# INT D 307 Interview on the Indigenous  Sector

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSpueDGphos

[00:00] So my name is Cheryl Whiskey Jack and I work for an organization called the Bent Arrow traditional healing Society.
[00:05] Um I came here right out of school.
[00:09] Um I got a diploma in child and youthcare in 1995.
[00:15] Um Bento was in its not even in its first year of service to Urban indigenous people.
[00:23] We are a nonprofit charitable organization that serves primarily um Urban indigenous people here in the city of Edmonton.
[00:30] Um and uh we are I guess in the Human Services sector is what I would be the best description of it.
[00:36] Um we work with vulnerable um Edmontonians.
[00:40] Um in the areas of employment, housing, um uh newcomer services.
[00:47] So people who are moving from their nation into the city can be a very difficult transition to make.
[00:55] Um our roots are an indigenous youth the very first program.
[01:01] that that Bano started with was with indigenous youth and um one of the things we very quickly learned from those youth that we were serving who were at risk um was that they had people around them at home that were also at risk um.
[01:18] we heard from these young uh people 16 plus um that they were worried about their younger siblings sort of engaging in Risky behaviors maybe smoking pot for the first time or skipping school those kinds of things um.
[01:30] we learned that dad had a hard time getting a job or keeping a job so employment um security was really top of mind for them um because it means that keeping a home could could be potentially impacted if you don't have an income so housing security was definitely top of Mind food security those kinds of things uh.
[01:52] we very quickly learned also uh from serving these young people that when they left us at the end of the day that they were being served by people out in the community in in in
[02:02] Other ways and um if we couldn't look at the youth as if they were islands.
[02:07] We definitely couldn't look at ourselves Bento as if we were an island.
[02:10] And so we saw great value in partnering with the people in the community that were also serving our families and our youth at the time.
[02:21] And so we have very well-established partnerships with the city of Edmonton, uh, Edmonton Police Service, um, the government of Alberta and Children's Services in particular.
[02:33] Um, yeah, those types of organizations and more recently in about the last, um, almost 10 years we have been a part of a collaborative here in the city called the C5, which is five prominent nonprofit charitable organizations.
[02:49] Um, which are very diverse in who they serve.
[02:51] Benero is one of them, Boyle Street Community Services is another, um, PAR Centre for parents, Norwood Child and Family Resource Center.
[03:03] and they used to be called the Edmonton Mennonite Center for newcomers.
[03:05] but they've recently rebranded and now they are called the newcomer Center.
[03:11] so to collectively we serve 30,000 Edmontonians a year um and we really see Great Value in collaborating because many of the issues our communities are experiencing are really bigger issues that we can go to government and advocate for things to be uh different.
[03:29] because it's not just an indigenous issue or a newcomer issue or a teen parent issue for example it's like a problem with the housing regulation or something um.
[03:38] so um this is something that um that we do here and we've been doing it for 30 years.
[03:47] what is the purpose of organizations in this sector um.
[03:52] so the purpose of the organizations is to serve um vulnerable Edmontonians Albert who are struggling in a variety of areas of their life um it could be mental.
[04:06] health could be addictions could be historical trauma uh could be Family Violence like it could be child rearing
[04:15] all of those things um and so really it's about helping people who are struggling in one or more areas of their life and helping them sort of learn what it's going to take to sort of live in better balance um and and with a real Focus On Wellness um
[04:30] we do everything here at Bento with um an indigenous lens
[04:34] so we have those programs that everybody's heard of uh Housing Programs employment programs but but rolled into the programming is a real indigenous worldview uh practice principles and um ceremony all of those things um
[04:53] because really we want people to help we want to help people feel uh successful and the way we see ourselves doing that is help them helping them have a foot planted in Two Worlds um an indous world of
[05:08] Ceremony and um culture and values and then this world that we all share here together and um so that's why we exist.
[05:19] In 2014 um Canada went through a Truth and Reconciliation process um where there were these big gatherings held all across the land.
[05:31] Edmonton also had its gathering in 2014 and it was a truthtellah aware of 60 scoop things like that and uh the the TRC Gatherings were an opportunity for indigenous people to share that experience with everybody.
[06:09] else one of the things that came out of that time is that our colleagues in the sector really started looking at their own work from a very different lens.
[06:19] um indigenous people people unfortunately are very over represented in in sort of typically deficit-based um uh systems like Corrections like child welfare and were're under represented in very like strength based systems like post-secondary education and things like that.
[06:39] and so um there is a reason why those statistics look the way they do and we are very focused in our work on helping sort of make changes in those systems so that um indigenous people are like you know shoulder-to-shoulder with other um other Canadians.
[06:58] how does your organization and others in the not for-profit and Indigenous facing sectors interact with other sectors um well that has become
[07:11] something that has really evolved in my time with Bento like I I think I've mentioned that I've been with the organization for almost 30 years now my entire career since I left um Grant mccuan has been with Bento um so I I already spoke about the TRC and the impacts that had on our work um it used to in my early years being with vento it was always about explaining why we did things the way we did things and trying to justify it to funders why it was important for us to do things the way we did them um then the TRC came and then there became this awareness of oh okay that's what you've been talking about right and and an understanding of like okay I get it now this is why things need to happen this way and and that happened to even my colleagues in the sector not just government funders for example so during the pandemic um there were 2115 Graves that were found in col in cam loops um that got national news.
[08:13] Attention, um, for it was in the news cycle for quite a while.
[08:15] And there was this real awareness from like regular Canadians of like horror of like, you know, um, how could this happen in this country, you know, that I'm so proud to be a part of?
