MY MOCCASIN TRAIL

The journey to truth and reconciliation starts here. The idea is to put oneself in someone else’s shoes. So, let’s get walking. As a settler, my moccasin trail starts on a dairy and sheep farm in a mostly Ukrainian village lying in the heart of the mixed and marginal lands of southeastern Manitoba. Before my ancestors came to the muddy slow waters of the Rat River – this region was home to the Cree, Ojibway, Oji-Cree, Dene and Dakota. In constant motion, my trail stetches from the coastal waters of the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh communities on the North Shores of the Burrard Inlet all the way east to the community of Naotkamegwanning First Nation on the traditional lands of the Ojibway people in treaty three territory. This trail is 50 years in the making.

Along the way, I have been a witness to the trials and triumphs of the moccasin telegraph, the way that things travel in Native country – the Indigenous way to visit with an exchange of gifts, stories and information. The trail has been buttressed by the wonder of nature; canopies of tall red pines, pops of colour in open fields, mountain peaks, winding rivers, blue lakes, Prairie lands, and the wonder of the whippoorwill shoe. There have been sit-ins, feasts, ceremonies, and pow-wows! What makes my trail my own, is the ways in which I have come to learn hard truths. I dare to challenge perceptions and not give in to myths. And, I have had the good fortune to hold onto timeworn, deeply rooted, dear friends.

Stories are central to what I have learned. They have been told in many ways. I have listened to CBC Radio and followed JOE from WINNIPEG. I have sat in theatres, waiting for the lights to go down in the house and in turn illuminate the stage, to see: Bereav’d of Light, An Illustrated History of the Anishinabe, The Gap, Baloney! and fareWel by Ian Ross; The Rez Sisters and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing by Tomson Highway; Toronto at Dreamer’s Rock by Drew Hayden Taylor; The Moving Gallery by Columpa C. Bobb; and Russell’s World by Herbie Barnes. I have read books, short stories, essays and poems. I have sat under swaying palm trees along the water’s edge of the Caribbean Sea, holidaymaking with Mary Anne, Ken and Laura – my lifelong partner and good friends respectively. I have listened to singer-songwriters. Today, if I had to choose just one song to listen to, it would be: I Need Angels by Midnight Shine.

So you see, my moccasin trail is chock-a-block with the ideas and experiences of Indigenous truth seekers and light keepers. The stakes are high. Truth and reconciliation is a conversation about our times. The time is now, to talk and to listen. And, so let’s move to the next fork in the road. Together, with our moccasins on.