Yes. One of my favourite persons is former senator Murray Sinclair, who is now in the spirit world. He said, “Education has gotten us into this mess, and education will get us out.”
I firmly believe there is racism and discrimination because people don't understand our culture and don't understand who we are. From the time I first joined in 1975, I experienced racism and discrimination until the point when I reached the rank of sergeant, when I said “no more”. I took it upon myself, as my mission, to start educating the Canadian Armed Forces about our culture—what our smudges are, what our spirituality is, who we are as an indigenous people why residential schools have a strong impact in our communities, and intergenerational trauma. The people you're recruiting are individuals who are suffering 98% of the intergenerational trauma from their parents being in residential schools. That racism and discrimination comes with them.
We have to educate. That's something very important that TRC brought forth. The blanket exercise tells about the history of indigenous people. That's the truth part. The reconciliation is what we do from this day forward. Each one of us reconciles in a different way. In terms of helping to educate, that door goes both ways. It's not us sitting here saying that you need to learn about our culture. It's also us saying that we are here to help educate, to share our culture with you, and to share, as best we can, our ceremonies, which are different across the county.
I think that's the way to move forward. We're not there yet. I'm happy to say that we're moving, but we're not there yet. We have a long way to go.
Meegwetch.