[08:29] And there was like a sort of a reckoning, um, and another opportunity for other people outside of our sector to have an understanding of like what happened to indigenous people and why, you know, we're needing to sort of recover from that time in our history.
[08:46] And so one of the benefits from that is to be able to have people lean in and want to learn more.
[08:51] So we've been really taking, taking, um, advantage of people's interest and curiosity.
[08:57] Um, we have always been a Callin organization, so we are very interested in talking about things that are very difficult to talk about, but without having people feeling like I can't be here, I feel angry, I feel.
[09:14] Embarrassed, I feel guilty, I feel all those things and therefore I don't want to be a part of this conversation.
[09:20] So we have these very difficult conversations with people and we want them to still be there at the end of it.
[09:28] Um, I want you to own it without owning it, if that makes any sense.
[09:33] So I want you to recognize that there were things that happened in our history here in Canada to indigenous people, but I don't want you to wear it.
[09:41] Um, like a cloak that you have to carry around.
[09:43] It, it really is a call to action for people outside of our sector to say, how do I become a part of a better sort of way of doing things?
[09:52] Um, and there's so many ways that people can do that.
[09:57] Um, volunteer is one of them, like talking to elected officials about what's important.
[10:05] All of these are opportunities to sort of like do different, do better.
[10:08] Um, uh, we're a United Way funded organization and one of the, one of the sort of like things that
[10:16] they're asking us to do is to go out and talk about our work because they're going to these really big corporations out there um to to ask them to give to the United Way and then the United Way goes out and you know does really great things with with the funds that they get and uh so they have this thing called a community impact speaker program and I'm a part of that program and so I will go out to like an engineering firm and I will talk about the work that Bento does and I really try and tailor my impact speaking to the organization that I'm going to visit so I went and visited an engineering firm downtown um last year in the spring and it was around the time when Transit safety was like a real big Focus that people are navigating through these lrts and there's people who are really struggling in those spaces and like feeling like what what is the city doing to make this better for me and and me trying to bring awareness to people about like here's how you can help you.
[11:16] know it can't feel good having to navigate your way through that but here's how you can help as a as a regular citizen who's navigating these Transit spaces just to get to work right.
[11:27] um and I always get people after my impact speaking because I'm only supposed to be there for like 15 minutes.
[11:34] they follow me to the elevator and they want to talk more about you know I always wanted to do this but I didn't know if I I should right um or how even to get help for people that I see struggling in those spaces so I that's what I mean when I talk about it being a call-in organization as opposed to a call out organization.
[11:51] so calling out is like it doesn't feel good to be called out.
[11:56] it feels like uh you want to deny you want to you know detract you want to do all those things um that doesn't get us anywhere so calling in helps people talk about things that are difficult to talk about but have them remain at the table to be a part of you know a path forward as opposed to not my
[12:18] problem what is it like to live and work
[12:21] and spend a career in this sector
[12:24] um for me it's been wonderful um
[12:29] I I
[12:31] found great alignment in the mission and uh practice model that Bento had when I came right out of school
[12:41] um when I was in school of course I had practicum experiences when I was there and I really found um a difference in the way the organizations that I did my practicum practicum experiences with um
[12:56] and I realized that my like indigenous really is a part of who I am and how I practice and um it wasn't necessarily in 1995 welcome in these spaces you know um
[13:13] I I I work with people in a very sort of intimate way at the very lowest part of
[13:20] their lives sometimes right and so that's a really sort of intimate um place to be um and I I would would speak you know at my evaluations about how I how I loved these children that I was working with in my practicums and my my professors were like we don't say love you know that that somehow is a boundary that we shouldn't ever cross and there's like these professional ethics and boundaries and I never ever felt like I was crossing those and when I came to Bento I literally met my mentor um here who was one of the founders of this organization who gave me permission to do what felt natural in my practice which was to really care for the people that I was serving in in my work and I absolutely had boundaries with them but I I was able to sort of show that care and concern and that love um that I felt for them and I think the real um the
[14:21] real mustard test for people who are um in this sector is to um we're in this as a career we're paid to care um and the real muster for me is when you're no longer sort of serving that person do you still care right when you're no longer paid to care do you still care and I absolutely do and so um I think that has given me the ability to really make a professional home for myself in this organization um because it aligns so much with how I want to inter interact in this sector but also interact in my world I don't turn into a different Cheryl at 4:30 every day I'm still the same Cheryl when I go home so I don't have to like take off this hat and put on my my next hat um I get to be congruent with myself like every second of the day um the work that I do is very hard sometimes it can be very
[15:22] challenging the issues that we're coming up against are very challenging.
[15:27] but but again in deploying and and employing those those values that are very indigenous that are very Central to indigenous worldview um really I think has given me staying power in the work.
[15:38] um because I go home every night and I create a place of sanctuary for myself there that I honor and protect so that it fills my cups so the next day I can come back and do it all over again.
[15:52] sleep really good every night I put my head on the pillow and I'm out.
[15:59] um because today is done and tomorrow will take care of itself um so I don't lay there and think oh I got to do this and I got to do that.
[16:07] I I come into work and I go okay what do we can what can we do today right to make a difference and so that I think is really helped me and and that's what I try and sort of model and Mentor um here in the
[16:23] organization um so that people could stick around and we do have a quite a few people here who have been not not here as long as I've been here but here for like 20 years plus.
[16:33] we have a number of people here that have been here that long um and I think it's because of the way that we we ask people to practice.
[16:44] what are the incentives to help explain why people do what they do here.
[16:50] well I hear about that a lot um I I think one of the big competing parts of our sector in in this nonprofit sector Human Services sector is the government.
[17:03] the government pays way better than we do um and um but it is a very corporate structure um it can be um spiritless.
