A First Nation elder with expertise in counseling says there are a lot of unresolved issues with the Canadian government which has played a major role in the instability of Aboriginal communities.
Henry Skywater from the Dakota First Nation in Manitoba spoke to members of the White Bear First Nation community on April 18. Having over 15 years of experience in counseling Skywater addressed the topic of grieving and said Aboriginal people experience extreme poverty on reservations. He said it has contributed to many deaths, commonly, suicide, but in a sit down with the Observer he spoke about some the contributing factors that have caused their society to suffer.
"There are unresolved land issues, there are unresolved issues with the treaties and so on and human rights and stuff like that, and there's so much poverty on reservations," he said.
"Here in my small community, there are a little over 500, close to 600 people but we only have about 350 living off and 70 to 80 per cent of them are on social assistance or welfare. And people don't like living on welfare but they have no choice"
He said a lot of young Aboriginals can't get hired outside of reservations and said there are some that leave but those who stay suffer from the lack of jobs. This he said creates a welfare problem and believes that it's the source of social problems within the Native community.
"A lot of our kids get educated and when they apply for jobs they have to apply for menial jobs if they are going to go off the reserve," he said.
"They're still living below poverty level even if there are working, people are working, some of them for less than $15,000 a year that leads to a lot of our issues it's not that they are ashamed of themselves it's that they get so frustrated"
Skywater who gained training through the Native Addiction program said he has seen many deaths on reservations and had to do grieving of his own. He admits he became a victim to alcohol but said his experience has allowed him to gain the faith of those who he councils. He explained that due to his own struggles it has made it easier for him to communicate with people with similar setbacks and pain. Skywater said he tries to incorporate traditional ceremonies within his seminars and implores Natives to stay true to their culture.
"A lot of people have a hard time with grieving especially the way the incidents occur, suicide, accidents, murder Pretty much every reserve suffers that, but very few get the nerve to hold a seminar - I don't like to call it a conference or seminar I'd rather call it a sharing circle because to me that's what it is, a sharing circle," he said
"A lot of times people don't know how to come out of it and that's basically what I was trying to do and involve our culture in it, we have different ceremonies like the "wiping of tears" ceremony and the memorial ceremonies," he said.
Skywater insisted that there should be more sessions that focus on the pain that the Native community goes through and help them heal.
