I am awake, I am alive, and today I share of how yesterday, after posting of the stress many Indigenous feel when engaging with non-Indigenous, I came to an unsettling realization …

You may think us weak and that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Years of oppression, violence, misunderstandings and broken promises have made us leery; we are unsure if we can trust you or not but rest assured, we are anything but weak. And history proves that fact.

Google Residential Schools. Google 60’s Scoop. Google MMIWG. Google incarceration rates for Indigenous. Google suicides on reserves. Google mental health on reserves. Google health services on reserve. Google “Seven Fallen Feathers”.

Read the details then realize we have survived and continue to survive every single one of those traumas. We are not our history after all, we are the resilience that survived it.

So please, do not misinterpret my shaking voice, my sweating hands, or my anxiety at speaking at your meeting or before your group. I just understand how important my speech will be. I simply pray you will too.

The journey continues …
 

I love you!
HUGSSSSSSSSSS
Sandi

#ibelieveinyou #ibelieveinme #icreatespace #celebrateandsurvive #repairingfeathers