
and being on the receiving
end of distrust
1051
00:52:50,200 --> 00:52:54,337
and ultimately being
on the receiving end of racism.
1052
00:52:54,404 --> 00:52:55,972
But that being said,
1053
00:52:56,039 --> 00:52:58,675
there's a lot of beautiful
aspects to this production
1054
00:52:58,742 --> 00:53:03,513
in terms of the Indigenous
team members
1055
00:53:03,580 --> 00:53:05,415
who are taking charge,
1056
00:53:05,482 --> 00:53:07,584
who are trying to change
the way we do things.
1057
00:53:07,651 --> 00:53:09,986
And then also
our non-Indigenous allies
1058
00:53:10,053 --> 00:53:11,488
who are part
of this production
1059
00:53:11,555 --> 00:53:15,392
and who are doing
their very best to change
1060
00:53:15,458 --> 00:53:17,294
how we do things.
1061
00:53:18,428 --> 00:53:20,096
- Four years ago,
1062
00:53:20,163 --> 00:53:23,099
my agent forwarded me
just a page or two
1063
00:53:23,166 --> 00:53:27,237
that Resolution Pictures
had developed on Little Bird.
1064
00:53:27,304 --> 00:53:29,506
And...
1065
00:53:29,573 --> 00:53:34,077
I didn't know about
the Sixties Scoop and...
1066
00:53:35,145 --> 00:53:39,349
I read it and I called
my agent, and I was like:
1067
00:53:39,416 --> 00:53:43,587
"I would do this
if they want me to."
1068
00:53:43,653 --> 00:53:47,390
Like, the thought to me
that there was a genocide
1069
00:53:47,457 --> 00:53:49,659
that wasn't known was...
it was...
1070
00:53:51,061 --> 00:53:54,998
just stunning and heartbreaking.
1071
00:53:55,966 --> 00:53:58,401
Because there's
such an important part
1072
00:53:58,468 --> 00:54:00,737
of my community story's
that we get to...
1073
00:54:00,804 --> 00:54:02,372
It's known.
1074
00:54:02,439 --> 00:54:04,507
Esther is Jewish.
1075
00:54:04,574 --> 00:54:09,212
And so representing that was
also important on the screen.
1076
00:54:09,279 --> 00:54:11,448
(chanting)
1077
00:54:11,514 --> 00:54:14,784
I'm using my Jewishness in order
to, like, get those...
1078
00:54:14,851 --> 00:54:19,289
the minutiae of being a part
of a specific community.
1079
00:54:20,290 --> 00:54:21,725
I haven't...
I've never worked
1080
00:54:21,791 --> 00:54:23,293
on a show that's
this meaningful.
1081
00:54:23,360 --> 00:54:25,495
I think this set has been...
1082
00:54:25,562 --> 00:54:27,030
I hope, for other people too.
1083
00:54:27,097 --> 00:54:28,498
It's been collaborative,
1084
00:54:28,565 --> 00:54:31,234
which has felt really good
and beautiful to me.
1085
00:54:31,301 --> 00:54:34,204
I've been like:
"Wow, we're really able
1086
00:54:34,271 --> 00:54:35,605
to collaborate on this."
1087
00:54:35,672 --> 00:54:37,073
And so, there's just
a lot of people
1088
00:54:37,140 --> 00:54:39,142
who are trying really hard
to make it better
1089
00:54:39,209 --> 00:54:40,944
and working together on it.
1090
00:54:41,011 --> 00:54:44,481
You know, that doesn't
always happen.
1091
00:54:45,515 --> 00:54:47,150
Do you want to have
that girl in the back?
1092
00:54:47,217 --> 00:54:49,286
- This whole story is very much
1093
00:54:49,352 --> 00:54:53,757
based on much
of my life experience.
1094
00:54:53,823 --> 00:54:55,825
Also, my mother's,
1095
00:54:55,892 --> 00:54:59,362
being an Indigenous woman
1096
00:54:59,429 --> 00:55:01,564
coming into a Jewish family,
1097
00:55:01,631 --> 00:55:06,569
and how isolated that she felt
1098
00:55:06,636 --> 00:55:10,073
and how ostracized she was.
1099
00:55:11,908 --> 00:55:13,910
And then my own...
1100
00:55:13,977 --> 00:55:17,147
really my own psychology
around identity.
1101
00:55:17,213 --> 00:55:19,949
I have never ever fit in
1102
00:55:20,016 --> 00:55:24,454
to what I'm supposed
to fit into.
1103
00:55:24,521 --> 00:55:28,958
So, I think, you know,
Esther is the same.
1104
00:55:29,025 --> 00:55:31,895
You know, I wanted that to be
a part of who Esther is.
1105
00:55:31,961 --> 00:55:36,766
You know, just not ever really
fitting into being Jewish.
1106
00:55:36,833 --> 00:55:40,003
The difference is she was
adopted and is fully Indigenous
1107
00:55:40,070 --> 00:55:43,139
and I am actually Jewish!
1108
00:55:43,206 --> 00:55:44,908
Still don't fit in!
1109
00:55:44,974 --> 00:55:46,643
But...
1110
00:55:46,710 --> 00:55:48,645
And then, we brought in,
you know,
1111
00:55:48,712 --> 00:55:53,149
real actual survivors
1112
00:55:53,216 --> 00:55:54,784
of the Sixties Scoop
1113
00:55:54,851 --> 00:55:58,922
to help us really
shape the experience
1114
00:55:58,988 --> 00:56:01,124
through the lens
of being adopted.
1115
00:56:01,191 --> 00:56:02,859
- My name is Nakuset.
1116
00:56:02,926 --> 00:56:05,695
I'm originally from
Lac La Ronge, Saskatchewan,
1117
00:56:05,762 --> 00:56:07,297
Treaty 6.
1118
00:56:07,364 --> 00:56:08,832
However, I live in Montreal.
1119
00:56:08,898 --> 00:56:10,767
I run the Native Women's Shelter
of Montreal.
1120
00:56:10,834 --> 00:56:12,402
I'm the executive director.
1121
00:56:12,469 --> 00:56:16,639
But my role on Little Bird
was as a consultant
1122
00:56:16,706 --> 00:56:20,343
because I was adopted by
a Jewish family in Westmount.
1123
00:56:20,410 --> 00:56:22,412
So, Jennifer thought
it would be interesting
1124
00:56:22,479 --> 00:56:24,781
to have my point of view and...
1125
00:56:24,848 --> 00:56:27,484
I know that in,
you know, Little Bird,
1126
00:56:27,550 --> 00:56:32,155
the family was very loving
and connected.
1127
00:56:32,222 --> 00:56:34,090
My experience was not that.
1128
00:56:34,157 --> 00:56:37,360
So, it was important
for me to be moved,
1129
00:56:37,427 --> 00:56:41,231
not necessarily
all the way here to Montreal.
1130
00:56:41,297 --> 00:56:43,767
But, you know,
I did have other siblings
1131
00:56:43,833 --> 00:56:45,702
that were older and responsible
1132
00:56:45,769 --> 00:56:47,370
and wanted to keep me.
1133
00:56:47,437 --> 00:56:50,540
But the idea was to remove me
from the family,
1134
00:56:50,607 --> 00:56:52,075
put me into a White home,
1135
00:56:52,142 --> 00:56:54,811
change my name,
change my culture.
1136
00:56:54,878 --> 00:56:57,147
I would lose my Indian status.
1137
00:56:57,213 --> 00:57:01,050
I would become part of...
you know, like assimilated
1138
00:57:01,117 --> 00:57:02,786
and lose all my culture.
1139
00:57:02,852 --> 00:57:07,257
(♪♪♪)
1140
00:57:07,323 --> 00:57:08,858
- One day, social services
were called.
