I want to jump on the impact of residential school that I talked about, because I am a product of residential school. I was in there for ten years, from the time I was seven years old till I got married. I remember the nun telling me, “Don't forget, you're getting married for one reason and one reason only, and that's to procreate. You do exactly what your husband wants you to do.” When I got married, that was all I knew.
That's why I said we've lost our culture completely, through the residential school era. That's why I always argue for an on-the-land program. Now, when I go on the land, that's where my spirituality is, that's where everything is for me. It's not when I go into counselling or I go to meetings or anywhere; it's on the land. I think that's where we have to go back to, after the residential school trauma that we've experienced.
I know that a lot of my friends went through the same thing. They were forced to get married right from the residential schools. They didn't even know they were getting married until the nuns told them the night before they were getting married the next morning at six o'clock.
These are the things I lived through. So if you want a witness, I am the witness for that. That's how I want to respond on that.