>> Y'all are going to get sued.
Oh, my God. >> Why do you say that,
what makes you say that? >> Because. They're never going to admit. They did any of these things. And that I'm just a liar and now
I'm trying to get attention. I mean, literally, it's why
I don't use my name right, I don't use the name
they gave me because I don't. All the success I have
is because of me, not because of them. (dramatic music) The body protects you, it protects your memory. When you go through trauma, your body protects you by not letting you remember
these awful things that happen and a lot of awful things
happened to me. (dramatic music) I don't remember anything. I don't remember
being on a plane, I don't remember
getting off a plane. I just remember all of a sudden
I'm in this Jewish home with this Jewish family and just all of a
sudden I'm there, So I start getting memories
around three or three and a half or something like that. My adoptive parents didn't think
they could have children. They adopted first my brother through a
Jewish Family Services. Jewish Family Services were
part of the AIM program. Adopt an Indian Metis program. My adoptive parents
they were given a big book of pictures of indigenous
children from all over Canada. And they flipped, flipped,
and they got to that picture and they're like,
we'll take her. The social worker
put me on a plane from Thompson, Manitoba,
and brought me here to Montreal. When I was adopted at three, I was put into the Mikvah,
instant Jew. They changed my name. I went to Hebrew school
synagogue on Friday nights, having the Jewish holidays, going to Florida
in the, in the wintertime. But, just before I was adopted, my adopted parents
got pregnant, they had their own child. And I remember
seeing the bond between my little sister
and, and my parents and going, I don't got that,
that, that doesn't exist for me. I knew that I was almost
like a visitor in this home kind of interactions I had with
my mother were very hard. I was upset about something
and I was crying and she didn't
like to hear me cry, so she taped my mouth shut
and that's when I thought, oh, okay,
this is what it's like here. My father was very much
into building his company he didn't really speak to me. My parents were like,
just, you know, assimilate into this culture be brought up
as a nice Jewish girl, it'll be easier for you. I mean, I remember literally
one winter walking around the, the neighbourhood and looking at the sky
and thinking, I have a mother
and sister out there. And then it was gone. There was never any details
about what happened with my family
and my parents were like, you're not really native,
you may be 1/18th Indian, they would be like, don't you know that natives
are the dregs of society? They used to give me
this, like, analogy. If you go to a Jewish household and you sit at a table,
you'll have all kinds of food. You go to Indian household,
You have drugs and alcohol. Because I did have a blond
brother and a blonde sister. They were just like
tell people you're, Israeli. I wanted to please them
and I wanted to be accepted and I wanted to
fit into this family and I wanted to be loved. I started to develop
like self-hate, I didn't like the way I looked I didn't like
the colour of my skin. I knew that
when I looked in the mirror, what came back
was a native face. When I was a teenager,
I was just like trying to erase my identity because
I wanted to be accepted but, I was never. I've sort of developed like
a bit of an eating disorder. I was like
super nervous all the time. I was very quiet. I kind of meek and only got strength
when I spent time with her. My bubby is my father's mother. I often think that the reason why I'm a good
person today is because of her. She gave me
unconditional love, like she just thought I was the most amazing kid. She was like the anchor, the only person that I could talk to
and feel comfortable with and always had a smile for me
and always was happy to see me. And that was like a huge
contrast to everyone else in the household. She was that elder that
always believed in me and she saw, like, great things. She said, "You're going to do
great things, one day." I said, "No,
I'm going to end up in jail. I'm going to be a prostitute,
that's what I've been told I'm sure of it."