1141
00:57:08,925 --> 00:57:10,527
I think they were called
a number of times,
1142
00:57:10,593 --> 00:57:13,430
but the only time
I remember is the last time.
1143
00:57:13,496 --> 00:57:14,864
And the police came,
1144
00:57:14,931 --> 00:57:17,734
and I remember, you know,
seeing this.
1145
00:57:17,801 --> 00:57:20,236
It was the old style, you know,
1146
00:57:20,303 --> 00:57:23,673
like rounded black
with the cherry on top,
1147
00:57:23,740 --> 00:57:25,175
that type of police car.
1148
00:57:25,241 --> 00:57:28,011
And we carted off
to Kilburn Hall,
1149
00:57:28,077 --> 00:57:30,447
which was a receiving home
at that time.
1150
00:57:30,513 --> 00:57:34,217
And we loved it there because,
you know, it was like good food
1151
00:57:34,284 --> 00:57:36,019
and we loved to eat.
1152
00:57:36,085 --> 00:57:38,922
And we got treated well.
1153
00:57:38,988 --> 00:57:40,924
And then we were put
in foster care.
1154
00:57:40,990 --> 00:57:43,893
And my foster care experience
was a nightmare.
1155
00:57:43,960 --> 00:57:45,995
Abuse of all kinds there.
1156
00:57:46,062 --> 00:57:48,198
We were treated like animals.
We didn't even eat.
1157
00:57:48,264 --> 00:57:49,999
I was never allowed
in the kitchen.
1158
00:57:50,066 --> 00:57:52,168
And so the day that the social
worker came to take me, I was...
1159
00:57:52,235 --> 00:57:54,704
The foster mother said:
"Here, come in here."
1160
00:57:54,771 --> 00:57:56,272
And I sat there
and I was so nervous.
1161
00:57:56,339 --> 00:57:57,907
She gave me milk and cookies.
1162
00:57:57,974 --> 00:57:59,976
And I was so nervous that
I swallowed the milk too fast,
1163
00:58:00,043 --> 00:58:01,878
it came out of my nose.
1164
00:58:01,945 --> 00:58:03,980
That's what I remember!
1165
00:58:04,047 --> 00:58:06,316
And then, she's kind of, like,
you know, fretting over me.
1166
00:58:06,382 --> 00:58:08,451
And it was very bizarre.
1167
00:58:08,518 --> 00:58:09,886
It's like: what's going on here?
1168
00:58:09,953 --> 00:58:11,688
And my sister came home
from school.
1169
00:58:11,754 --> 00:58:13,690
I was still, you know...
I was still like...
1170
00:58:13,756 --> 00:58:15,158
It's just my fifth birthday.
1171
00:58:15,225 --> 00:58:16,926
And she came home
from school and I was gone.
1172
00:58:16,993 --> 00:58:21,764
I didn't see her again
for 20... 22 years. Yeah.
1173
00:58:21,831 --> 00:58:26,803
(♪♪♪)
1174
00:58:27,570 --> 00:58:30,306
- Probably at about 12 years
old, I began searching.
1175
00:58:30,373 --> 00:58:31,841
I didn't feel like I had it.
1176
00:58:31,908 --> 00:58:33,610
Like, I had a family.
1177
00:58:33,676 --> 00:58:36,379
I had a home, but I didn't
really have a family, right?
1178
00:58:36,446 --> 00:58:37,981
So, I began searching
1179
00:58:38,047 --> 00:58:41,384
and I ended up going
out to Vancouver,
1180
00:58:41,451 --> 00:58:42,986
where my birth mother lived.
1181
00:58:43,052 --> 00:58:48,091
And, you know, it was
a bittersweet reunion as well.
1182
00:58:48,157 --> 00:58:50,093
My mom has some issues
of her own
1183
00:58:50,159 --> 00:58:53,196
that she's still working on
and struggling with to this day.
1184
00:58:53,263 --> 00:58:56,332
But I met her
where she is, you know,
1185
00:58:56,399 --> 00:58:59,569
and I don't expect more
from... from what...
1186
00:58:59,636 --> 00:59:00,904
from her.
1187
00:59:00,970 --> 00:59:03,273
I'm accepting of what
she's capable of.
1188
00:59:03,339 --> 00:59:04,774
And you know what,
she's funny.
1189
00:59:04,841 --> 00:59:07,176
She's great.
She's a good cook.
1190
00:59:07,243 --> 00:59:09,045
She tries her best
to look after us.
1191
00:59:09,112 --> 00:59:13,016
(♪♪♪)
1192
00:59:17,654 --> 00:59:21,457
- Esther's character
is finding out where to go.
1193
00:59:21,524 --> 00:59:24,060
Like, she's been lost and
driving around her community,
1194
00:59:24,127 --> 00:59:28,164
and she encounters someone who
helps her figure out where to go
1195
00:59:28,231 --> 00:59:29,666
and where to find her family,
1196
00:59:29,732 --> 00:59:31,467
because they remember her.
1197
00:59:33,670 --> 00:59:35,772
- I think I might be from here.
1198
00:59:36,573 --> 00:59:38,841
- What's your name, then?
- Bezhig.
1199
00:59:38,908 --> 00:59:40,443
I had siblings.
1200
00:59:40,510 --> 00:59:41,978
We were adopted.
1201
00:59:42,045 --> 00:59:43,479
- Follow that river.
1202
00:59:43,546 --> 00:59:45,214
Go right to the end.
1203
00:59:45,281 --> 00:59:47,684
And it's the long driveway
on the right.
1204
00:59:47,750 --> 00:59:49,185
You can't miss it.
1205
00:59:49,252 --> 00:59:53,790
(♪♪♪)
1206
01:00:00,563 --> 01:00:02,432
- Like, people are trying
to find their families.
1207
01:00:02,498 --> 01:00:04,500
People are displaced
from their communities.
1208
01:00:04,567 --> 01:00:08,705
People don't have
that feeling of I'm home.
1209
01:00:08,771 --> 01:00:10,239
Even though they are home.
1210
01:00:10,306 --> 01:00:11,708
This is their land.
1211
01:00:11,774 --> 01:00:13,610
You know what I mean?
It's very complicated.
1212
01:00:13,676 --> 01:00:18,848
(♪♪♪)
1213
01:00:20,583 --> 01:00:24,754
- In 1995, I came back here
1214
01:00:24,821 --> 01:00:28,191
and I just was like a sponge,
you know what I mean?
1215
01:00:28,257 --> 01:00:30,360
For... What was it?
1216
01:00:30,426 --> 01:00:32,061
Because all these years,
1217
01:00:32,128 --> 01:00:34,030
I was never known as what I was.
1218
01:00:34,097 --> 01:00:37,333
I was an Anishinaabe
First Nation person.
1219
01:00:37,400 --> 01:00:39,969
So, that coming back home
to this reserve,
1220
01:00:40,036 --> 01:00:42,171
I didn't know
what I was coming into,
1221
01:00:42,238 --> 01:00:45,108
because all I had previous
to that for understanding
1222
01:00:45,174 --> 01:00:48,711
what it was to be Anishinaabe
was what was ever on TV.
1223
01:00:48,778 --> 01:00:51,347
So, of course,
one of my younger years...
1224
01:00:51,414 --> 01:00:54,717
Tatanka, Chief Wahoo...
1225
01:00:54,784 --> 01:00:56,319
And those are all things
1226
01:00:56,386 --> 01:00:59,489
that, I think, people only
understood to be Anishinaabe
1227
01:00:59,555 --> 01:01:01,024
or Native American down there,
1228
01:01:01,090 --> 01:01:02,425
because there wasn't much
1229
01:01:02,492 --> 01:01:04,060
that was available
other than Hollywood.
1230
01:01:04,127 --> 01:01:05,828
(♪♪♪)
1231
01:01:05,895 --> 01:01:08,665
- When I was living
in Westmount,
1232
01:01:08,731 --> 01:01:11,601
my biological sister,
Sonya, turned 18.
