Indigenous languages are Canada's national treasures. They are our identity. We simply have to put greater effort into rejuvenating and revitalizing them. It is key to moving forward.

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

Living on reserve we hunted; we fished; we trapped. We lived off the land. If we didn't hunt, we didn't eat. In summer, we hauled water from the slough. In winter, we hauled in snow to heat for water.

Some will say: "Why should we celebrate the birth of colonialism, of oppression, of cultural genocide through Canada 150?" It's 2017. In spite of the genocide we faced via the residential school system, and all we have endured from colonialism and control, from 1876 to this day, we're still here. We need to show the country and the world that we are still here.

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.

Now is the time to take stock of a painful part of our history. Only then can we move past it. Anything less would render generations of courageous struggle and soul-searching a truly lost cause. A lot of Canadians don't seem to want to hear it. All I can say to them is: try to listen. Open your heart, your mind. The Indian Act and residential schools did a number on us, breaking down Indigenous people, then families, communities, nations. We can learn so much from each other. There is so much to be hopeful for.