[17:17] I think there's definitely pockets of spirit in the government I'm not trying to like call down the government there's
[17:23] lots of people who've been spent their entire career in the government um and there's certain parts of that that way of working that worked for a lot of people.
[17:33] but one of the things I hear from our folks is we have uh we have a group of people here we call the boomerangers.
[17:38] so they start here and then they go oh I got some experience I'm going to go work for the government now because they have really good benefits and blah blah blah they pay better blah blah blah and then they come back um because here is where you know they sort of cup gets filled.
[17:54] here is where they feel like they can make a difference in in the lives of of folks that they're serving here in the nonprofit sector is where we have the ability to really um pivot and and um do uh things that just can't happen in the government without 14 approvals above you which really doesn't allow you to act in the moment um when when you can have the most impact and so I think
[18:24] that's something that the nonprofit sector brings to the table is we have the ability to sort of do what needs to be done um when it needs to be done and um.
[18:33] sometimes when I do partnership work with the government or with the city of Edmonton or any big structure um that's one of the things I learn is how hard it is to get approval for like sometimes the simplest thing you need you know five levels above above you uh to to to do one thing um.
[18:53] and one of the one of the projects that we're doing we had a media um inquiry and it was a work we were doing with a with a a big corporate structure and uh we didn't want to say to this media inquiry yeah come on down well we'd love to share what we're doing here we had to get permission from our partner as well and it took a month for this uh media person to do a ride along with us and um I am amazed they didn't move on to greener pastures.
[19:24] uh but they hung in there right um but.
[19:26] that's just an example of how uh it's not that easy to sort of get things done in a timely way and I think that's something that that we're really known for in this sector.
[19:34] the other thing that we're really known for especially in Edmonton is we're very collaborative in Edmonton um we we we share the the work together um.
[19:45] you know when I I talk about I talked about the TRC earlier you know Edmonton really grabbed that that concept you know from day one and I am forever in conversations with people about how can we work together to make a difference in the lives of people.
[20:04] there's a real recognition that we are all um you know working under like very deeply rooted Colonial structures um and and also very deficit-based right so when you look at Children's Services or um things like that uh Corrections um they're they're deficit based and so.
[20:26] when you look at the world with my
[20:28] indigenous eyes you see uh promise and
[20:32] you see a way forward you see the these
[20:34] values that I talk about that I show up
[20:36] with every day um you see a way forward
[20:40] and you're you have the ability to sort
[20:41] of um make that happen in in a in a
[20:44] sector like ours and with colleagues who
[20:46] are starting to see this work very
[20:48] similarly as
[20:51] well what education is required or
[20:54] beneficial to get a job and do well in
[20:56] this
[20:57] sector so so um my I'll speak to my
[21:00] education I um went to Grant
[21:04] McAn um and I got myself a uh child and
[21:08] Youth Care uh
[21:10] diploma um the child and Youth Care um
[21:13] program at Grant mchan is uh to me it's
[21:16] a very specific branch of social work so
[21:20] social work is a very broad umbrella um
[21:24] and many of the people we employ here um
[21:27] have social work diplomas degrees
[21:30] Masters even um and so education is
[21:35] absolutely important um our folks that
[21:39] we are employing here are um typically
[21:43] from the Human Services sector so uh the
[21:46] Human Services Sciences or whatever you
[21:49] would call those in in in postsecondary
[21:52] institutions um social work um
[21:57] psychology um
[21:59] Corrections um mental
[22:01] health um yeah so those are typically
[22:05] sort of the areas we see people coming
[22:07] from um to to work in our in our
[22:10] organization um but we also have people
[22:12] who are you know have very sort of
[22:15] General um studies um and and definitely
[22:20] the other thing that I will say comes
[22:22] into play is um lived experience um for
[22:27] a lot of the program that we have here
[22:30] um and just the law of averages you know
[22:33] if if we look at the statistics that I
[22:36] mentioned earlier there is a really
[22:38] great likelihood that you're going to be
[22:40] running up against candidates who've had
[22:42] involvement in some of these sort of
[22:44] deficit based sectors that I talked
[22:46] about um because there is such an over
[22:48] representation of people in those areas
[22:52] um so lived experience definitely comes
[22:54] into play as well
[22:58] what are the soft skills that matter for
[23:00] work in your organization in particular
[23:03] and for the sector more
[23:06] generally well that's a really
[23:08] interesting question and uh you know as
[23:11] we spoke before uh we started doing this
[23:15] interview one of the things that I
[23:16] shared is that our our social work
[23:19] sector our Human Services sector is
[23:21] literally a sector of soft skills and so
[23:25] um I talked about flipping this question
[23:28] over flipping it around um because we
[23:31] are a sector already that is known for
[23:35] its soft skills um and it's the sort of
[23:38] more hard skills that uh that we really
[23:42] um encourage people to learn about to
[23:45] gain experience in and take into
[23:47] consideration as we're looking at um
[23:50] having people come in to uh work in our
[23:52] organization um when I went to school um
[23:56] I learned about how to help people I
[23:58] learned about how to counsel people I
[24:00] learned about you know sort of
[24:02] therapeutic relationships and I learned
[24:04] about all the issues that I could be
[24:06] facing you know in the in the people