1233
01:01:11,668 --> 01:01:14,237
She saw my name
and she had been looking for me
1234
01:01:14,303 --> 01:01:15,705
since we were separated
1235
01:01:15,772 --> 01:01:18,441
because I was three,
but she was six
1236
01:01:18,508 --> 01:01:20,410
and she clearly
remembered who I was.
1237
01:01:20,476 --> 01:01:23,413
So, she started writing
letters to me
1238
01:01:23,479 --> 01:01:25,915
since she turned 18
1239
01:01:25,982 --> 01:01:27,383
and I was probably about 15.
1240
01:01:27,450 --> 01:01:28,918
And my parents were just
ripping up the letters.
1241
01:01:28,985 --> 01:01:32,121
They were not allowing us
to have anything.
1242
01:01:32,188 --> 01:01:34,457
They wanted no connection.
1243
01:01:34,524 --> 01:01:36,726
Like, I had
an incredible relationship
1244
01:01:36,793 --> 01:01:38,695
with my bubbie,
not with my parents,
1245
01:01:38,761 --> 01:01:42,065
whereas Esther had a great
relationship with her mother.
1246
01:01:42,131 --> 01:01:45,568
So, that was not the same,
but it was really my bubbie
1247
01:01:45,635 --> 01:01:49,138
that pushed me
because she was dying.
1248
01:01:51,908 --> 01:01:55,178
(clearing her throat)
1249
01:01:55,244 --> 01:01:57,280
She knew that when she'd died
that I would have
1250
01:01:57,346 --> 01:01:59,649
no more connection
with my family
1251
01:02:00,950 --> 01:02:03,753
and wanted me
to have a connection
1252
01:02:03,820 --> 01:02:06,089
with my Indigenous family.
1253
01:02:07,523 --> 01:02:09,292
So, she bought my plane ticket
1254
01:02:09,358 --> 01:02:13,129
and sent me down to Winnipeg,
1255
01:02:13,196 --> 01:02:15,665
where I ended up meeting
1256
01:02:15,732 --> 01:02:17,400
one of my brothers.
1257
01:02:17,467 --> 01:02:18,801
He tried to adopt me,
1258
01:02:18,868 --> 01:02:20,870
but the government
didn't really want that.
1259
01:02:20,937 --> 01:02:24,607
And then I met Sonya,
which was awesome,
1260
01:02:24,674 --> 01:02:26,242
because that bond that we had
when we were kids,
1261
01:02:26,309 --> 01:02:27,944
it never really ended.
1262
01:02:28,010 --> 01:02:32,815
(♪♪♪)
1263
01:02:35,885 --> 01:02:38,988
- The discourse of child saving,
1264
01:02:39,055 --> 01:02:41,290
it's like an overarching
narrative
1265
01:02:41,357 --> 01:02:43,359
that can really subsume
1266
01:02:43,426 --> 01:02:47,497
lots of nefarious conduct.
1267
01:02:47,563 --> 01:02:50,500
"We're just trying
to help these children."
1268
01:02:50,566 --> 01:02:52,335
That's the child
saving narrative.
1269
01:02:52,401 --> 01:02:53,870
It's that, you know,
1270
01:02:53,936 --> 01:02:56,939
our families and our communities
were in such dire straits
1271
01:02:57,006 --> 01:02:59,308
that we just were incapable
of raising our children.
1272
01:02:59,375 --> 01:03:01,778
And so, the great
White saviour came in
1273
01:03:01,844 --> 01:03:04,847
to rescue our children from us.
1274
01:03:04,914 --> 01:03:07,350
Nothing could be
further from the truth.
1275
01:03:08,584 --> 01:03:10,186
Even though it's called
the Sixties Scoop,
1276
01:03:10,253 --> 01:03:12,255
I had adoptees say:
"Well, I'm not part of that
1277
01:03:12,321 --> 01:03:13,923
because I was adopted
in the 70s."
1278
01:03:13,990 --> 01:03:15,758
But it's like, no...
1279
01:03:15,825 --> 01:03:17,894
It spanned from the 50s
1280
01:03:17,960 --> 01:03:20,163
into about 1985,
1281
01:03:20,229 --> 01:03:22,465
when there was an inquiry
here in Manitoba.
1282
01:03:23,232 --> 01:03:25,468
So, Edwin Kimmelman
was appointed
1283
01:03:25,535 --> 01:03:27,870
to oversee this inquiry.
1284
01:03:27,937 --> 01:03:29,405
Because he wanted
to find out, you know.
1285
01:03:29,472 --> 01:03:30,973
Indigenous people
are complaining
1286
01:03:31,040 --> 01:03:32,375
about what's going on.
1287
01:03:32,441 --> 01:03:34,710
And so he interviewed
social workers
1288
01:03:34,777 --> 01:03:37,213
and administrators
and bureaucrats.
1289
01:03:37,280 --> 01:03:39,682
And he also looked
at case files.
1290
01:03:39,749 --> 01:03:41,284
He was really concerned
with what he found,
1291
01:03:41,350 --> 01:03:43,719
which was that there was...
1292
01:03:43,786 --> 01:03:46,422
The process of children
being apprehended, it was...
1293
01:03:46,489 --> 01:03:48,758
Like, the case files
were a mess, he said.
1294
01:03:48,825 --> 01:03:50,459
And his conclusion was
that it was cultural genocide
1295
01:03:50,526 --> 01:03:52,061
because a lot of kids
from Manitoba were
1296
01:03:52,128 --> 01:03:53,796
shipped down to the States,
1297
01:03:53,863 --> 01:03:55,731
the Midwest states.
1298
01:03:57,633 --> 01:04:00,570
- There are so many children
that were taken from Canada
1299
01:04:00,636 --> 01:04:02,205
and adopted into the States.
1300
01:04:02,271 --> 01:04:04,941
Some of the adoptions
that passed through happened
1301
01:04:05,007 --> 01:04:06,409
at, like, a McDonald's, right?
1302
01:04:06,475 --> 01:04:08,778
Like: "Hey, you like
this kid? Take him."
1303
01:04:08,845 --> 01:04:10,413
They didn't necessarily
check backgrounds
1304
01:04:10,479 --> 01:04:11,881
for the families.
1305
01:04:11,948 --> 01:04:13,316
Like, it wasn't important
1306
01:04:13,382 --> 01:04:16,385
if the families were
able to support
1307
01:04:16,452 --> 01:04:19,922
or were even should-be parents.
1308
01:04:21,757 --> 01:04:24,560
- Justice Kimmelman
said no more.
1309
01:04:24,627 --> 01:04:25,995
This is cultural genocide.
1310
01:04:26,062 --> 01:04:28,264
No more adopting
Indigenous kids in Manitoba
1311
01:04:28,331 --> 01:04:29,832
into non-Indigenous families.
1312
01:04:29,899 --> 01:04:31,200
Just in Manitoba.
1313
01:04:31,267 --> 01:04:33,236
But other provinces
were paying attention,
1314
01:04:33,302 --> 01:04:35,771
so they sort of took note.
1315
01:04:35,838 --> 01:04:38,241
And the moratorium
was on the placement,
1316
01:04:38,307 --> 01:04:40,610
the transracial placement
of Indigenous children
1317
01:04:40,676 --> 01:04:42,278
into non-Indigenous families.
1318
01:04:42,345 --> 01:04:43,779
(♪♪♪)
1319
01:04:43,846 --> 01:04:46,415
That doesn't mean
that apprehensions
1320
01:04:46,482 --> 01:04:48,517
or child protection
changed in any way.
1321
01:04:48,584 --> 01:04:49,986
It just continued.
1322
01:04:50,052 --> 01:04:51,754
And they're still continuing.
