Together As One

By Claudia Wilimovsky

Brothers and sisters I’ve got a
message from the Lord:
Love one another
Help one another.
Brothers and sisters I’ve got a
Message from the Lord:
Love one another
Forgive one another.

The first national meeting of Native people with disabilities began with this spiritual call and moved into an exchange of stories, ideas, grievances and supportive techniques. More than 150 people, both Native and non-Native, some with disabilities, others without, crowded into a room at the Victoria Convention Centre in British Columbia during the annual conference of the Canadian Association for Community Living.

Originally billed as an interactive workshop on disability and Aboriginal people, the October 11th meeting became much more than that. Jo-Anne Francis, a Mohawk from the Akwesasne Reserve and newly elected president of the Native Aboriginal Network on Disability (NAND), announced the formation of the group “to create opportunities for Aboriginal people with a disability, so they can improve their quality of life and contribute meaningfully to the development of their community.”

The formation of NAND resulted from a meeting held in 1988 when 26 disabled people of Aboriginal descent met in Cornwall to discuss how their communal concerns could be put on Canada’s economic and social agenda. The Cornwall group identified a number of specific issues they wanted addressed. There may be as many as 300,000 Aboriginal people in Canada today who have some kind of physical, mental or emotional disability. A person who is both Aboriginal and who has a disability will find their access to social services, education and employment severely restricted. Attention to disability issues amongst Aboriginal people has been piecemeal and inadequate. Disputes between federal and provincial government as to who should pay for services for Aboriginal people with disabilities force people in need of assistance to wait.

Over the past few years, the Cornwall group has collected data, expanded their network, sought out resources, developed strategies and asked themselves over and over “how can we help each other?” At the October 11th kickoff, a ten year working plan entitled, “Making Our Future: A National Strategy by and for Aboriginal People with Disability” was released.

The introduction to the paper puts the message most powerfully, “We will not wait for others to do it for us. As Aboriginal people with disability, we wish to make our future, and we are determined to make that future prosperous and progressive.”

One of the morning’s first exercises was a Talking Circle. In this traditional Native communication technique, a special stick, feather or rock is passed around the circle from person to person. The method encourages equality in discussion and provides a positive opportunity for people to talk about how they feel. No one is allowed to interrupt; everyone is expected to listen and learn; respect for the speaker is paramount.

On this particular day, Smokey Tomkins, Executive Director of the Network, offered his walking stick to act as a talking stick. Seven native people, who either had a disability or who were the parent of a disabled child, took up the challenge and gave bold and emotional statements to the group about how disability has touched their lives. Although many comments centered around strength, support and the importance of having a sense of humour, the statement made most often was, “We are living with two challenges – being Native and having a disability.” As Everett Soop from southern Alberta put it, “in the past, all we ever received was promises.” He went on to say that the formation of NAND has created a spark of help and hope; maybe something can be done.

The next series of speakers focused on what it was like to be Native or to work with Native people. John Miller, a regional consultant with the Canadian Association for Community Living in Ontario, said that he wanted to talk about heroes and success stories. Miller introduced a highly successful community living project for Native people in the Manitoulin Island area. “My family and my organization have learned more about community living from living with native people – more about the SPIRIT of community living – than from anywhere else. What we as non-Natives, might call a ‘program’ is simply a way of life for Native people. And we were able to help them put this into practice in a group home.”

The National Aboriginal Network on Disability is now on a cross-country tour of Canada to let people and government know they exist and are asking for action. They are also taking this opportunity to inform Aboriginal people with disabilities that there is a group with positive goals working for them. As Jo-Anne Francis pointed out, they want to generate a national movement and strategy for progress “in which everyone can share and all will benefit.” Working together, it appears clear that much can be accomplished.