[Music]
on’y buzu and hello i would like to
begin today by acknowledging this land
that i’m standing on and its
significance it is the traditional
territory of the Anishinabe the Cree the
og Cree the Dakota and the den a people
it is also the homeland of the main
Asian and I offer this land
acknowledgement to show respect and to
recognize the indigenous people that
have been living on this land for a very
long time my talk today after all
relates to the significant contribution
that indigenous people have made to
society historically currently and
certainly into the future I am
Anishinabe First Nation from treaty to
territory and I speak from this reality
and from this perspective and I want to
acknowledge that there is a diversity of
indigenous wisdom in this world and that
I’m speaking from but one of those
worldviews I have worked with and for
indigenous families for my whole career
and in fact my whole life I have seen
indigenous families crippled by some
very big challenges and I have seen
families overcome the greatest of odds
and so thrilled my life I have gained an
understanding of what it takes for
families to succeed and I think I have a
pretty good idea of what is required for
families to thrive I’ve also gained an
understanding of what gets in a family’s
way when they trip up and stumble and I
think I have a pretty good idea of what
is going on when families are struggling
and at the heart of my insight is
something that is referred to
a complex wicket problem you’ve probably
heard the proverb that if you give a
person a fish you feed them for a day
but if you teach a person to fish you
feed them for a lifetime
well some have taken that proverb just a
little bit further and I’ve asked but
what if the lake is polluted what if
there are no fish or what if the fish
are toxic
if the water is polluted it doesn’t
matter how great your fishing skills are
because it is not about your individual
capacity or your skills so families can
become overwhelmed and overtaken by
complex pervasive systems and these
systems by and large are not designed
around their needs or their experiences
and therefore do not serve them well
furthermore these systems are usually
highly resourced entrenched and really
difficult to change in Manitoba Canada
we have some very disturbing statistics
that demonstrate these pervasive complex
systems that I’m talking about
we have over 11,000 children in the care
of the state over 85% of them are
indigenous over 75% of those that are
incarcerated in our jail systems are
indigenous the graduation rate for
indigenous populations is much lower
than the rest of Manitobans in a high
percentage of those living in poverty
our indigenous these same patterns hold
true from many other social serving
systems such as health mental health
employment and the economy now the trend
of these statistics doesn’t mean that we
don’t know how to parent our kids it
doesn’t mean that we’re all criminals it
doesn’t mean that we can’t learn and it
doesn’t mean that we don’t know how to
take care
of our own health and it most certainly
doesn’t mean that we’re too lazy to hold
down a job or that we don’t know how to
run businesses or corporations what
these statistics do mean is that these
complex pervasive systems are built
without any recognition of an indigenous
worldview value or experience the
problem therefore is widespread system
barriers not individual deficits or
shortcomings so what can we do about the
widespread system barriers well I can
tell you that I have seen families
absolutely flourish when we Center
indigenous wisdom I have seen the power
and the goodness of this way of knowing
being doing feeling I’ve been fortunate
in life to have been surrounded by the
beauty of indigenous perspectives this
is a medicine wheel and it represents a
sophisticated system of indigenous
teachings it conveys an understanding of
the four directions of north east south
and west
it carries knowledge of the diversity of
the nations on our planet represented by
the four colors of yellow red black and
white it also holds teachings of the
four aspects of being which are physical
emotional mental and spiritual the
Medicine Wheel teachings show us the
holistic nature of our existence it is a
way of viewing the world and it is a way
of being in it it shows us our place in
the universe and our responsibility as a
result it is rich with fundamental
truths and it is a set of values and
principles that guide our thoughts our
behaviors and our actions the circle
understands how interconnected
everything is and therefore it
take for example the saying all my
relations what that means is that human
beings are but one of many relatives on
this planet we have mother earth father
sky grandmother moon and grandfather’s
son our sisters and brothers are the
animals our cousins are the trees the
plants the water you see we understand
how interdependent we all are and
therefore we understand that we have a
responsibility to be in a really good
relationship with one another when we
understand this truth we understand the
importance of our connections and how we
view those connections think of how we
view mother earth she is our mother and
she is our relative so we have to
understand how she takes care of us and
how we take care of her we don’t think
that we own her and therefore we’re not
trying to find ways to manage and
control her but rather we’re trying to
understand her and we’re trying to be in
