Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Life and death in the Reserve

It has been a busy two months in our Reserve. We have had about 11 funerals in in that time. This week it is a son of a man that killed him self last year. This time the son decide to hang himself as well. A month ago one lady from the Reserve was in a bar having a couple of drinks. She went out for a cigarette and was stabbed by young girls. For a damn cigarette! Now that is some sad stuff there for sure.
A friend of mine buried his Dad about two or three weeks ago. An older gentlemen so no surprise. Trouble is he and his brothers are in a real war against each other. With one of the brothers being a real bad guy. Another brother was brought to the Service for one hour in chains. He is a gang member and is in remand custody, so he was not eligible for Funeral pass.

We had a pretty successful Gathering. By success, I mean people came and we were able to feed them all and provide some very good information.  I was glad about that.

Our computer is in for repairs, so I am borrowing this one for now. I hope to come back and share some stories with you. So take care, exercise your compassion and do at least one kind deed a day.

1 comment:

  1. Good to hear from you. Life on the reserve is a tough life. Suicides among Native youth are the highest out of any ethnic/racial group in the US and I believe in Canada as well. Its hard for Native youth dealing with racism, sexism, generational trauma, joblessness, poverty, etc. Its hard to "rise up" when you are constantly beaten down.

    Its hard to be Native and deal with all the issues in our communities and families that we have to deal with.

    I hope to see more healing and justice but its always a fight.

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