[24:09] that I'd be serving um all of those
[24:12] things which are really can be really
[24:15] soft skills um what I didn't learn about
[24:19] in school was how to manage a
[24:21] budget uh what I didn't learn about in
[24:24] school was how to write a proposal right
[24:26] to gain to get funding to to do these
[24:29] programs that we have and if you're in
[24:31] our sector for any period of time
[24:34] especially if you are committed to being
[24:36] in this sector you will have to manage a
[24:39] budget you will have to manage finances
[24:41] and that is like a hard skill that uh no
[24:44] one ever taught me when I went to school
[24:46] I had to learn that on the job and as I
[24:49] went um and I and I do spend time with
[24:52] post-secondary institutions talking
[24:55] about our sector and you know how to
[24:58] best prepare people who are looking at
[24:59] getting into it and that's one of the
[25:01] things that I I share with them is like
[25:03] teach your teach your students how
[25:06] budgets work how finances work how like
[25:09] how the tax system works when you're a
[25:11] nonprofit charitable organization right
[25:13] what can you do what can't you do all of
[25:15] those things and so um yeah and the
[25:19] other thing um that uh I wanted to share
[25:22] and there and this does have to go to
[25:24] soft skills is because we are um working
[25:28] with vulnerable people sometimes our
[25:30] vulnerable people are literally people
[25:33] that we employ um and so um you know
[25:38] trying to um performance manage an
[25:42] employee who maybe is struggling in this
[25:44] area or that um can be a really sort of
[25:48] uh dicey experience when you're in the
[25:51] Human Services sector um and it can be
[25:54] really different in other sectors like
[25:55] maybe in in engineering or in medicine
[25:58] or you know other other areas um we're
[26:01] like a fely kind of sector and so when
[26:05] we're dealing with our staff that can
[26:07] that can definitely be it's definitely
[26:09] an art you want to sort of keep working
[26:11] on and a muscle you want to sort of
[26:13] develop over years um because it's still
[26:16] 30 years in requires a lot of tact and
[26:19] um you know um ability to sort of get to
[26:23] a solution so that everybody uh comes
[26:27] out
[26:28] okay and the people that we serve are
[26:31] going to be served in the best way
[26:35] possible what is a typical career path
[26:38] in this
[26:40] sector I don't think there is a typical
[26:42] career path I I would say my career path
[26:46] isn't typical and that's why I don't
[26:48] think anybody's is um I did talk a bit
[26:51] about when I reflected on this question
[26:54] I did talk a bit
[26:56] about um
[27:00] the impacts of you know Gen X Gen Y Gen
[27:03] Z Millennials like I I did talk about
[27:06] the impacts of the generational view of
[27:09] this work and um you know and there's
[27:13] people here who um you know they're 10
[27:17] years into their career and they've been
[27:19] in six places um so they move move move
[27:23] um another career path people take is
[27:27] coming to work in a nonprofit gain some
[27:29] experience and then go work for a
[27:31] government
[27:32] organization um because the pay is
[27:34] better and all of those things right um
[27:38] Union all of that kind of stuff and so
[27:41] um and some people go there and stay
[27:43] there and then some people go there and
[27:44] go oh I I miss feeling like I have an
[27:48] impact on people and so then they come
[27:49] back to the nonprofit sector so there is
[27:52] no real sort of typical career path um I
[27:55] I spoke earlier about the reason I've
[27:58] lasted here is because the mission is
[28:00] still the mission it's very aligned with
[28:03] what I want to do and the impact I want
[28:05] to have in this sector and that's how
[28:07] it's helped me sort of last as long as I
[28:09] have um with Bento I still feel very
[28:12] jazzed I feel still like I'm 23 and I'm
[28:16] so excited to go to work every day um
[28:19] because I really am aligned with what we
[28:22] are trying to
[28:26] do when people leave this sector where
[28:30] might they go and what do they do
[28:33] there um
[28:36] well we have had people go from here to
[28:41] like oil and
[28:43] gas um our sector can be really
[28:46] challenging um I've spoken earlier about
[28:49] how you know if you sort of live the
[28:52] practice that we're we're trying to
[28:55] support people with if you live within
[28:58] that practice um your chances of having
[29:02] longevity in this field are
[29:04] exponentially bigger um if you don't um
[29:10] it can be a real tough slog for folks um
[29:14] you know feeling like you're not making
[29:16] a difference feeling like you know the
[29:18] system is against you feeling like
[29:20] nothing's ever going to change you know
[29:23] is what people makes people turn
[29:24] outwards and go well maybe if I just go
[29:26] work in oil and gas you know make good
[29:28] money um and I won't have to deal with
[29:31] all of this heartbreak and
[29:35] struggle that's we've seen people
[29:37] definitely do that um but I think you
[29:42] know if you focus on your own you know
[29:45] we're called a healing Society bent
[29:47] traditional healing Society if and that
[29:49] means that we're focused on like
[29:52] wellness for people and if you focus on
[29:54] your own Wellness um it's that old adage
[29:58] when you're in an airplane you put your
[29:59] mask on first and then you you're able
[30:01] to help people it's that same notion
[30:04] here if you are focused on um your own
[30:07] Wellness you'll be way better able to
[30:10] serve people that we're serving here
[30:12] every day and so if you're not doing
[30:14] that I think that's what leads to people
[30:16] looking to other sectors to
[30:19] um you know pay the bills feel like
[30:23] they're doing something not feeling like
[30:25] they're heartbroken and you know um
[30:27] burnt out um after after a day's
[30:33] work what book video or podcast would
[30:36] you recommend a student examine in order
[30:38] to prepare for their life and career I
[30:42] love this question um and I and I talk
[30:44] about it a lot when I'm out there
[30:47] sharing our work there is a book I have