a really good balanced relationship with
her so when we live our lives according
to Medicine Wheel teachings we are
seeking what is referred to as me no
bomb at Zoo in me no boom as eewan
simply means living life in the fullest
and healthiest sense I really believe
that if we want our families to achieve
mean obamas ‘when we have to center
indigenous wisdom and we have to use it
to create solutions to tackle those
complex systems that i’ve been talking
about to be sure this does not mean that
indigenous people need saving or that
the saving has to come from others it
means that we have to be a meaningful
and significant partner in the
collaborative effort I very often say
that we have moved out of an era of a
hand out into an era of a hand up now we
need to move into an era of a
and shake indigenous wisdom has long
recognized the need for diversity part
of indigenous wisdom is the concept of
the clan system clan system teachings
maintain that there are many voices in
the circle and that all voices are
needed we are all unique and we all have
a role inherent in this belief system
are the values of reciprocity mutuality
and working toward a common good when we
are able to embrace our diversity I
think that we can greatly benefit from
the untapped potential of many wisdoms
so indigenous social innovation is about
centering indigenous wisdom and it’s
about using it to create solutions to
tackle those wicked problems that I was
talking about earlier it is going to
require us to come together in ways that
we haven’t before it is going to require
us to bring together and draw upon the
ideas of many diverse people and
perspectives that aren’t often invited
into the circle and it is going to
require us to come up with many ideas
and approaches that we haven’t even yet
imagined when we are able to use
indigenous social innovation to come up
with some great solutions this can lead
to large-scale systems change and
therefore large-scale health and
wellness outcomes for our families this
is not only good for all the people on
the planet but it is good for all our
relatives on the planet and it is good
for the planet itself our elders often
talk about and tell us that we need to
pay attention to the seven generations
that have come before us and that we
need to draw upon the cumulative and the
collective wisdom the elders also tell
us that we need to take responsibility
for the seven generations that are going
to
after us the next seven generations
cannot afford business as usual it is
imperative that we think outside the box
as social innovation urges us to do and
we need to think inside the circle as
indigenous wisdom invites us to watch [Applause]
on’y buzu and hello i would like to
begin today by acknowledging this land
that i’m standing on and its
significance it is the traditional
territory of the Anishinabe the Cree the
og Cree the Dakota and the den a people
it is also the homeland of the main
Asian and I offer this land
acknowledgement to show respect and to
recognize the indigenous people that
have been living on this land for a very
long time my talk today after all
relates to the significant contribution
that indigenous people have made to
society historically currently and
certainly into the future I am
Anishinabe First Nation from treaty to
territory and I speak from this reality
and from this perspective and I want to
acknowledge that there is a diversity of
indigenous wisdom in this world and that
I’m speaking from but one of those
worldviews I have worked with and for
indigenous families for my whole career
and in fact my whole life I have seen
indigenous families crippled by some
very big challenges and I have seen
families overcome the greatest of odds
and so thrilled my life I have gained an
understanding of what it takes for
families to succeed and I think I have a
pretty good idea of what is required for
families to thrive I’ve also gained an
understanding of what gets in a family’s
way when they trip up and stumble and I
think I have a pretty good idea of what
is going on when families are struggling
and at the heart of my insight is
something that is referred to
a complex wicket problem you’ve probably
heard the proverb that if you give a
person a fish you feed them for a day
but if you teach a person to fish you
feed them for a lifetime
well some have taken that proverb just a
little bit further and I’ve asked but
what if the lake is polluted what if
there are no fish or what if the fish
are toxic
if the water is polluted it doesn’t
matter how great your fishing skills are
because it is not about your individual
capacity or your skills so families can
become overwhelmed and overtaken by
complex pervasive systems and these
systems by and large are not designed
around their needs or their experiences
and therefore do not serve them well
furthermore these systems are usually
highly resourced entrenched and really
difficult to change in Manitoba Canada
we have some very disturbing statistics
that demonstrate these pervasive complex
systems that I’m talking about
we have over 11,000 children in the care
of the state over 85% of them are
indigenous over 75% of those that are
incarcerated in our jail systems are
indigenous the graduation rate for
indigenous populations is much lower
than the rest of Manitobans in a high
percentage of those living in poverty
our indigenous these same patterns hold
true from many other social serving
