News

The Office of the Treaty Commissioner celebrates the passing of Bill C-5 by the senate. The bill will allow for the creation of a statutory holiday to commemorate the terrible legacy of residential schools in Canada.

This work that lead to this bill began in 2017, when former MP Georgina Jolibois, from La Loche and the Clearwater River Dene Nation, introduced a private member’s bill. She sought to establish a day for “reflection and celebration of Indigenous history and contributions to our collective society.”

It did not pass at the time, but current Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault introduced Bill C-5 in committee in 2020. During the senate readings last week, Guilbeault said the objective of the day is to create a chance for Canadians to learn about and reflect the dark chapter Cana’s history and to commemorate the survivors, families and communities.

The OTC knows that truth must come if we are ever to have reconciliation, and while it can be painful, it is important that we have the opportunity to understand these truths and our history.

We thank Georgina Jolibois for taking from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations and starting the work towards creating a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

This is another small step in a long journey to see reconciliation in Canada.

It continues to be of incredible importance to learn about residential schools and the lasting impact they have had on the lives of so many families.

The Office of the Treaty Commissioner understands that more and more people are interested in being part of reconciliation. That journey needs to be grounded in truth and a shared understanding of our history. Reading about residential schools through the eyes of those who attended them is a good way to start.

The OTC created a list of suggested readings to help further understanding of the residential school experience and its legacy.

You can also read about some of the experiences being shared in light of the remains of 215 children found buried outside the former residential school in Kamloops.

The recent discovery of 215 children found buried near residential school in B.C. moved the Treaty Commissioner of Saskatchewan to write a column for the Toronto Star. (Trigger warning: this piece may be distressing for some. The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line is 1-866 925-4419)

We’re sharing excerpts from the article here.

“I came from Keeseekoose had the shadow of Fort Pelly, or St. Philips Residential School, then day school casting an awful legacy on our nation.

I grew up hearing the stories, and there was never a single good one.

We would play scary games and listen for things that went bump in the night. We felt that place was creepy, that spirits lived there and that bad things happened there. It was just something you always knew. The fear was instilled in us: You don’t go there.

A lawyer friend in Toronto sent me a link Thursday night to an article about Kamloops residential school and the bodies that had been found there.

Reading the article this week was horrifying, heartbreaking and triggering. I was shocked at its existence, in some ways, because now it’s all real – right in front of Canada. The graves have been found.

It is something we as Indigenous people know: that children died, that children were killed, that there were graves, that children were never seen again. Oral history and loud secrets in communities are common; there are things you don’t talk about.

The true nature of the schools, their purpose and their legacy was revealed to the world through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that was struck from the Indian Residential School Agreement implemented in 2007.

The TRC reported that approximately 3,200 children died in the residential schools and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, based in Winnipeg, has created a registry of children who died in the schools. We know as Indigenous people this was not all. Now the rest of the world knows too; it is the truth.

I am the first lawyer from my nation, I am the first woman Treaty Commissioner of Saskatchewan, I am the daughter and granddaughter of residential school survivors and the ex-wife of a survivor.

I had the honor of serving survivors as a lawyer for a First Nations law firm, Sunchild Law, in the Independent Assessment Process, the compensation part of the residential school settlement agreement.

It tore me apart, it built me back up and I am able to face this work with the resiliency that my ancestors have instilled in me. We can never stop speaking and exposing the truth of these horrifying facts, of the genocide. For the children who never came home, for our children yet to come that this may never happen again and that we never forget the truth comes before reconciliation.”

In Canada, May 5^th is a national day to raise awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

The Office of the Treaty Commissioner encourages people to take the to learn about the thousands of Indigenous women who have gone missing or been murdered in Canada over the years. Many times, their disappearance and death is under suspicious circumstances.

A good resource for this is reading Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Every week since December, the OTC has been sharing some of the recommendations from the report on Facebook. We appreciate how many of you have been sharing those messages and looking at how to make changes in your lives and industry.  This is a step in repairing the damage and working towards making the world a safer place for Indigenous Women and Girls.

We also ask that on May 5, you wear Red. By wearing red, you acknowledge that those who have gone missing or have suffered a violent death are still in the hearts of people who knew them and you stand in solidarity with those who have lost loved ones.

The REDress Project is an installation art project based on the response on the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and girls in Canada, serving as a visual reminder of the women who are no longer with us. Learn more the Red Dress Projects

Another good resource is the Window Art to honour MMIWG. Created by students at Yorkton Regional High School in partnership with Yorkton Tribal Council and Big Brothers Big Sisters, it shares the steps of how to create the art and additional resources for learning.

On Earth Day, the Treaty Commissioner of Saskatchewan, Mary Culbertson, and some of the OTC team visited Canoe Lake Cree Nation.

We met with the Canoe Lake Cree Nation Band Council, and the trip provided the opportunity to connect with some of the Treaty 10 Gathering Team about the event tentatively planned for August this year.