1323
01:04:51,821 --> 01:04:54,991
Only now, they just go
in foster care
1324
01:04:55,057 --> 01:04:58,261
and they become part
of that foster care economy.
1325
01:04:58,327 --> 01:05:00,096
- I want people to know
1326
01:05:00,162 --> 01:05:01,597
that it's still alive.
1327
01:05:01,664 --> 01:05:03,032
It's still happening.
1328
01:05:03,099 --> 01:05:05,935
It's trickled into
our current CFS system.
1329
01:05:06,002 --> 01:05:07,536
If you look
at the numbers of kids
1330
01:05:07,603 --> 01:05:09,505
that are in care right now
that are Aboriginal,
1331
01:05:09,572 --> 01:05:10,973
it's still happening.
1332
01:05:11,040 --> 01:05:13,509
- It's like the system exists,
1333
01:05:13,576 --> 01:05:15,845
we just don't call it
the Sixties Scoop anymore.
1334
01:05:15,912 --> 01:05:17,413
So, nothing has
actually changed.
1335
01:05:17,480 --> 01:05:19,382
And I think that a lot
of the families,
1336
01:05:19,448 --> 01:05:22,184
a lot of the mothers that were
themselves in youth protection
1337
01:05:22,251 --> 01:05:23,819
now have children
in youth protection.
1338
01:05:23,886 --> 01:05:28,257
It's really systemic racism.
1339
01:05:28,324 --> 01:05:32,295
Like, it is unbelievable
how quickly
1340
01:05:32,361 --> 01:05:34,130
police, social workers,
1341
01:05:34,196 --> 01:05:35,965
anyone will pick up a child
1342
01:05:36,032 --> 01:05:38,567
and decide that their parents
aren't worthy.
1343
01:05:38,634 --> 01:05:41,704
- I know so many parents
that have had their kids taken,
1344
01:05:41,771 --> 01:05:44,774
and they have so many hoops
that they have to go through.
1345
01:05:44,840 --> 01:05:46,342
And you know,
they end up giving up
1346
01:05:46,409 --> 01:05:47,843
because that was their life.
1347
01:05:47,910 --> 01:05:49,345
And they've tried everything.
1348
01:05:49,412 --> 01:05:50,846
They've gone to groups,
1349
01:05:50,913 --> 01:05:52,882
they've gone to treatment,
1350
01:05:52,949 --> 01:05:54,383
and it's still not enough.
1351
01:05:54,450 --> 01:05:56,786
You know, the barriers
that the workers put
1352
01:05:56,852 --> 01:05:58,955
in front of these parents
that are trying their best
1353
01:05:59,021 --> 01:06:00,489
to get their kids back,
1354
01:06:00,556 --> 01:06:01,958
it's crazy to me.
1355
01:06:02,024 --> 01:06:03,392
- In the current system,
1356
01:06:03,459 --> 01:06:05,661
which I call
the "Foster Care Scoop",
1357
01:06:05,728 --> 01:06:07,496
children are in foster care
1358
01:06:07,563 --> 01:06:11,100
and non-Indigenous people
are getting a lot of money
1359
01:06:11,167 --> 01:06:12,735
to take care of our children.
1360
01:06:12,802 --> 01:06:14,236
It's a huge economy.
1361
01:06:14,303 --> 01:06:16,706
- If you put those supports
in place for the parents
1362
01:06:16,772 --> 01:06:19,308
that are having issues
instead of paying people
1363
01:06:19,375 --> 01:06:21,444
that aren't their family
to take care of them,
1364
01:06:21,510 --> 01:06:23,312
you know, they can probably
do a lot better.
1365
01:06:23,379 --> 01:06:25,081
Put those supports
in place for them,
1366
01:06:25,147 --> 01:06:26,615
give them parenting classes,
1367
01:06:26,682 --> 01:06:28,017
help them with extra food
1368
01:06:28,084 --> 01:06:29,752
if that's where
they're struggling.
1369
01:06:29,819 --> 01:06:33,723
- So, it's an ingrained system
that we are not worthy,
1370
01:06:33,789 --> 01:06:35,658
which is why they took
our children away
1371
01:06:35,725 --> 01:06:37,259
for residential school,
1372
01:06:37,326 --> 01:06:40,129
why they're taking away
for, like, youth protection,
1373
01:06:40,196 --> 01:06:41,664
that we are not good parents.
1374
01:06:41,731 --> 01:06:43,766
And you become hypersensitive.
1375
01:06:43,833 --> 01:06:45,935
You're like: "Oh, my God,
I hope I don't have
1376
01:06:46,002 --> 01:06:47,336
my kids taken away."
1377
01:06:47,403 --> 01:06:49,405
Because I worry
about that all the time,
1378
01:06:49,472 --> 01:06:51,340
and I like to think
I'm a good parent.
1379
01:06:51,407 --> 01:06:53,376
But you get these sorts of...
1380
01:06:53,442 --> 01:06:55,911
Well, you know,
when I took, like,
1381
01:06:55,978 --> 01:06:57,913
Kistin to the dentist
when he was a baby
1382
01:06:57,980 --> 01:06:59,515
because, you know,
he had tooth decay,
1383
01:06:59,582 --> 01:07:01,851
I was sure they were going
to take my children away
1384
01:07:01,917 --> 01:07:05,354
because I wasn't,
you know, like, a good mom.
1385
01:07:05,421 --> 01:07:07,923
And I have gone
to a doctor's office
1386
01:07:07,990 --> 01:07:10,226
where the doctor says: "Oh..."
1387
01:07:10,292 --> 01:07:12,495
Like, when Mahkisis
had a diaper rash
1388
01:07:12,561 --> 01:07:15,264
and I couldn't do
anything about it.
1389
01:07:15,331 --> 01:07:16,799
She said: "Oh, well,
it's just a diaper rash,
1390
01:07:16,866 --> 01:07:19,468
so I'm not going to call
youth protection on you."
1391
01:07:20,569 --> 01:07:22,605
That's a threat.
1392
01:07:22,671 --> 01:07:25,107
It's not a frickin' joke,
but that's a threat.
1393
01:07:25,174 --> 01:07:27,043
So, I have to not react
1394
01:07:27,109 --> 01:07:29,512
because if I react,
then I'm a hostile Indian
1395
01:07:29,578 --> 01:07:31,080
and then maybe
that would give a reason
1396
01:07:31,147 --> 01:07:32,615
to call youth protection.
1397
01:07:32,681 --> 01:07:34,116
But that is our reality.
1398
01:07:34,183 --> 01:07:35,684
So, who am I to say
1399
01:07:35,751 --> 01:07:38,020
"That's really discriminatory,
I'm going to report you"?
1400
01:07:38,087 --> 01:07:39,855
I'm just going to take my child,
1401
01:07:39,922 --> 01:07:41,724
take the prescription,
walk out the door backwards,
1402
01:07:41,791 --> 01:07:44,894
smile and change doctors.
1403
01:07:44,960 --> 01:07:46,495
But it's in the system.
1404
01:07:46,562 --> 01:07:50,766
(♪♪♪)
1405
01:07:55,871 --> 01:07:57,373
- Because of the flames.
1406
01:07:57,440 --> 01:08:00,609
- Yeah. So, I was thinking
about something like that.
1407
01:08:00,676 --> 01:08:04,547
- Yeah.
- We'll see
if it's not enough.
1408
01:08:04,613 --> 01:08:09,618
- This is a significant scene.
1409
01:08:09,685 --> 01:08:11,987
Our character Leo,
1410
01:08:12,054 --> 01:08:15,558
who feels so forlorn
1411
01:08:15,624 --> 01:08:18,694
and so angry and bereaved
1412
01:08:18,761 --> 01:08:21,130
that he does this,
1413
01:08:21,197 --> 01:08:22,665
burns his house down.
1414
01:08:22,731 --> 01:08:24,100
It's such a...