systems such as health mental health
employment and the economy now the trend
of these statistics doesn’t mean that we
don’t know how to parent our kids it
doesn’t mean that we’re all criminals it
doesn’t mean that we can’t learn and it
doesn’t mean that we don’t know how to
take care
of our own health and it most certainly
doesn’t mean that we’re too lazy to hold
down a job or that we don’t know how to
run businesses or corporations what
these statistics do mean is that these
complex pervasive systems are built
without any recognition of an indigenous
worldview value or experience the
problem therefore is widespread system
barriers not individual deficits or
shortcomings so what can we do about the
widespread system barriers well I can
tell you that I have seen families
absolutely flourish when we Center
indigenous wisdom I have seen the power
and the goodness of this way of knowing
being doing feeling I’ve been fortunate
in life to have been surrounded by the
beauty of indigenous perspectives this
is a medicine wheel and it represents a
sophisticated system of indigenous
teachings it conveys an understanding of
the four directions of north east south
and west
it carries knowledge of the diversity of
the nations on our planet represented by
the four colors of yellow red black and
white it also holds teachings of the
four aspects of being which are physical
emotional mental and spiritual the
Medicine Wheel teachings show us the
holistic nature of our existence it is a
way of viewing the world and it is a way
of being in it it shows us our place in
the universe and our responsibility as a
result it is rich with fundamental
truths and it is a set of values and
principles that guide our thoughts our
behaviors and our actions the circle
understands how interconnected
everything is and therefore it
take for example the saying all my
relations what that means is that human
beings are but one of many relatives on
this planet we have mother earth father
sky grandmother moon and grandfather’s
son our sisters and brothers are the
animals our cousins are the trees the
plants the water you see we understand
how interdependent we all are and
therefore we understand that we have a
responsibility to be in a really good
relationship with one another when we
understand this truth we understand the
importance of our connections and how we
view those connections think of how we
view mother earth she is our mother and
she is our relative so we have to
understand how she takes care of us and
how we take care of her we don’t think
that we own her and therefore we’re not
trying to find ways to manage and
control her but rather we’re trying to
understand her and we’re trying to be in
a really good balanced relationship with
her so when we live our lives according
to Medicine Wheel teachings we are
seeking what is referred to as me no
bomb at Zoo in me no boom as eewan
simply means living life in the fullest
and healthiest sense I really believe
that if we want our families to achieve
mean obamas ‘when we have to center
indigenous wisdom and we have to use it
to create solutions to tackle those
complex systems that i’ve been talking
about to be sure this does not mean that
indigenous people need saving or that
the saving has to come from others it
means that we have to be a meaningful
and significant partner in the
collaborative effort I very often say
that we have moved out of an era of a
hand out into an era of a hand up now we
need to move into an era of a
and shake indigenous wisdom has long
recognized the need for diversity part
of indigenous wisdom is the concept of
the clan system clan system teachings
maintain that there are many voices in
the circle and that all voices are
needed we are all unique and we all have
a role inherent in this belief system
are the values of reciprocity mutuality
and working toward a common good when we
are able to embrace our diversity I
think that we can greatly benefit from
the untapped potential of many wisdoms
so indigenous social innovation is about
centering indigenous wisdom and it’s
about using it to create solutions to
tackle those wicked problems that I was
talking about earlier it is going to
require us to come together in ways that
we haven’t before it is going to require
us to bring together and draw upon the
ideas of many diverse people and
perspectives that aren’t often invited
into the circle and it is going to
require us to come up with many ideas
and approaches that we haven’t even yet
imagined when we are able to use
indigenous social innovation to come up
with some great solutions this can lead
to large-scale systems change and
therefore large-scale health and
wellness outcomes for our families this
is not only good for all the people on
the planet but it is good for all our
relatives on the planet and it is good
for the planet itself our elders often
talk about and tell us that we need to
pay attention to the seven generations
that have come before us and that we
need to draw upon the cumulative and the
collective wisdom the elders also tell
us that we need to take responsibility
for the seven generations that are going
to
after us the next seven generations
cannot afford business as usual it is
imperative that we think outside the box
as social innovation urges us to do and
we need to think inside the circle as
indigenous wisdom invites us to watch [Applause]
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