After a welcome from the teachers and students of Canoe Lake Miksiw School, including a drum group and honour song, the Treaty Commissioner spoke on the importance of Treaty education, as well as the history and the work of the OTC.

The OTC team was grateful to be part of a traditional dinner at lunch with the band council.

The Treaty Commissioner is pleased to be able to visit communities and have discussions about full Treaty implementation and the Treaty relationships.

“I absolutely loved the greeting and honour song. It feels so wonderful to be in the communities again in this time of COVID. Whenever we can all be safe I am looking forward to taking the opportunity to be in our communities.”

This Apr. 22 visit followed all COVID-19 protocols including full mask wearing, and a stop at the security checkpoint at the community entrance for contact tracing.

The Office of the Treaty Commissioner has long been anticipating the findings and recommendations from the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP’s conduct into the handling of the Investigation of the Death of Colten Boushie and the Events that Followed.

It is crucial to have an independent body to review any police handling of investigations when complaints are made, but it should not have taken more than four years for the family of Colton Boushie to see this small form of justice.

The Commission found, “the police’s conduct towards Ms. Baptiste with respect to her sobriety and her credibility was discriminatory on the basis of her race, or national or ethnic origin.” The Commission also found the RCMP media releases and communications after the killing were found to be suggesting the victim was guilty of wrongdoing.

These releases were seen to stoke the fires of racialized hate speech that continues to be felt. It is important to have the RCMP take responsibility for the way Indigenous people, and the family and friends of Colten Boushie were treated and are still being treated. The hate speech continues and needs to be investigated and prosecuted without hesitation.

We call on the RCMP to implement the Commission’s recommendation that minimum cultural awareness training be provided for all RCMP employees bearing in mind the factors identified in recent inquiries. We want that to go one step further with the RCMP ensuring that cultural awareness training includes information from the calls to justice, the calls to action, and the basic human rights that are enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The OTC is committed to working with the RCMP depot with our speaker’s bureau members to offer cultural sensitivity and worldview training. However, it is only the first, small step one that does not meet the needs required to change systems

They RCMP needs to do better and they must do better and can do better. It is up to the leadership in the RCMP to make the changes. There has to be better recruitment standards. There needs to be in depth training about the history of RCMP and why long-term, fractured relationships with Indigenous people has left a legacy of mistrust. We need education about anti-racism, white supremacy, colonization affects, and about the systems that were forced onto Indigenous people and enforced by the RCMP: residential schools, the child welfare system, and the Indian Act.

It shouldn’t have taken this long to have cultural awareness training for all RCMP staff. It shouldn’t have taken the death of an Indigenous youth to put the wheels in motion to ensure that a policing body that works on reserves across the country has cultural awareness. We need to see the changes now so our children and grandchildren in 20 years don’t need to see history repeating itself. We hope that with this report change can begin so no other family has to be treated with discrimination during an investigation because of the color of their skin and on the land where they are the first people.

Every year on March 21, we mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

It’s a day to recommit to making change and to working towards the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination.

While the day began in remembrance of the day police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire killing 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against apartheid laws in 1960, it’s as important now as ever here in Saskatchewan.

We have long had a rocky relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada. Issues surrounding the failure of full Treaty implementation, limiting of land rights, socio-economic impacts, stereotyping, and mistrust have led to a place where we see messages of hate spread online, violence in front of us and to us along with the existing, and systematic discrimination.

Across these lands we have seen bloodshed of Indigenous people and we are still hurting from it today, the killings of Colten Boushie and Tina Fontaine, and massacres like Wounded Knee, Cypress Hills, and the hangings at Fort Battleford.

How we act, what we believe, and what we say, has an impact on others, it is what we are teaching our children and our peers. In Saskatchewan, the Treaty relationship is suffering and while strides might seem to be made, we have a long way to go to see Treaty implementation the full spirit and intent of what our ancestors intended the Treaty relationship to be.

On the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Office of the Treaty Commissioner calls on individuals to join us by investing in true Reconciliation and relationship building, while having zero tolerance for any form of discrimination.

We need to do more than simply not get involved. We need to say this ends now and stand beside one another.

Across Saskatchewan people of action are coming together to build relationships, trust and understanding in an effort to make positive change and further a mandate of Truth and Reconciliation through our Treaty relationship. Join them. Start on your path of reconciliation. Learn more about your neighbours. Be part of the OTC’s for Vision for Truth and Reconciliation through Treaty Implementation

We believe that if we can come together on a common vision for success, that we can better work together, and create a better future for our children and grandchildren. One where everyone is equal and not judged on how they look, what their last name is, or where they are from.

We need to do better.

The Office of the Treaty Commissioner congratulates Chief Tammy Cook-Searson on receiving the 2021 Indigenous Women in Leadership Award.