1415
01:08:24,166 --> 01:08:28,070
The episode is called
"Burning Down the House".
1416
01:08:28,137 --> 01:08:31,774
So, when the light
is exactly right,
1417
01:08:31,841 --> 01:08:36,779
then we're going to complete
the special effects work
1418
01:08:36,846 --> 01:08:39,048
that has to be done
before we light it up.
1419
01:08:39,815 --> 01:08:41,884
We put a lot
of medicines in it
1420
01:08:41,951 --> 01:08:45,121
to just make it feel honoured
1421
01:08:45,187 --> 01:08:48,390
in this moment
that we all built together,
1422
01:08:48,457 --> 01:08:51,594
and it kind of feels
like a ceremony.
1423
01:08:53,429 --> 01:08:54,997
- As a crew member,
the house holds
1424
01:08:55,064 --> 01:08:57,099
a lot of memories
for us as well.
1425
01:08:57,166 --> 01:08:58,834
When I walked into that house,
1426
01:08:58,901 --> 01:09:01,003
I pictured the flats
in Churchill, Manitoba,
1427
01:09:01,070 --> 01:09:03,038
where my grandparents lived,
where I used to visit.
1428
01:09:03,105 --> 01:09:04,940
The exact same architecture.
1429
01:09:05,007 --> 01:09:06,408
You know, they were...
1430
01:09:06,475 --> 01:09:07,977
What a lot of people don't give
1431
01:09:08,043 --> 01:09:09,778
Anishinaabe people credit for,
1432
01:09:09,845 --> 01:09:14,250
is that we were the first with
an open concept in a household!
1433
01:09:14,316 --> 01:09:16,185
So, that home there reminds me
exactly of that.
1434
01:09:16,252 --> 01:09:20,022
And fire is life in our culture,
as you all know.
1435
01:09:20,089 --> 01:09:21,891
Some people look at it
like in a negative way,
1436
01:09:21,957 --> 01:09:25,094
but I look at it like it's a new
beginning and things like that.
1437
01:09:25,161 --> 01:09:27,763
And it helps light another path.
1438
01:09:29,165 --> 01:09:31,534
- Rolling! We're rolling!
1439
01:09:31,600 --> 01:09:34,236
- This is 104 dash 45, take one.
1440
01:09:34,303 --> 01:09:38,073
(indistinct words)
1441
01:09:38,140 --> 01:09:40,709
- Three, two, one!
1442
01:09:40,776 --> 01:09:44,180
(♪♪♪)
1443
01:09:44,246 --> 01:09:48,384
(fire)
1444
01:09:53,022 --> 01:09:55,558
(indistinct words)
1445
01:09:55,624 --> 01:09:57,026
I don't think he would leave
1446
01:09:57,092 --> 01:09:58,594
while it's still
burning actively.
1447
01:09:58,661 --> 01:10:00,129
- Okay. Okay.
1448
01:10:00,196 --> 01:10:02,831
- Yeah.
1449
01:10:06,135 --> 01:10:09,004
- Can you just turn
a bit more to us?
1450
01:10:10,306 --> 01:10:12,474
- Glen, can you stay there?
1451
01:10:12,541 --> 01:10:14,610
Tayton, can you
look down and then...
1452
01:10:14,677 --> 01:10:16,312
So, look at the fire
for a few beats
1453
01:10:16,378 --> 01:10:19,181
and then look down
and then walk straight to me.
1454
01:10:19,248 --> 01:10:21,250
And then come.
1455
01:10:21,317 --> 01:10:26,255
(♪♪♪)
1456
01:10:26,322 --> 01:10:28,190
Okay, good.
1457
01:10:34,129 --> 01:10:39,301
(♪♪♪)
1458
01:10:42,638 --> 01:10:44,940
- All the pieces...
Look at all the pieces...
1459
01:10:45,007 --> 01:10:46,842
It's going, it's going.
1460
01:10:47,676 --> 01:10:49,078
- Look at that!
1461
01:10:49,144 --> 01:10:51,046
Oh, yeah, it's happening.
1462
01:10:53,082 --> 01:10:57,453
(Indigenous chanting)
1463
01:11:13,168 --> 01:11:16,205
- I feel very honoured
to tell this story.
1464
01:11:16,272 --> 01:11:18,474
It's a huge responsibility.
1465
01:11:20,042 --> 01:11:24,280
Yes, we make stories
for audiences, global audiences.
1466
01:11:24,346 --> 01:11:25,814
That's really important.
1467
01:11:25,881 --> 01:11:31,220
But I really make these
stories for our people.
1468
01:11:32,488 --> 01:11:36,392
So, what it means to me
is it's an offering.
1469
01:11:36,458 --> 01:11:38,761
It's an offering to heal,
1470
01:11:38,827 --> 01:11:40,262
to come together and heal
1471
01:11:40,329 --> 01:11:44,099
through witnessing something
1472
01:11:44,166 --> 01:11:48,103
and being validated,
being reminded of your worth.
1473
01:11:49,505 --> 01:11:51,307
- Everyone watching her go?
1474
01:11:51,373 --> 01:11:54,610
- Yeah. We're getting it wide
right now, but we will...
1475
01:11:54,677 --> 01:11:58,514
All of those little beats
tighter on the gimbal.
1476
01:11:58,580 --> 01:12:00,249
- Okay, great.
1477
01:12:01,350 --> 01:12:02,785
- I think most people
take family,
1478
01:12:02,851 --> 01:12:04,987
the familial circle,
for granted.
1479
01:12:05,054 --> 01:12:06,422
And I don't.
1480
01:12:06,488 --> 01:12:08,057
It's sort of comparable to,
1481
01:12:08,123 --> 01:12:09,925
if you can imagine,
1482
01:12:09,992 --> 01:12:12,594
just being born out at sea
1483
01:12:12,661 --> 01:12:17,199
in just chaos, you know,
and uncertainty.
1484
01:12:17,266 --> 01:12:20,703
And then anytime you're
invited into a familial...
1485
01:12:20,769 --> 01:12:23,706
I'm speaking
as an adopted person.
1486
01:12:23,772 --> 01:12:25,974
As soon as you're invited
into a familial circle,
1487
01:12:26,041 --> 01:12:28,544
it's like being
in this weird port
1488
01:12:28,610 --> 01:12:30,012
that you've never
been to before.
1489
01:12:30,079 --> 01:12:31,480
You're a stranger
in a strange land,
1490
01:12:31,547 --> 01:12:34,483
and the only place
you feel safe is back out
1491
01:12:34,550 --> 01:12:36,618
in the chaotic sea again.
1492
01:12:36,685 --> 01:12:39,321
And now I take all that stuff.
1493
01:12:39,388 --> 01:12:40,989
I'm a frontline outreach worker
1494
01:12:41,056 --> 01:12:43,425
at Resource Assistance
for Youth.
1495
01:12:43,492 --> 01:12:45,027
I help other...
1496
01:12:45,094 --> 01:12:47,629
I help kids that are in
the same boat that I was in.
1497
01:12:47,696 --> 01:12:50,766
- Because when you put up
a barrier to love,
1498
01:12:50,833 --> 01:12:53,402
it's really fucking hard
to get it back.
1499
01:12:53,469 --> 01:12:56,038
And sometimes people
don't ever get it back.
1500
01:12:56,105 --> 01:12:59,007
Yeah, because it's like
an imposed attachment disorder.
1501
01:12:59,074 --> 01:13:01,377
That's really what
the Sixties Scoop was about.
1502
01:13:01,443 --> 01:13:04,046
It imposed this attachment
disorder on so many of us.
1503
01:13:04,113 --> 01:13:07,182
And it wasn't until I had,
you know, as a young adult,
1504
01:13:07,249 --> 01:13:08,617
done about 10 years of therapy
1505
01:13:08,684 --> 01:13:10,285
that I actually sort
of came into my body
1506
01:13:10,352 --> 01:13:13,122
and said: "Okay! What now?"
