I Am Not An Aboriginal Woman
I am not an aboriginal woman.
I am not an aboriginal woman who is the mother of one of the 50,000 children who were taken from their homes and died or were killed in Indian Residential Schools run by the Catholic, Anglican, and United Church of Canada.
I am not an aboriginal woman who aches because those churches have never taken responsibility or been brought to justice.
I am not an aboriginal woman who yearns for my relative's remains to be returned to me for a proper burial.
I am not an aboriginal woman who was a survivor of those residential schools. Who experienced physical and sexual abuse from the priests, nuns and principals who ran those schools.
I am not an aboriginal woman who faces racist and oppressive stereotypes.
I am not an aboriginal woman who must fight for land that was stolen from my ancestors.
I am not an aboriginal woman who is the mother of an astounding 60% of aboriginal children living in poverty.
I am not an aboriginal woman who, according to statistics, is five times more likely than other women to die as a result of violence.
I am not an aboriginal woman who, because of gaps in legislation with the Indian Act, must loose my matrimonial home if I divorce my abusive husband.
I am not an aboriginal woman who, because of woeful lack of funding in indigenous communities, has a profound lack of programs to prevent family violence.
I am not an aboriginal woman whose sisters face a suicide rate that is three times the national average for women.
I am not an aboriginal woman who is among the 20% of aboriginal people living in Canada with inadequate water and sewer systems. In Canada.
I am not one of the hundreds of missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada whose family will never know peace.
But I am a woman who is embarrassed by the inequitable treatment that indigenous women experience in Canada.
I am a woman who is ashamed that Canadian governments and churches have not adequately said sorry. Really took responsibility and really said sorry. And not just with a cheque.
I am a woman who is angry that her country was one of the few to NOT sign the UN Native Rights Declaration.
I am a woman who recently had a chance to meet one of the leaders and advocates in the Aboriginal community who said to me words I'll never forget: "Canada is one of the best countries in the world to live in. As long as you are not an aboriginal woman. And I can't stop being aboriginal. And I can't stop being a woman. So instead I'll raise my voice to try and make a difference."
I am a woman who wants to raise her voice too.
I am a woman who wants to sign petitions and send messages to my MP.
I am a woman who wants to learn the facts and encourage others to do the same.
I am a woman who, on the eve of International Women's Day, wishes she could do more.