[30:50] I I remember reading it and I just it
[30:53] took me I can read fast it but it took
[30:56] me a few weeks to read and the reason
[30:58] why is because every chapter was like a
[31:01] real meaningful teaching for me and I
[31:04] had to like put it down after chapter
[31:05] one and just sort of reflect on it for a
[31:08] week and then I picked it up and read
[31:10] chapter 2 and did the same thing until I
[31:13] reached the end of the book and so it
[31:14] took me a while um the book is called
[31:17] neither wolf nor dog it is by um a man
[31:22] named Kent
[31:24] nerburn and um it is um you know know
[31:28] the the Cole's notes of the book is that
[31:30] he is a
[31:32] non-indigenous um like a ghost writer I
[31:35] guess um and he is
[31:38] writing um based on the teachings of an
[31:42] indigenous Elder so he's spending all
[31:44] this time with this indigenous Elder who
[31:46] has all this knowledge to impart the
[31:48] granddaughter of the Elder basically
[31:51] sought him out and said you need to
[31:52] write this book for my grandpa because
[31:54] he's not going to write it um you know
[31:57] he's 80s something
[31:58] um he's not going to write it but he can
[32:00] tell you what he's learned and then you
[32:02] could put it down on paper because
[32:03] people need to hear these teachings and
[32:05] so that's what he did and every chapter
[32:09] really helped me understand why I am the
[32:12] way I am um I I I never questioned it
[32:16] but I understood it better after I read
[32:18] it and um so just as an example um on
[32:23] one of the chapters they they the the
[32:25] Elder took the this man out on the land
[32:29] and he didn't tell him why um he got out
[32:32] of the car with the Elder and the Elder
[32:34] just sort of leaned on the hood and he
[32:36] leaned on the hood and they sat there
[32:38] for like what felt like an eternity and
[32:41] all this man wanted to all he was
[32:43] thinking was why are we here what are we
[32:46] doing here what's going to happen here
[32:48] what is he going to tell me here why are
[32:51] we here and he's his brain was on Loop
[32:54] with this with these questions and the
[32:57] old man basically said you're dying to
[33:01] know why we're here aren't you and he
[33:03] said yes but I felt like I shouldn't ask
[33:07] and he started talking about how you
[33:10] know um and I'm not trying to say this
[33:12] in a derogatory way but he the old man
[33:15] was talking about you white folks always
[33:17] have to be
[33:18] talking always have to be talking you
[33:21] can never just be quiet and there's so
[33:23] much to be learned in the silence if you
[33:26] just let it be right and um what I took
[33:30] from that chapter was you know I sit in
[33:33] these rooms with all kinds of people
[33:36] government elected officials like all
[33:38] kinds of people my colleagues uh my
[33:41] staff you know here at
[33:43] Bento and it's like busy busy busy and I
[33:46] will sit and wait until it's quiet and
[33:49] I'll even put up my hand like I I'm
[33:51] trying to let someone know I have
[33:53] something to say but I will never talk
[33:55] over you and won't talk over you because
[33:59] it's just something that's intrinsically
[34:01] in me that I've learned not to ever do
[34:04] right and if I'm not acknowledged I go
[34:07] well I guess they're they weren't
[34:09] supposed to hear that from me today and
[34:11] I don't feel like oh I missed out I just
[34:14] think oh I guess I wasn't meant to hear
[34:16] that today um and every chapter had a
[34:19] teaching like that that helped me
[34:21] understand like who I am and what I'm
[34:23] about and I think for any reader of and
[34:26] I went and bought like 10 cop copies of
[34:28] the book and I dropped them all over
[34:30] everyone's desk here at bent and I said
[34:31] read it or don't if you're not going to
[34:34] read it give it to someone who likes to
[34:35] read and I really just wanted everyone
[34:37] to have that experience here so that is
[34:39] one book the other one that I refer to
[34:43] people and it's not a book it's a movie
[34:45] um it is a movie called lion and it's a
[34:48] true story it's with Nicole Kidman and I
[34:52] can never remember the guy's name but
[34:54] he's an Indian actor uh from India um
[34:58] and um it is a true story and it's a
[35:00] true story about this this actor when he
[35:04] was a young boy he was five he played on
[35:07] a train in India and the train started
[35:10] to move and it moved like 1,500 miles
[35:14] down the track in India before he was
[35:16] able to get off and when he got off he
[35:18] ended up in a part of India that didn't
[35:20] speak his language and so he couldn't
[35:22] communicate like I got on this train
[35:25] here my mom is this person I from this
[35:29] town nobody understood him so he ended
[35:31] up in a on the streets at first and then
[35:33] he ended up in an orphanage and he ended
[35:35] up getting adopted by Nicole Kidman and
[35:38] she was this wonderful wonderful mother
[35:40] who loved him like the way a mother
[35:44] should tried to give him everything the
[35:46] way a mother would try to do for their
[35:48] child um
[35:51] and without ruining the whole movie um
[35:56] he really wants figure out where he came
[35:59] from as a university student he really
[36:02] wanted to figure out where he came from
[36:05] and he hid it from his mother and the
[36:06] reason he hid it from his mother was
[36:08] because he didn't want her to know that
[36:11] he didn't want her to think he didn't
[36:12] value her or love her or appreciate the
[36:15] life that she gave
[36:18] him and the reason why I recommend it to
[36:21] so many people is Canada thinks they
[36:24] understand what indigenous people needs
[36:26] what indigenous people
[36:29] need right so a lot of the work that we
[36:31] do here at Benta is with children's
[36:33] services and our social workers will
[36:38] without with without any
[36:42] shame imploy or um contract a cultural
[36:47] broker from Somalia if they're working
[36:49] with a Somalian family they'll call
[36:52] they'll a broker uh a a Somalian uh
[36:57] person who knows the culture to help
[36:59] help them understand how to work with
[37:01] this Somalian family because they will