1507
01:13:13,188 --> 01:13:14,723
And that's when I went
into social work.
1508
01:13:14,790 --> 01:13:17,092
- I'm going to feel air
like Mary Poppins.
1509
01:13:17,159 --> 01:13:18,827
I felt air.
1510
01:13:18,894 --> 01:13:21,063
- Gideon, how has it been
1511
01:13:21,130 --> 01:13:23,732
working on the set?
1512
01:13:23,799 --> 01:13:25,367
- Good.
- Yeah?
1513
01:13:25,434 --> 01:13:27,669
What was your favourite day?
1514
01:13:27,736 --> 01:13:31,407
- Ah! The part when I was
doing under the bed.
1515
01:13:31,473 --> 01:13:32,808
- Why?
1516
01:13:32,875 --> 01:13:35,944
- I just like going under beds,
1517
01:13:36,011 --> 01:13:37,413
hiding like a monster.
1518
01:13:37,479 --> 01:13:38,914
- Ha-ha! That's awesome.
1519
01:13:38,981 --> 01:13:40,949
- Gideon has lots
of fun on the set.
1520
01:13:41,016 --> 01:13:43,452
Ha-ha!
1521
01:13:43,519 --> 01:13:45,053
- And this is my last day.
1522
01:13:45,120 --> 01:13:46,622
- You did so well today.
1523
01:13:46,688 --> 01:13:48,724
- Okay, good...
1524
01:13:48,791 --> 01:13:51,460
Bye-bye, camera.
Bye-bye, camera.
1525
01:13:51,527 --> 01:13:53,128
- Bye.
1526
01:13:53,195 --> 01:13:55,264
Bye, Gideon!
- Bye.
1527
01:13:55,330 --> 01:13:56,732
- Nice working with you.
1528
01:13:56,799 --> 01:13:58,634
- It's just really inspiring
1529
01:13:58,700 --> 01:14:01,437
to see everyone just making
1530
01:14:01,503 --> 01:14:04,406
such an amazing pathway for us
1531
01:14:04,473 --> 01:14:09,278
and just guiding us
who want to be
1532
01:14:09,344 --> 01:14:11,814
in that position
as well in the future.
1533
01:14:11,880 --> 01:14:13,449
It's really inspiring for sure.
1534
01:14:13,515 --> 01:14:15,584
- And a young man who
needs no introduction!
1535
01:14:15,651 --> 01:14:17,453
Gideon!
1536
01:14:17,519 --> 01:14:20,889
(acclamation)
1537
01:14:21,723 --> 01:14:23,659
- Our only job,
as near as I can tell,
1538
01:14:23,725 --> 01:14:26,094
is to look after each other,
1539
01:14:26,161 --> 01:14:28,130
take care of our kids
1540
01:14:28,197 --> 01:14:30,432
and raise them up to be strong,
1541
01:14:30,499 --> 01:14:32,034
better versions of ourselves.
1542
01:14:32,100 --> 01:14:35,103
If we can do that
for a couple of generations,
1543
01:14:35,170 --> 01:14:36,839
I swear to God, we'll get all...
1544
01:14:36,905 --> 01:14:40,175
We'll decolonize much faster
if we just do that.
1545
01:14:42,611 --> 01:14:46,782
- I think we have
a responsibility locally,
1546
01:14:46,849 --> 01:14:48,183
and not just the rhetoric
1547
01:14:48,250 --> 01:14:50,185
of "it takes a community
to raise a child".
1548
01:14:50,252 --> 01:14:52,387
I think we got to start
looking at the system
1549
01:14:52,454 --> 01:14:54,223
we have in place here locally
1550
01:14:54,289 --> 01:14:58,026
and say: what is
that system doing to change
1551
01:14:58,093 --> 01:14:59,995
the impacts of colonization?
1552
01:15:01,029 --> 01:15:03,332
- I'm happy that our nation
is taking back
1553
01:15:03,398 --> 01:15:06,235
our Child and Family
Services agency
1554
01:15:06,301 --> 01:15:08,337
and really focusing
on reunification
1555
01:15:08,403 --> 01:15:10,439
because I think
that's so important.
1556
01:15:10,506 --> 01:15:12,174
That's what we need, right,
1557
01:15:12,241 --> 01:15:13,575
to heal and be healthy
1558
01:15:13,642 --> 01:15:15,143
and to have those next
seven generations
1559
01:15:15,210 --> 01:15:16,912
in a good healthy mind frame.
1560
01:15:16,979 --> 01:15:18,680
That's what we need.
1561
01:15:18,747 --> 01:15:21,583
We need those supports
and we need that encouragement
1562
01:15:21,650 --> 01:15:26,922
and the change of people's
beliefs, their mindsets.
1563
01:15:27,990 --> 01:15:30,526
- So Child and Family
Services have been
1564
01:15:30,592 --> 01:15:33,896
a priority for Sioux Valley
for quite a number of years.
1565
01:15:33,962 --> 01:15:35,764
And like putting emphasis
1566
01:15:35,831 --> 01:15:39,668
on Dakota culture again
and language, kinship.
1567
01:15:39,735 --> 01:15:43,505
You know, putting
responsibility back on families
1568
01:15:43,572 --> 01:15:45,374
to take care of one another
1569
01:15:45,440 --> 01:15:47,843
and going back to those
traditional teachings
1570
01:15:47,910 --> 01:15:50,178
where we all looked out
for one another
1571
01:15:50,245 --> 01:15:53,849
and ensuring that we have
jurisdiction over our children
1572
01:15:53,916 --> 01:15:56,318
and not only here
1573
01:15:56,385 --> 01:15:57,786
on Sioux Valley lands,
1574
01:15:57,853 --> 01:16:01,089
but throughout Canada
through Bill C-92
1575
01:16:01,156 --> 01:16:03,058
and our own self-government
agreement.
1576
01:16:03,125 --> 01:16:07,629
- Bill C-92 is now federal
law effective January 2020.
1577
01:16:07,696 --> 01:16:10,499
And what it states in there is
1578
01:16:10,566 --> 01:16:12,801
that Governments
and social workers,
1579
01:16:12,868 --> 01:16:14,303
social work agencies
1580
01:16:14,369 --> 01:16:16,338
are compelled now to support
1581
01:16:16,405 --> 01:16:19,508
the sovereignty of Indigenous
families and communities.
1582
01:16:19,575 --> 01:16:22,377
What this means is
that they cannot advocate
1583
01:16:22,444 --> 01:16:25,314
for our children to be placed
in any other family.
1584
01:16:25,380 --> 01:16:27,783
We have jurisdiction,
they cannot take our children.
1585
01:16:27,849 --> 01:16:29,518
End of story.
1586
01:16:31,553 --> 01:16:35,624
The priority of placement
that we see in C-92, I think,
1587
01:16:35,691 --> 01:16:38,727
comes from Wayne Christian's...
the by-law.
1588
01:16:38,794 --> 01:16:41,063
He was talking
about this in 1980.
1589
01:16:41,129 --> 01:16:42,531
It shows us.
1590
01:16:42,598 --> 01:16:45,300
This is 1983, it's now 2023.
That's a 40-year...
1591
01:16:45,367 --> 01:16:47,202
That's a 40-year battle
1592
01:16:47,269 --> 01:16:49,605
to get jurisdiction
over our kids.
1593
01:16:49,671 --> 01:16:53,475
So, everybody is doing
this massive adjusting
1594
01:16:53,542 --> 01:16:56,411
and, you know, I'm telling
people, like:
1595
01:16:56,478 --> 01:16:58,413
just assert,
assert authority,
1596
01:16:58,480 --> 01:17:02,818
assert jurisdiction
because we never gave that up.