According to the release from the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business Cook-Searson was selected because she is the embodiment of what their award was designed to celebrate, she “is passionate, driven and a true ground breaker.”  And this is exactly what Chief Cook-Searson is.

Cook-Searson was the first woman Chief of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band and has gone on to serve six terms. During this time also serves as president of the band-owned Kitsaki Management Ltd., which employs nearly 1,000 people and owns or manages more than a dozen companies.

She has lobbied for funds to build a wellness, treatment and recover centre, and supported the community during a wildfire crisis, where she stayed steadfast and exuded calmness and leadership throughout. She is a tireless advocate on behalf of her people.

The OTC encourages and supports women to become leaders in their community. We celebrate Cook-Searson for her trail blazing work and the example she has set for women today and for our future generations of young women.

Happy International Women’s Day.

Every year at this time we take the day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women, but equally importantly it’s a time to renew the lobby for the full equality of women and gender parity.

As the first female Treaty Commissioner of Saskatchewan, I know the struggles that can be faced by women in positions of service as they work to break the glass ceiling and continuously strive to be viewed as equals and make space in governance and business.

I am optimistic for the change I see happening.

• Darlene Brander became the CEO of Wanuskewin, while continuing the role as the chair of the SPS Board until 2020;
• Jacqueline Ottmann at the Office of Vice-Provost, Indigenous Engagement is doing great work to make change at the University of Saskatchewan;
• Mayor Sandra Masters is the first woman elected mayor of one of the major Saskatchewan cities;
• Betty Nippi–Albright became the first First Nations MLA for an urban centre in the province during the 2020 provincial election;
• Chief Gwen O’Soup at the age of 24 who was the very first elected woman Chief of a First Nation in 1954;
• Chief Marie-Ann Daywalker Pelletier was the longest serving elected Chief in Canada when she retired in 2020, and has been honoured for her contributions and sacrifices for First Nations women and her nation of Okanese;
• Deborah A. Charles became the CEO of MBC Radio in 2019, while continuing her role on the APTN Board of Directors.

We are seeing more and more First Nations and organizations embracing the roles of women as leaders once again. There are many great examples of Indigenous women doing incredible work, too many to name, but we still have a long way to go to ensure all women, in particular Indigenous women are safe, healthy, and taking on a bigger role in our society.

At the Office of the Treaty Commissioner we, support the fight to end any discrimination against women; promote good Treaty relationships that are based on principles of mutual recognition, mutual respect, and shared responsibility; and encourage women to participate in leadership and governance at all levels.

We believe that we need to work together to make the world safer for women and girls, especially Indigenous women and girls. This year we have been sharing the MMIWG Calls to Justice from Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. We appreciate how many of you have been sharing those messages and looking at how to make changes in your lives and industry.

Take the time to appreciate the women in your life, a mother, daughter, wife, friend, colleague, and commit to ensuring they, and all women, have the ability to pursue their dreams.

The Office of the Treaty Commissioner is partnering with Awasis Boutique to support youth programming.

For every Human-Kind t-shirt sold by Awasis Boutique, $5 will be donated to the OTC’s Youth in Service program.

Youth in Service is a collective of youth from across the province with the goal of implementing Treaty through reconciliation efforts. They meet every two weeks to learn from each other and guest speakers and work towards a for a better future for all.

Awasis Boutique is the first Indigenous owned and inspired kids fashion design label in Western Canada. Owner and founder Christine Marie, says she believes a simple way to work on the calls to action for reconciliation is through partnerships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

The t-shirt design came to be that way, she said by joining forces with Kathleen Germs, a non-Indigenous teacher, and creating a design that together represents unity, reconciliation and kindness. She is thrilled to support Youth in Service.

“This program was designed to engage Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in reconciliation. Amazing program, right? Lines right up with our message behind the tee, so that is why we felt that OTC would be a good fit,” she said.

“Yes, we still have a way to go when it comes to dismantling racism and acting on the calls to reconciliation, but one step at a time is a step in the right direction.”

The t-shirt features three raised fists (with different skin tones) in solidarity and the words human-kind.

“It’s a great representation of unity. Despite the colour of our skin, we are all human beings, and we all deserve kindness. Respecting diversity and providing all humans with equal rights is what reconciliation is about, and I think this design speaks to that in a good way,” said Amy Seesequasis, the OTC’s director of public education.

“Christine is an Indigenous entrepreneur and I felt it was important to work with a business that values Treaties and reconciliation. Her designs are not only fashionable, but educational as the wording and designs spark conversation about Indigenous Treaty partners.”

Awasis Boutique began as Christine set out to provide a safe space for Indigenous peoples, right from infancy, to wear products that highlight their culture and language.

“Representation matters, so I set out to help fill this gap,” she said.

The business aims to foster healthy relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples through business collaborations and transactions, to educate non-Indigenous peoples about Indigenous culture and to give back.