On The Other Side Of The Fence

   If I was a First Nation woman who was around when the British began to settle things would be very different. I would be used to going anywhere we wanted to fish,hunt and find resources, to having boundaries we have to follow. The area around getting smaller and smaller as the settlement grows. I would feel like I’m being taken advantage of. We would have helped them with the fur trade, and helped them navigate through the woods and areas around use. They have found natural resources we weren’t using and finding uses for them to make money. As our land grows smaller they grow bigger. That isn’t fair. The places we would normally go to find what we need we can’t go to anymore because a treaty says it’s theirs. Not only are they taking our land and resources they have also brought over diseases that we are used to. Our bodies don’t know how to fight it off and are beginning to get sick and people are dropping like flies. They have done enough. The land is ours. We have been hunting and using he resources since I can remember and they think they can just show up and take it away from us just like that. It’s an outrage!

    We were here much longer they have been. We use everything we take and appreciate everything we are given. They use us for furs to sell and make a profit. They also bribe us into deals where we are the ones losing out. They only think for themselves. They take everything we have worked to hard to get and achieve. They are using us for what we know. We know how to live off the land and use everything we find. We know how to take care of ourselves and teach the young the important things we believe in. This is all we know and all we have. They can’t just take it from us within a short period of time. It’s unbelievable how they can be so heartless just to make a little profit from or loss. We could be using the furs for good use. We could have more land to hunt and fish. We might be able to feed more in the community and in the winter we could have more resources so we don’t have to split into such small groups just to make it by.

      I remember when we didn’t have to worry about boundaries and following a certain treaty with different settlements from across the seas. Where we could go to the river and fish without a bunch of new people wondering around. We were better before the new people came. We were healthier. Now everyone is getting sick with something they brought over. Our bodies don’t know the disease so we can’t fit it off. They don’t seem to care that we are sick and slowly our clans are getting smaller. This brings outrage to everyone around us. We are being slowly killed off because of the new people and what they bring with them. Nothing good comes of it.

      They are taking everything from us. Our land and space to roam. They also believe we should change our religion. We have created what we believe in for a reason. Something to follow and teach the young what is really important. The seven teachings is what we follow and it has worked thus far why change it. It’s disrespectful to come from a new place and try and change how we do things. We have taught ourselves how to take care of ourselves and we are doing just fine no need to change how we live now. The kids know because if it how to treat others, where to go if they want to learn a certain skill. We believe they should learn by doing it themselves and figuring out the best way it works for them. We teach them to appreciate whatever they are given and what they may take from Mother Earth. Not what we take and not give back but what we appreciate. Unlike the new people who only think of themselves and making money to buy what they want not take care of what they need and only what they need. They only believe in materialistic things. Makes me sick.