1597
01:17:02,884 --> 01:17:05,754
Yeah, we never gave it up.
1598
01:17:05,821 --> 01:17:08,323
So, big changes are underway.
1599
01:17:08,390 --> 01:17:10,225
Big changes, yeah.
1600
01:17:13,128 --> 01:17:16,031
- So, you're good for...
Thank you!
1601
01:17:16,098 --> 01:17:18,500
(indistinct chatter)
1602
01:17:18,567 --> 01:17:21,203
- At this moment, we are
shooting the very beginning
1603
01:17:21,269 --> 01:17:23,238
of the end
of the entire series.
1604
01:17:23,305 --> 01:17:27,209
So, there obviously
is a lot of choreography
1605
01:17:27,275 --> 01:17:30,846
because the story takes place
over a couple of generations.
1606
01:17:30,912 --> 01:17:34,516
This moment is kind
of the epitome,
1607
01:17:34,583 --> 01:17:38,420
it's the ultimate
returning home
1608
01:17:38,487 --> 01:17:42,357
to a place that you have
not been able to be at.
1609
01:17:42,424 --> 01:17:44,893
This moment is
the ultimate coming home.
1610
01:17:44,960 --> 01:17:47,629
And it's a very brave thing,
to go home.
1611
01:17:47,696 --> 01:17:49,564
It's one of the bravest
things you can do.
1612
01:17:49,631 --> 01:17:54,803
(♪♪♪)
1613
01:17:56,405 --> 01:17:59,274
- When I came down here
for that one-week visit
1614
01:17:59,341 --> 01:18:01,143
and then I ultimately
went back to Pennsylvania
1615
01:18:01,209 --> 01:18:02,811
for about a month or two,
1616
01:18:02,878 --> 01:18:04,346
I just couldn't shake it off.
1617
01:18:04,413 --> 01:18:07,015
It was just something
inside of me turned on.
1618
01:18:07,082 --> 01:18:09,885
And I really do believe
that our children are...
1619
01:18:09,951 --> 01:18:13,422
And being our relationship as
Indigenous people to the land,
1620
01:18:13,488 --> 01:18:16,825
there's a GPS,
like a natural GPS system
1621
01:18:16,892 --> 01:18:18,226
that's inside of us.
1622
01:18:18,293 --> 01:18:20,962
That when I came back,
when I came home,
1623
01:18:21,029 --> 01:18:23,598
I couldn't leave
and I never left ever since.
1624
01:18:23,665 --> 01:18:27,469
I've been here for 27 years now.
1625
01:18:27,536 --> 01:18:29,905
The naturalness of coming home
1626
01:18:29,971 --> 01:18:33,475
and the first moment that I got
back from the airport here
1627
01:18:33,542 --> 01:18:36,678
and got into our family home,
1628
01:18:36,745 --> 01:18:38,914
and I walked upstairs
because I was trying
1629
01:18:38,980 --> 01:18:41,283
to hide from them
for quite a long time.
1630
01:18:41,349 --> 01:18:44,052
I was just...
My sister's...
1631
01:18:44,119 --> 01:18:46,254
I was here by myself.
1632
01:18:46,321 --> 01:18:49,324
And I said:
"I need to take a shower."
1633
01:18:49,391 --> 01:18:50,959
And I ended up doing
like an hour and a half,
1634
01:18:51,026 --> 01:18:52,527
maybe a two-hour shower.
1635
01:18:52,594 --> 01:18:54,362
Because, like, Jesus, there's
a lot of people up there,
1636
01:18:54,429 --> 01:18:55,797
I don't even know who they are.
1637
01:18:55,864 --> 01:18:57,499
But as soon as
I walked up the stairs
1638
01:18:57,566 --> 01:18:59,401
and I saw everybody in the room,
they all looked like me
1639
01:18:59,468 --> 01:19:02,571
and it was the most
magical moment of my life.
1640
01:19:02,637 --> 01:19:07,042
(♪♪♪)
1641
01:19:11,446 --> 01:19:14,382
- It is something
that has impacted my life
1642
01:19:14,449 --> 01:19:16,351
right from the start of it.
1643
01:19:16,418 --> 01:19:18,186
And it's still
impacting my life.
1644
01:19:18,253 --> 01:19:19,955
I struggle with my identity,
1645
01:19:20,021 --> 01:19:21,656
I struggle with my beliefs,
1646
01:19:21,723 --> 01:19:25,660
I struggle with, you know,
knowing if I'm teaching my kids
1647
01:19:25,727 --> 01:19:27,996
the right things,
1648
01:19:28,063 --> 01:19:29,397
improving my merit.
1649
01:19:29,464 --> 01:19:30,999
I feel like I have
to walk around
1650
01:19:31,066 --> 01:19:33,568
with my treaty card pinned
to my shirt some days,
1651
01:19:33,635 --> 01:19:35,737
you know, convincing people
1652
01:19:35,804 --> 01:19:38,707
that I'm not
an outsider... "26101!"
1653
01:19:38,774 --> 01:19:43,178
But I'm happy when people
come back into the community
1654
01:19:43,245 --> 01:19:44,780
and they share their story.
1655
01:19:44,846 --> 01:19:47,215
You know, I just...
I feel that instant camaraderie
1656
01:19:47,282 --> 01:19:48,784
and that kinship with them.
1657
01:19:48,850 --> 01:19:53,088
I know that they've had
a long journey as well.
1658
01:19:55,390 --> 01:19:57,592
I connected with an elder
in the community
1659
01:19:57,659 --> 01:19:59,494
and she gave me my Indian name,
1660
01:19:59,561 --> 01:20:01,229
which was really special to me.
1661
01:20:01,296 --> 01:20:04,432
She shared some information
with me about my clan.
1662
01:20:04,499 --> 01:20:07,469
And, you know what,
it is me, that is me.
1663
01:20:07,536 --> 01:20:09,004
I am an Eagle Clan.
1664
01:20:09,070 --> 01:20:11,439
I am a Spotted Thunderbird woman
and that's who I am.
1665
01:20:11,506 --> 01:20:12,974
And I'm here to help.
1666
01:20:13,041 --> 01:20:15,811
I'm here to do good
and I'm not going anywhere.
1667
01:20:15,877 --> 01:20:17,946
And, you know,
now that I found my home,
1668
01:20:18,013 --> 01:20:19,748
I'm staying and that's that!
1669
01:20:19,815 --> 01:20:22,050
It's like... Yeah.
1670
01:20:22,117 --> 01:20:25,587
- I feel cemented here,
you know, in Montreal
1671
01:20:25,654 --> 01:20:27,989
and my children
are here in Montreal,
1672
01:20:28,056 --> 01:20:29,925
and this is our home.
1673
01:20:29,991 --> 01:20:33,395
And I don't think there should
be any sort of, like, stigma
1674
01:20:33,461 --> 01:20:37,165
or one... like, it's...
1675
01:20:37,232 --> 01:20:40,001
Some people really do want
to go back to the land
1676
01:20:40,068 --> 01:20:41,803
and be with their communities
1677
01:20:41,870 --> 01:20:44,606
and help heal
those communities, right?
1678
01:20:45,907 --> 01:20:48,677
Being brought up
in Montreal, I feel...
1679
01:20:48,743 --> 01:20:51,980
Like, I mean, honestly,
we are in Westmount right now
1680
01:20:52,047 --> 01:20:55,917
and this is where the Mohawks
used to have their ceremonies.
1681
01:20:55,984 --> 01:20:57,819
So, there's a peacefulness
1682
01:20:57,886 --> 01:20:59,855
that I always felt
when I lived here.
1683
01:20:59,921 --> 01:21:02,424
Walking around here...
I used to do a lot of walking
1684
01:21:02,490 --> 01:21:04,125
because I didn't want
to be at home.