[37:03] freely acknowledge that they don't know
[37:05] how to work with this Somalian family
[37:06] what do they value what do they what are
[37:08] the Norms in your culture what are
[37:10] things we need to be aware of but they
[37:12] never do that for indigenous people
[37:13] because they think they understand
[37:15] indigenous people and what they need but
[37:17] they
[37:18] don't I do because I'm indigenous right
[37:22] and the movie Lion is a real good
[37:24] example of you can have the best of
[37:28] intentions and even provide like love is
[37:32] great but love is not enough right
[37:35] people need to know who they are and
[37:38] where they come from to have a sense of
[37:40] self and a sense of place in this world
[37:43] and I spoke earlier about that is one of
[37:45] the things that Bento really works hard
[37:47] to do with adults and with kids to have
[37:50] that sense of self so that they can
[37:51] function in this in this world that
[37:54] we're all sharing together and there's
[37:56] when you're from that and raised in you
[38:00] know if you're meant to be in the desert
[38:01] and you're raised in the jungle like you
[38:05] you you still have that sense of like
[38:07] there's something missing right um and
[38:10] that's what for me the movie Lion shows
[38:13] is that because you as the Watcher of
[38:16] that movie will root for this Indian man
[38:19] to find his people you will root for him
[38:24] because human to human you understand
[38:26] that need to know who you are and where
[38:29] you come from um and it relates so much
[38:32] to the work that we're doing here every
[38:34] day um and how important it is for us to
[38:37] help the people that we're serving to
[38:39] have that sense and it's not just for
[38:41] bento to do and that's why collaborating
[38:43] with our colleagues becomes so important
[38:46] you know if we have another organization
[38:48] that that's also serving indigenous
[38:49] people we want them to build capacity to
[38:51] be able to do the same so those are the
[38:54] two that I would recommend
[38:58] can you tell us a story of a great
[39:00] success or a great failure of
[39:01] organizations working across
[39:04] sectors across sectors well um I I feel
[39:09] like I kind of did tell that story like
[39:11] um you know I've been here for a long
[39:14] time the world was in a certain place
[39:17] when I started here um the practice has
[39:20] really evolved the knowledge of people
[39:22] has really changed um and I just feel
[39:25] like um we are continuing to evolve like
[39:29] we're not at the place I think we should
[39:31] be or the place that I would want us to
[39:33] be but we're definitely on a path to get
[39:35] there um I spoke earlier about the TRC
[39:38] really sparking the the interest of
[39:41] people um and the awareness of people of
[39:44] the experience of indigenous people here
[39:46] in Canada and North America I would say
[39:50] um and then you know the the residential
[39:54] schools really came to light when they
[39:57] discovered the the graves and cam loops
[39:59] and now we're starting to hear about
[40:01] other residential schools looking into
[40:02] this um I remember having a discussion
[40:05] with a with a mom on
[40:09] Twitter um and I have very very strict
[40:13] rules on Twitter that I I I can't be mad
[40:17] when I tweet um and so I engage with
[40:21] people so that we can have a
[40:22] conversation so that people can walk
[40:24] away from that conversation knowing more
[40:26] than when they they started the
[40:28] conversation and so there was a mom who
[40:30] tweeted uh with the graves being found
[40:34] and she said I have a 5-year-old and I
[40:36] cannot imagine that happening to me or
[40:39] my
[40:40] child and I said well let's imagine it
[40:42] for a second here I said let's imagine
[40:45] it if that happened to your child you
[40:47] would probably sink into a deep
[40:49] depression because your child has been
[40:52] taken from you and and has died right um
[40:57] while not in your care you would take to
[41:00] your bed and you would just wouldn't
[41:01] want to face the world but guess what
[41:04] your boss would miss you not showing up
[41:05] for work which means your employment
[41:08] would be in Jeopardy because you're not
[41:10] showing up for work which means your
[41:12] income is going to be impacted while
[41:15] you're laying in your bed and and trying
[41:17] to be a part of the world maybe you
[41:20] self-medicate and end up become addicted
[41:22] to a substance because you're just
[41:25] really trying to feel right in the world
[41:28] um because the world feels really
[41:30] wrong um and then you end up in
[41:33] addictions and which impacts your mental
[41:35] health and like and so on and so forth
[41:38] you lose your housing now you're
[41:40] homeless now you're living houseless in
[41:43] the streets of Edmonton right oh wait
[41:46] that's what's happening
[41:48] today and this was the conversation I
[41:50] had with this mom about like when you
[41:53] look at indigenous people who are really
[41:56] really suffering and Society here in
[41:58] Canada that's where the roots of it
[42:02] originate no one wants to be homeless no
[42:04] one wants to be struggling with
[42:06] addictions there is a reason why um that
[42:09] people are there um and so um that is
[42:13] something that I I use to sort of
[42:16] educate people um so um the reason why I
[42:21] I tell that story is because it is part
[42:24] of the journey that I think Canada is
[42:28] on and things are happening very
[42:31] differently and the success I want to
[42:32] share is something that's very recent
[42:34] and very tangible here is that um when
[42:39] when those Graves were found and we had
[42:40] all these really great conversations
[42:42] with so many people um Regular Canadians
[42:45] wanted to help and so they would reach
[42:48] out and say how can I help and so I
[42:50] would have it interactions with with
[42:52] people about that and then there were
[42:54] people who were saying donate to an in
[42:57] indigenous organization and let them
[42:59] decide where that money should go and
[43:01] what happened was Bento started like
[43:03] ping ping ping ping on our uh donation
