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People's perceptions of Indigenous people
often comes from a place of ignorance and
misunderstanding. People are not informed of
our history, where we come from. They do not
know the unique legal framework between our
people and the Canadian government or the
beauty of our different cultures – without this
understanding how is there going to be respect?
— Maria Lucas
Creemore
I often see our people being represented either as drunks or
having a drum in their hand. There is hardly an in-between. I
think that this is telling the general public that we're either a big
mess or a cartoon stereotype version of our culture. To fix these
stereotypes, we must create compassion... If the general public
can understand why Indigenous people have their struggles, we
can then create compassion, reconciliation, and we can work
together to make Canada better for my daughter's generation.
— Devin Pielle
Sliammon First Nation
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