1685
01:21:04,192 --> 01:21:05,827
I did a lot of walking
and I always felt that peace.
1686
01:21:05,894 --> 01:21:08,630
And I didn't understand
what it was until I learnt
1687
01:21:08,697 --> 01:21:12,033
that the Mohawks used to have
their trails here, right?
1688
01:21:12,100 --> 01:21:13,335
(sigh)
1689
01:21:13,401 --> 01:21:15,337
You have to create
that home for yourself
1690
01:21:15,403 --> 01:21:16,872
where you are at peace.
1691
01:21:16,938 --> 01:21:19,608
And I think that's
the sort of thing about home:
1692
01:21:19,674 --> 01:21:21,176
is that it's a peaceful
place to be.
1693
01:21:21,243 --> 01:21:22,978
It's a place you want to be.
1694
01:21:24,813 --> 01:21:27,916
- Here we go!
Background and action!
1695
01:21:31,720 --> 01:21:36,491
- So, the scene is that I am
sitting at the campfire
1696
01:21:36,558 --> 01:21:40,328
with my adoptive mom
and with my birth family,
1697
01:21:40,395 --> 01:21:43,198
like my birth brother
1698
01:21:43,265 --> 01:21:44,933
and his wife and their kids,
1699
01:21:45,000 --> 01:21:49,537
and my aunt and my uncle
and my grandpa.
1700
01:21:49,604 --> 01:21:54,142
And my mom starts walking up
to the campfire.
1701
01:21:54,209 --> 01:21:57,312
And at first,
I don't realize it's my mom,
1702
01:21:57,379 --> 01:22:00,248
but just based on the look
on everybody's faces
1703
01:22:00,315 --> 01:22:02,450
and kind of like
the whispering that's going on
1704
01:22:02,517 --> 01:22:03,952
at the campfire...
1705
01:22:04,019 --> 01:22:05,453
And I get up
1706
01:22:05,520 --> 01:22:06,821
and I look at her
1707
01:22:06,888 --> 01:22:09,357
and it's just like
this instant connection.
1708
01:22:09,424 --> 01:22:13,295
(♪♪♪)
1709
01:22:13,361 --> 01:22:18,233
And for me personally,
I imagined it being like...
1710
01:22:18,300 --> 01:22:23,238
the person that you love
the most in this entire world
1711
01:22:23,305 --> 01:22:24,706
is walking up to you
after you kind
1712
01:22:24,773 --> 01:22:26,241
of already accepted
that they're gone.
1713
01:22:26,308 --> 01:22:27,809
So, it's kind of as if
they're dead
1714
01:22:27,876 --> 01:22:29,244
and they come back to life.
1715
01:22:29,311 --> 01:22:33,481
For me, that moment
is what it felt like.
1716
01:22:33,548 --> 01:22:36,851
(♪♪♪)
1717
01:22:54,669 --> 01:22:57,038
- Cut! Thank you very much.
1718
01:22:59,274 --> 01:23:03,912
(indistinct conversations)
1719
01:23:03,979 --> 01:23:05,780
- Congratulations.
1720
01:23:06,715 --> 01:23:08,450
Ah!
1721
01:23:09,918 --> 01:23:14,255
It's been so long that
the media, the television,
1722
01:23:14,322 --> 01:23:16,958
the movies, radio,
what have you,
1723
01:23:17,025 --> 01:23:21,863
it was happening to,
it came to us as passive,
1724
01:23:21,930 --> 01:23:24,099
as a passive audience.
1725
01:23:24,165 --> 01:23:26,067
And so now we're taking over,
1726
01:23:26,134 --> 01:23:29,304
we're being able to come into
these producer roles,
1727
01:23:29,371 --> 01:23:32,707
into the writers roles,
into actors.
1728
01:23:32,774 --> 01:23:34,876
And then you see
all these young people
1729
01:23:34,943 --> 01:23:37,445
taking on a trainee position
1730
01:23:37,512 --> 01:23:40,749
or they've already been
in the business for a while.
1731
01:23:40,815 --> 01:23:45,053
That makes my heart soar,
you know.
1732
01:23:45,120 --> 01:23:48,456
And, you know,
we have something to say.
1733
01:23:48,523 --> 01:23:50,492
We have stories to tell.
1734
01:23:50,558 --> 01:23:52,427
We've got teachings to pass on.
1735
01:23:54,095 --> 01:23:55,864
- You know, our survival,
1736
01:23:55,930 --> 01:23:59,000
our recovery isn't an attempt
to revise history,
1737
01:23:59,067 --> 01:24:02,404
it's an attempt to live
a good life in spite of history.
1738
01:24:02,470 --> 01:24:03,772
Yeah.
1739
01:24:03,838 --> 01:24:07,709
- You know, I think
it is about coming home.
1740
01:24:07,776 --> 01:24:11,212
It's about welcoming
those who were taken.
1741
01:24:11,279 --> 01:24:13,848
It's about welcoming
what was lost.
1742
01:24:13,915 --> 01:24:17,318
And it's about, you know,
1743
01:24:17,385 --> 01:24:19,421
a deep relationship with home.
1744
01:24:19,487 --> 01:24:23,324
And home to me is the land.
1745
01:24:23,391 --> 01:24:25,660
It's the language,
it's our culture,
1746
01:24:25,727 --> 01:24:27,896
it's my grandmother's laugh.
1747
01:24:27,962 --> 01:24:31,599
And I think that the story
in and of itself is about that.
1748
01:24:31,666 --> 01:24:34,702
It's about reclaiming
that relationship with home,
1749
01:24:34,769 --> 01:24:36,805
which is so many things.
1750
01:24:36,871 --> 01:24:38,206
Home is not just the land.
1751
01:24:38,273 --> 01:24:41,109
It's everything that we are
as a people.
1752
01:24:41,876 --> 01:24:45,380
- I think First Nations people
as a whole collectively,
1753
01:24:45,447 --> 01:24:47,515
we have to open a new page.
1754
01:24:47,582 --> 01:24:52,587
Sharing a story
is very critical.
1755
01:24:52,654 --> 01:24:55,056
I felt good today. I do.
1756
01:24:55,123 --> 01:24:57,425
I feel good that
because I'm going to use this
1757
01:24:57,492 --> 01:24:59,494
to be a better herald.
1758
01:24:59,561 --> 01:25:01,796
I don't hardly cry.
1759
01:25:01,863 --> 01:25:03,765
When I thought of my mom...
1760
01:25:03,832 --> 01:25:05,567
I love her.
1761
01:25:05,633 --> 01:25:08,303
She'd be proud of my daughters.
1762
01:25:08,369 --> 01:25:09,971
She'd be proud of me.
1763
01:25:10,038 --> 01:25:12,173
She'd be proud
of my grandchildren
1764
01:25:12,240 --> 01:25:13,641
if she was sitting right here.
1765
01:25:13,708 --> 01:25:16,111
She's spiritually sitting
right here beside me,
1766
01:25:16,177 --> 01:25:17,879
I know that.
1767
01:25:18,780 --> 01:25:20,415
So, when the tears
came out of my eyes,
1768
01:25:20,482 --> 01:25:22,617
I knew this is the place to be.
1769
01:25:22,684 --> 01:25:24,652
Because you're pushing
something out.
1770
01:25:24,719 --> 01:25:27,288
You're pushing something
out of your body,
1771
01:25:27,355 --> 01:25:29,124
that negative energy.
1772
01:25:29,190 --> 01:25:34,229
And if our people,
the oyate of this community,
1773
01:25:34,295 --> 01:25:39,467
shared their story from here...
1774
01:25:40,702 --> 01:25:44,472
boy, we would all learn to sit
together and smile, shake hands.
1775
01:25:44,539 --> 01:25:49,043
(♪♪♪)
1776
01:26:18,139 --> 01:26:23,311
(♪♪♪)
196924
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