[43:06] site we were getting like all these
[43:08] donations and it really was adding up to
[43:11] a substantial amount of money so then we
[43:13] were sitting here going what do we want
[43:14] to do with this money and what we came
[43:16] up with was um we wanted to have a sweat
[43:20] lodge which is one of our purification
[43:24] ceremonies um we wanted to have a sweat
[43:26] lodge right here in the heart of
[43:28] Edmonton so when you drive around
[43:30] Edmonton you can see a temple here and
[43:33] there you can see a mosque here and
[43:35] there you see many churches all over the
[43:38] city um but you never see a sweat lodge
[43:42] right and um if you want to sweat we
[43:45] have to take people out of the city
[43:47] proper to do that
[43:50] ceremony and in our Skyline our Skyscape
[43:53] we should be able to have all different
[43:55] places to go and take care of your
[43:57] spirit right and a sweat lodge is a
[44:00] place that we do that so we started
[44:02] coming up with this idea of building um
[44:04] a sweat lodge and because we're in the
[44:06] Heart of the City a sweat lodge is very
[44:08] vulnerable the structure is very it's
[44:10] made of Willow and so you don't want to
[44:12] leave a structure like that just open to
[44:14] the elements so we wanted to build a
[44:16] building over it so we built a what we
[44:20] call we received this name in ceremony
[44:22] it's um what it means in English is it's
[44:25] a sacred Family Lodge and it is uh a
[44:28] long rectangular building and at the
[44:30] front end of it when you open these
[44:32] doors there is a sweat lodge inside of
[44:35] it and then as you leave um that part of
[44:39] the building and it's like a a garage an
[44:42] attached garage you climb up three
[44:44] stairs and then you're in the house
[44:46] while the rest of you're in the rest of
[44:48] that Lodge and there is a teaching and
[44:51] Gathering space in there where we can
[44:53] use that part of the lodge and it's a
[44:54] very comfortable place to be it has
[44:57] blankets and couches and you know
[44:59] knitted slippers for people to put on
[45:01] their feet and a wood stove um like it
[45:04] just is a really comfortable place to be
[45:06] um so that people can receive teachings
[45:08] healing maybe ceremony um sit there and
[45:12] visit before you go into the sweat lodge
[45:14] sit there and eat after you come out of
[45:16] the sweat lodge because that's always
[45:17] something that happens and it's and it
[45:19] came to fruition this year so we had a
[45:22] big launch on June the 18th um where we
[45:26] invited every everybody and we had big
[45:30] corporate corporations donate large
[45:32] amounts of money to make this thing a
[45:34] reality but we also had regular people
[45:36] donate
[45:38] $215 because that's how many graves that
[45:40] they discovered in cam loops and it was
[45:42] a significant number of for many people
[45:44] to donate
[45:45] $215 and one of the things I always
[45:48] imagine is like you know Joe Blow or
[45:50] Susie Q who donated $25 the regular
[45:54] people driving by here and seeing that
[45:57] building and going I had something to do
[45:59] with that you know I had something to do
[46:02] with that and I think now that we have
[46:04] this structure and this Lodge here in
[46:06] the city I think we'll start to see more
[46:09] and I think we'll start to see so many
[46:11] in the city that we won't ever remember
[46:13] a time when we didn't have even one in
[46:15] the city right where people had to leave
[46:17] the city to attend this ceremony we
[46:20] we'll have people who were who will be
[46:21] able to attend this ceremony all over
[46:23] the city um because we're already
[46:24] hearing from people how did you do it we
[46:27] want to do the same all that kind of
[46:29] stuff and um and it is really a lodge
[46:31] for people to come and you could come
[46:34] and sweat and learn um and and be a part
[46:37] of that experience because the lodge
[46:39] isn't just for indigenous people it's
[46:40] for people um and I think that's the
[46:43] thing that people need to learn about
[46:46] indigenous sort of worldview is our way
[46:49] of seeing the world isn't just for us it
[46:51] is a way of seeing the world for
[46:53] everybody right um we thrived on this
[46:57] land for thousands of years before
[47:00] settlement occurred um and it's those
[47:04] values and those teachings and those
[47:06] ways that helped us to do that and those
[47:07] are the same things that are going to
[47:09] help me you anybody sort of get through
[47:12] anything we have those tools to be able
[47:14] to do that and that is for me a huge
[47:17] success um and I look forward to sort of
[47:19] more more of that as we go
[47:24] forward what is equity diversity
[47:27] inclusion like in this
[47:29] sector
[47:32] um it's an interesting question
[47:35] because uh most of the people well if
[47:38] not all of the people that we serving
[47:40] are like Equity deserving people um so
[47:44] we look at it very
[47:48] um holistically and very like it's very
[47:52] intrinsically a part of the work that we
[47:55] do um we are an organization of about
[48:00] 250 people and one of the interesting
[48:03] things about that is about 67% of our
[48:07] our uh staff are not
[48:11] indigenous um but we have an indigenous
[48:13] governance model and an indigenous
[48:16] practice model that we expect everybody
[48:18] to practice with um as a practitioner
[48:22] here in whatever program that they're
[48:24] working in um and I think
[48:29] that initially gave me great pause uh
[48:33] but only for a moment and um the reason
[48:37] why I sort of flip the script on that
[48:40] statistic is that um it made me really
[48:44] realize that the way we practice can be
[48:46] practiced anywhere and by anyone right
[48:51] so in the '90s we were an indigenous
[48:54] organization maybe we employed 45 people
[48:57] in
[48:58] 1999 um and 95% of us were indigenous
[49:03] right it meant that all of us were
[49:05] carrying a very heavy load and now we're
[49:08] sharing that load with other
[49:11] practitioners from other walks of life
[49:13] and so that's the way I I look at that
[49:15] in a very sort of positive sense that
[49:18] we're teaching people like an indigenous