I had zero belief that I was going to do anything. >> A little bit of
an announcement >> Can you turn it up. Well, sort of two things. One is that I sent a letter
to Prime Minister Trudeau. The Native Women's Shelter
has been looking really hard for the last ten years to create second stage housing for indigenous women
and their children. So currently in Montreal,
there is no place for indigenous women
and children to live. If the Prime Minister
would go to the U.N. and make these promises that we're just saying,
"Hey, we're here." >>Then it's time for,
for the government to back up those promises. >> Absolutely! >> Nakuset is
the executive director of the Native Women's Shelter
of Montreal. >> Okay, I've got to wear that
dress more often, seriously. It got to a point that it was
so hard to live at home that I thought I was
going to just kill myself. So one night
I just packed up some clothes and I left. I spent a couple of years
really struggling to figure out what is my purpose,
what is my path. Do I live as a white woman? Do I live as
an indigenous woman? What do I do? After I moved out, I spent
a lot of time with my bubby. We actually got
a lot of strength and understanding
from one another. But she got cancer and she knew she was dying. And she knew that
I would not have... She knew... That she wouldn't be there
for me anymore. So she said, "I'm going to
help you find your family." And we did this
like letter writing campaign and we wrote to
all these programs. My name is so-and-so and I'm looking for
my mother and my sister. And then when we finally
found my biological family, she sent me
a plane ticket she goes, "Go." Not only did I meet
my biological family, but I got my status
and I became like born again Indian. Somebody get me a choker. I changed my name
and went back to school, I got a degree in,
applied human sciences. I started volunteering at
the Native Women's Shelter and after one day
of volunteering there, they hired me. Gradually, I moved from one
position as a front line worker to an outreach worker to liaison worker
to program coordinator and then eventually as
the executive director. One of the first initiatives
I took on was youth protection. Didn't work out so good for me. What are y'all doing
in youth protection now? That we're seeing that
the women that were in care as a child
now have children in care? Why is this continuing and
what are you doing to stop it? Here in Montreal,
there's no second stage housing exclusively for Aboriginal
women and their children. So what happens is the women
that go to the shelter, they finish their stay
and then they come back. Because so many indigenous
kids are currently in care and because
they see the mothers suffer. And because I'm lucky enough
to be exactly where I am, then you need to,
like, extend those hands and bring up everyone else. >> Nakuset is executive director
for Native Women's Shelter... >> For 10 years now,
the Native Women's Shelter has been trying to create
a second stage housing for indigenous women
and their children. And there's generational trauma
that affects us deeply and we're still struggling with
it to this day, so something... I was really close
to going down the wrong path, like inches away from being having a
completely different life. So many other native adoptees have had just unbelievably
traumatic experiences. So many are kind of lost
society just discards them. I'm still alive and I'm sober,
I have my kids like I'm a first generation,
till I keep my children. That is breaking the cycle. They'll never know
what it's like to not be loved
and cherished. The parenting skills that I have
come from my bubby, I am here because of my bubby. This is the only reason why. If I am a good mother,
it's because of my bubby, if I am a kind person,
it's because of my bubby, because I was not
brought up that way. That love was stronger
than all the toxicity it made me believe in who
I was exactly who I am. And it made me
want to continue fighting for indigenous people. I sent a letter
to the Prime Minister because he made lots
of promises at the U.N. that he would
help indigenous people, especially women and children. I love the fact that I can
share about my bubby because she was absolutely
the best influence in my life. Oh, my God,
she would be so proud. She would be so proud. Literally when I got
the Woman of the Year award, I dedicated it to my bubby. Everyone knew I'm
here because of my bubby. I dedicate this award
to all those who inspire to all my mentors and to all
my friends and to my bubby. This is the day
you told me about bubby and I wish I wish you were here
to see me receive this award. The reason why
I experienced everything I did was to bring me
exactly to where I am now so that I can push forward. Growing up, being told you're never going to
amount to anything. It was almost like
a rebellion to succeed. And that continues
like I can't turn that off. I want indigenous people
to feel strong, kind of like that feeling that I first got
when I went to a pow-wow. So I'm trying to make, opportunities for
indigenous people and then eventually
you kind of like, like, like a relay race, like a baton, like pass it on
to that next generation and they go with it. I'm not quite there yet,
I still think I got another maybe another
20 years we'll see. Wait, 15 years,
I don't know.
