Author: Cheryl Bear

Cheryl is a speaker, teacher and singer-songwriter from Nadleh Whut’en First Nation. She is also an Associate Professor at Regent College and an Indigenous Relations Specialist with the Canadian Baptist Ministries. A different version of this piece appeared in Faith Today.
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    ‘It’s Always About the Land’

    Someone at church once asked me, “Just what do you people want anyway?” Well, first, maybe don’t call us “you people.” We Indigenous people actually expect a lot from Canada, because a lot was taken from us, and a burden was placed on us that we have carried for centuries. We expect Canada will negotiate government to government, ours to theirs. We expect healing of our identity that has been so shattered, mostly by the residential schools and the Sixties Scoop. We also expect an end to the persistent cycles of racism in Canadian society.