聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Lauren Pinacie-Littlechief (18), daughter of Cory Pinacie and Tanya Littlechief, recently returned from Bolton, Ontario, where she took part in a conference organized by the Canadian Roots Exchange. Out of 150 applicants, she was one of 28 accepted to partake.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Canadian Roots Exchange, is a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth who are focused on bridging the gap between Canada鈥檚 diverse peoples. Together they hope to work towards reconciliation, which they feel can be achieved through education and bringing awareness of 鈥渢he teachings, triumphs, and daily realities of Indigenous communities,鈥� the Canadian Roots Exchange explained on their website: canadianroots.ca.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭hrough exchanges, workshops, conferences and leadership trainings, we bring together youth in cities, towns, and traditional territories across Canada in an effort to break down stereotypes, open a dialogue, and build honest relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people living on this land.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Pinacie-Littlechief, who went to school at the White Bear Education Complex, and is now going to school at the University of Regina where she has just begun her second year in Justice Studies. The week-long conference, she says, was one which interested her because of the injustices faced by Indigenous peoples, specifically murdered and missing First Nations women in Canada.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 With school she hopes to pursue becoming a homicide or cold case detective as a way to dedicate her life towards helping people move forward. Therefore the Canadian Roots Exchange fits into her life plan of helping people heal and move forward.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲hile in Ontario we focused on different teachings about the diversity of Canada,鈥� Pinacie-Littlechief said. 鈥淲e learned a history of the Inuits, the meaning of two-spirit people in indigenous culture, mental health, a history of the Six Nations or Mohawk, and Residential Schools.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Explaining that two-spirited people are our current LGBQT community.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e also discussed intergenerational drama which has come from the residential schools,鈥� Pinacie-Littlechief explained. 鈥淭his really hit home for me, it was quite the experience learning about the residential schools and the heaviness of it all was a lot.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Despite it being an emotional conference for Pinacie-Littlechief she has become very focused on helping bridge these gaps and help heal those in need.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Training was provided during the conference and Pinacie-Littlechief has arrived home as part of the Regina regional group 鈥� of four individuals, which will organize and facilitate different events. This will begin with attending the Treaty Four Powwow to speak about Treaties.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 They also hope to organize different workshops once a month from now until May. While Pinacie-Littlechief would like to host an event at her alma mater, the White Bear Education Complex.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淢y main focus is on healing, on helping people heal,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here's a brokenness, a gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people that needs to be healed. And Indigenous peoples need healing. For myself attending this conference has helped with my healing process and the trauma I've been dealing with. The conference also helped me with my anxiety because I had to speak in front of everyone multiple times..鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淔or this to go anywhere we need people to be open minded and facilitate working together. We want Indigenous and non-Indigenous to focus on working together. Everyone has to be open minded, but people need to work through this at their own pace.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he conference was a lot of fun and it was refreshing to be there and amongst other people who have the same mindset as I do when looking at the world. They were all surprised too that I was 18, the youngest there was 17, but the ages ranged up to 28-years-old, which made it really fun.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Pinacie-Littlechief hopes to inspire others to be open minded and work together, moving forward.
