Personal
Stories
[top]
(real stories
from real youth, writers
are kept anonymous)
1. "My friend and I (he is
native), were walking around downtown when a group of
teenage boys came up to us and started yelling very
derogatory terms to the both of us. They asked what he
was doing with a "white girl". Everyone walked right on
by.
It was significant because my
friend now has a low self-esteem because of the racial
incidents he has been involved in. I'm angry that people
still believe one race is better than the other. You'd
think by now that people would know that there's more to
life than skin colour.
I should have told them to grow up,
to stop thinking they were better than us and that what
they were doing just wasn't cool. I wish I could have
said more to make them think twice about being
racist."
2. I have one personal experience
that really affected my family and my life. I grew up
with my stepdad and my mother. My mother is native. The
kinds of things I grew up hearing were Natives were lazy,
they stole and they were dumb. I was the only Native kid
on the bus and the older kids that were white used to
throw things at me and say things that really bothered
me. I became hateful towards all whites.
My mother eventually got pregnant
and they had my little brother. I loved him a lot, I saw
him as an Indian. I would fight and act out my anger
towards people who were white. I grew up a bit and
started to learn what being Indian meant. But I was still
racist and stuff.
A couple of years ago I went back
home for a visit. I was coming back from a round dance.
It was really early in the morning and I happened to wake
up my little brother. I gave him a hug and told him how
much I missed him. He looked at me and said "Brother do
you still hate white people?" I looked at him and said
"Yes". He looked real sad and told me that I must hate
him too because he is part white.
That statement really hurt me
because I love him. I learned from a child who is only
nine at the time. I also learned from my culture that a
true human being will accept people not because of their
skin colour of but for who they are inside there hearts.
An elder once told me everything that bleeds red is my
relation. I am not racist anymore, thanks to the help of
my little brother.
3. In 1990 there were a series of
events which have been labeled the Mohawk Crisis in which
blockades were raised on two mohawk reserves, and a stand
off occurred between my people and the Canadian army, the
RCMP, and the Sureté du Quebec. This situation
lasted 78 days, in which many racist events took
place.
One such event which raises still
to this day feelings of rage and helplessness is the time
when Mohawk families tried to leave the reserve in a
peaceful way and were attacked by non-native bigots. As
the caravan of people left the reserve they were stoned
with pieces of concrete and rocks. Many people were hurt
in this incident and the Provincial Police who were there
at the scene did nothing but watch as my people were
attacked in this manner.
You cannot imagine the pain these
images because everytime you see them on TV it's so real
that you think it only happened yesterday. For my people
this pain will last for generations to come.
4. In order for Native youth to get
a higher education than elementary in Northwestern
Ontario, they must leave their communities nine months of
the year to regional cities like Thunder Bay, Sault Ste.
Marie and others. Some of theses students have never left
their reserves or experienced the predominant white
culture. Many are affected by racism.
My experience in particular saw me
entering a high school where the vice principal was ill
informed over Native people. He figured that native
people had trouble speaking English and that they belong
at the basic or general levels. Also, certain members of
the student body made it uncomfortable for me to
participate in class discussions. "Don't you hate it when
sometimes you are the only Native person in the class
when native issues are discussed?" There are those who
outright would say that Native people are always getting
a free ride in "getting things for free" If they only
knew that Native people have paid their dues by allowing
Europeans to exploit this country through it's natural
resources, i.e. forestry, mineral rights etc.
Also the history of systemic
oppression brought on by this country's government over
the years trying to assimilate Native people into the
main stream by the establishment of Residential Schools
and prohibiting Native people to practice the Native
culture. There are reasons why Natives have these
benefits . Through positive education about Canada's
first peoples into various school curriculums, people may
become more informed about Native issues."
