I experienced racism in different settings: I was followed in stores, in cars. The way you experience racism depends on how you deal with it. My memories of Goodeve are good ones.

In Cree, an oskâpêwis is a servant or a helper, someone who hauls in rocks for sweats, or pipes or medicines. I equate that to leadership. You're a servant or helper of people.

We are a nation within a nation.

We focus on bringing back Indigenous languages, ceremonies, cultures, traditions - all that was lost over the past 150 years. This is how we'll generate hope - for all Canadian people.

If you want to change a mind, there's no better way than a dialogue over coffee.

Education will lead to understanding; understanding will lead to action. Education and understanding are going to be key to moving us forward. That's why I take every opportunity I can to try to educate Canadian people on the impact of intergenerational trauma. To tell them how, until 1951, indigenous people weren't allowed to leave the reserve without a permit. That it was illegal for a lawyer to give us advice. It was illegal for us to sell our wood, our cattle, without a permit. I want the next generation to understand we have endured, we have persevered and we are getting stronger.

I experienced racism in different settings: I was followed in stores, in cars. The way you experience racism depends on how you deal with it. My memories of Goodeve are good ones.