[Witness speaks in Cree]
In my culture, it's appropriate for the elder to speak the language before he addresses people of authority. I'm going to assume you're the people of authority here.
My name is Munjuice, my nickname is Ray Thunderchild. I come from the Thunderchild Cree Nation, in Saskatchewan. I've made my home here in Vancouver for 25 years. I always let my elders come speak before I do. These are my colleagues, both of them, Gertie and Sam George. We work for the Indian Residential Schools Survivor Society as cultural support workers/elders.
My big thing in the overall picture is to keep the elders alive, keep them talking, keep them talking to the young people. Suicide, yes, it's a big thing in not just the first nations culture. Sometimes we need elders to open up, to talk to the younger people. I wrote a proposal here maybe some 15, 20 years ago to start a culture camp, sometimes even once every three months, to educate the young people. I carry my drum with me at all times. This is how I grew up. This is the way I was raised. Knock on wood when I say this, and I'm very proud to say this, I'm a 60-year-old man today, and have never ever been in jail because of this. I'm very proud to say that. My grandfather trained me and my father trained me before they passed on. They're both gone now. I often wonder what I am going to say, but I take my drum with me. My drum helps me. My feather helps me. The story of that eagle feather, this is what we walk on. We walk from the bottom. We have these little furries because we're just learning here yet. We have this walk to walk on. The one side is kind of small. We notice that a lot of people don't recognize the acknowledgements that they have created for themselves. Too many fall to the other side, the wide side. It's too easy. That's why suicide happens, so we need to prevent that. We need to bring elders forward to teach the young people.
First of all, the language is very important. I grew up in residential school, but I somehow maintained my language. I went to a day school, but even at day school it was really rough for me. I'm partially deaf because of day school, I'm crippled because of day school, but I'm still alive. That's the main thing. I continue to teach, but my grandfather taught me about this, the drum, the eagle feather. As I said earlier on, the road it gets narrower as we walk. We begin to understand sometimes, as we get halfway maybe. Some elders say they never make it to the top. Even if they're old, they never make it because sometimes they choose the other side and it's too easy for them. We need to educate a lot of these elders.
When they were talking about education earlier on, I don't even have a grade 5, yet I have two degrees. Somehow I maintained the ability to continue to do what I do today: teaching young people, educating elders about some of the stuff that they didn't know. I need to, we need to, our society needs to also, find some places where they can teach the young people, because suicide is too easy a way out for a lot of these young people.
Today there was the funeral for a young man everybody looked up to. We never thought that he would be the one to do it, but he hanged himself.
He's come a long way in that culture, that borrowed culture. Like Sam was saying, “I come from that culture, we've brought it over here.” My drums and my style of singing are my culture, the powwow is my culture, and the sweat lodge is my culture, everything in that way.
I'm very fortunate to also say that I have taught a lot of young people to come to that circle with me. Every Tuesday night, we sing powwow at the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre from seven o'clock until 10 o'clock. We don't just teach them when they're that small. We have young, small babies even sitting with us. We're training them already.
After 25 years of being here, some day I would like to invite all of you to come and see the evidence at that friendship centre. It's keeping everybody alive in that way. We can keep the Residential School Survivor Society going that way, helping the elders to educate more young people. I think that survival from suicide would be a lot better.
I want to continue to work on that behalf. I am not of this culture here. I'm here as a visitor, but I'm Canadian. I'm Cree. I'm very proud of it, very proud of what I do and where I go.
I'm also a very well-established first nations actor. I've been in major movies, where a lot of young people watched me and how I walk. This is how I walk. I bring them with me, and even the elders I bring them with me. I teach them. I am one, but I'd like to say that I want to thank you, each and every one of you, for hearing what I have to say and just to help out society in the best way that I can. I am only one, I wish I was more.
[Witness speaks in an aboriginal language]