[49:20] way to practice social work um that
[49:24] feels really good that feels very
[49:26] strength based um and not deficit based
[49:30] um that feels very inclusive uh because
[49:33] I just mentioned in in the previous
[49:34] question that you know our lodges aren't
[49:36] just for indigenous people our lodges
[49:38] are for everybody who needs that healing
[49:41] um and so uh the other um there was
[49:46] another statistic I was going to talk
[49:49] about and I can't remember what it was
[49:52] but that that's a really um oh the
[49:56] people that we serve here that was it um
[49:58] so we serve about between 8 and 10,000
[50:02] people a year about 75% of the people
[50:05] that were serving here at Bento are
[50:08] indigenous and the other 25% are other
[50:12] and a great percentage of that 25% are
[50:16] newcomers to Canada and one of the
[50:19] things we've learned from newcomers to
[50:21] Canada is that they are also very close
[50:24] to their landbased teachings because
[50:26] came here from from their land to this
[50:29] land and so there is a real alignment
[50:32] with values um our values and their
[50:35] values um how they see the world and how
[50:37] we see the world and so that 25% the
[50:40] large number of them really are aligned
[50:43] to the way we're doing the work that
[50:44] we're doing um so I think there is
[50:47] really great sort of uh examples of
[50:50] equity and diversity um within our
[50:52] organization and it really just like is
[50:54] rolled into the dough here um and we
[50:58] take we take so we're sharing our
[51:00] teachings and our way of looking at the
[51:02] world but we're also listening to the
[51:04] people who work here and so we have like
[51:07] U Muslim people here who will share
[51:11] their holy days their ceremonies their
[51:14] um ways of looking at things and we're
[51:17] always like oh that's what we think too
[51:19] that's how we see things too and um and
[51:21] so we take into consideration their um
[51:25] like Ramadan is when they fast we have a
[51:28] fasting ceremony too right um and that's
[51:31] the Sundance so there there are people
[51:33] who fast in in in the Sundance ceremony
[51:36] and so we see alignment in in the
[51:39] purpose behind why you do those things
[51:41] if you strip away all of life's comforts
[51:46] you really are just like who you are and
[51:49] um and that can be very humbling but it
[51:52] it can also be very empowering and so
[51:55] there is like a lot of alignment in that
[51:57] so that was an interesting question for
[51:58] me to look at again I think from a
[52:00] different side of the coin um where it
[52:03] is really really baked into everything
[52:06] that we do and how we look at the
[52:10] work what is the most important advice
[52:13] you have to give to students about their
[52:15] work and
[52:17] career yeah um I think the most
[52:20] important advice is to show up um to
[52:24] show up when it's hard to show up when
[52:27] it's fun easy to show up when it's fun
[52:30] um to show up when there is a lot of
[52:33] work to do when you're building
[52:35] something um in in whatever is happening
[52:37] in your sector in your profession um to
[52:40] be able to show up really uh can make a
[52:43] difference if there is a really big sort
[52:45] of struggle that's happening um showing
[52:49] up uh you never know what's going to
[52:51] happen the next day the next day could
[52:53] be the day you have your big aha moments
[52:56] the next day could be the day that you
[52:58] get over a really big struggle that
[53:00] maybe you've been struggling with um or
[53:02] achieve a goal that you didn't feel like
[53:04] was achievable and if you just sort of
[53:06] like think oh maybe um contentment can
[53:10] be found over there or working for them
[53:13] or maybe if I do this instead of that um
[53:16] in my profession you know maybe I'll
[53:18] feel like better or more content um but
[53:22] really just to show up and like the
[53:25] struggle there's lots to learn in every
[53:27] struggle and so I think I would
[53:29] encourage people to do that um I've been
[53:31] here for a long time and there have been
[53:34] struggles um I I think I spoke in an
[53:37] earlier question about um being in
[53:39] alignment with the with the one of the
[53:41] founders of this organization and how
[53:43] she was my mentor um she passed away
[53:46] very suddenly um 12 years in you know
[53:50] into my employment here and I literally
[53:53] had to go like what am I going to do now
[53:56] like is this where my time with Bento
[53:58] ends and when I started looking out in
[54:00] the world of like oh maybe I'll work for
[54:02] those guys I like those guys over there
[54:04] they're kind of fun you know I uh I
[54:07] don't want to go work over there I want
[54:08] to work here and so really what it
[54:10] boiled down for me after I looked at all
[54:12] my Alternatives was the mission here is
[54:15] the mission that gets me jazzed up it's
[54:18] what I want to do and so I'm going to
[54:20] stick it out and so I did stick it out
[54:22] and so I'm not asking people just to
[54:24] stay somewhere for the sake of sa
[54:26] somewhere but really look into yourself
[54:28] about like what is it that brought you
[54:31] to this um to this field to this sector
[54:35] and um and what what jazzed you up about
[54:39] it when you were 20s something and think
[54:41] about that when you're maybe 50s
[54:43] something because that's now how old I
[54:45] am I'm 50s something and um and is it
[54:49] still jazzing you up about it because it
[54:51] can't just be about a paycheck um it has
[54:53] to be about something that is fulfilling
[54:57] uh a legacy that you're going to be
[54:58] leaving a Mark that you're going to be
[55:00] leaving and um and showing up I think
[55:02] really helps you to sort of achieve you
[55:05] can reflect back and go yeah I did that
[55:07] right I was a part of that um and I
[55:10] think showing up helps people do that so
[55:12] that would be my
[55:15] advice have we missed anything that you
[55:17] wouldd like to share with the
[55:20] students
[55:23] um I don't think so I think you guys put
[55:26] a lot of thought into these questions
[55:28] and uh I had a great time reflecting