Episode Four: Safety Begins With Our Homefires with Josie Nepinak

Episode Four: Safety Begins With Our Homefires - With Josie Nepinak

In this episode of Stolen Voices, we are joined by Josie Nepinak, President of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, for a powerful and deeply personal conversation on the realities of human trafficking and violence impacting Indigenous communities. Drawing from over 30 years of advocacy—and her own lived experience of loss and intergenerational trauma—Josie speaks to the urgent need for action at every level, from community to national systems. She shares how human trafficking is not a distant issue, but one that exists in everyday spaces—from schools and shopping centres to online environments—and emphasizes the importance of early intervention, awareness, and community responsibility in recognizing and responding to risk.

Grounded in the idea that “safety begins with our home fires,” this episode explores how prevention starts within families, culture, and identity. Josie highlights the ongoing gaps in services, the lack of implementation of the Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and the need for Indigenous-led, culturally grounded solutions. From the impacts of resource extraction and systemic inequities to the importance of allyship, education, and protecting future generations, this conversation is both sobering and empowering. It calls on all of us to stay vigilant, speak out, and work collectively to ensure safety, dignity, and justice for Indigenous women, girls, and communities.

Native Women’s Association of Canada: https://nwac.ca

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Welcome back to Stolen Voices, the fight against human trafficking in First Nation communities, a podcast dedicated to amplifying truth, centering Indigenous voices, and confronting the realities of human trafficking. I'm your host, Nicole Robertson. This podcast exists because our people deserve to hear the truth about how human trafficking impacts First Nations communities, and because we have leaders, survivors, advocates, and frontline workers who refuse to let the silence enable violence. Across these episodes, we center the voices of those doing the real work: community educators, survivors, protectors, knowledge holders, elders, and those who are strengthening systems where our systems once failed us. On this episode of Stolen Voices, we're honored to welcome a respected national leader in Indigenous advocacy. Josie Nipinak is a proud Anishinaabe woman from Treaty 4 Territory. She is a president of the Native Women's Association of Canada with more than 30 years of experience. Josie has a bachelor's degree in women's studies along with ongoing professional development in management. She chaired the Calgary Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women's Committee and is affiliated with numerous national and provincial boards and councils. We're grateful to have her join us today. Miguel, hi, hi, welcome, Josie, to the Stolen Voices Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

Thank you so much for having me, Nicole, and I look forward to this very important conversation because it is certainly an emerging or urgent issue that requires immediate intervention at many levels, whether it's community, whether it's regional, provincial, and national as well, because unfortunately, Indigenous women are overrepresented in human trafficking and in all forms of violence as well.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

Given your decades of leadership and advocacy in this space, how has your own lived experiences shaped the way you approach the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls?

SPEAKER_00 2:15

Well, certainly from a very young age, and I'm going to go back to my own experience where I had a close family member who was murdered, and that was more than 50 years ago. And I remember the the trauma, the dynamics that it caused within my family, and how we literally at that time had nowhere to turn to, and there were no resources at that time either for families. And having seen uh multiple sort of generations, including my grandparents whose daughter was murdered, and how we must work uh with with communities, with agencies, with resources, with our elders to create safety and awareness about uh the issues of MMIW. And begins with our home fires as well, our own home fires as we have them within our homes and uh the dynamics that happen with respect to uh some of the trauma that we carry, because we know that experiences up until, you know, since what was it, 1996, the last of the residential school continued to teach uh corporal punishment and and what that was like within and how that uh followed into parenting and what that felt like for families and communities. So I think we need to keep people safe within their homes, first of all. And we have a responsibility for um for our children to ensure that we create those safety boundaries with them, too, whether it's in the school, whether uh it's it's in the playground, uh and and whether it's within even the people who are in authority to look after us, uh those safety nets must be in place. Uh we know that human trafficking appears everywhere, like I said, from the playground into the schools. Most kids now have computers, at least my grandson does, with uh learning um lessons. Those lessons could be intercepted by predators and people who are seeking uh to traffic uh uh young boys and girls. I I've seen over the years uh trafficking on so many levels. Uh it also happens in the in the uh uh uh shopping centers, and I just seen recently I was in the shopping center and uh there was a young indigenous woman who was sitting at a table with this sort of rather big man, and uh uh but he had a bag and he was feeding her from this bag, and it looked like jelly beans or whatever it might have been. But she looked so vulnerable, and uh uh she looked very um afraid, so to speak. But uh, and and actually I I I made it my uh mission that afternoon. I'm gonna go find security and I'm gonna go tell them that there's something happening in there, and she doesn't look safe. So I I did go find security and I mentioned it to them. Like there is uh this young woman, and this is where they're sitting in the in the food court, and uh this is what she looks like, this is what the man looks like, and I need some intervention because something is obviously going on. So I think those kinds of things we need to be aware of. What does that look like? And in in uh another example that um uh that I can give you is recently I was in a a hamburger place uh here here in uh my home and uh saw this young uh uh Middle Eastern girl who was uh with a rather well-dressed man, and he brought her food to the table, but she didn't, she looked very afraid. Uh they did not speak, but he was busy on his phone text. And I realized after I walked out, I thought, wow, I just I I I could have done something, or I should have done something, I should have uh made a phone call for that young girl to for someone, it was an independent sort of a hamburger place. But I think we need to be very mindful and we need to be very um uh look at how we can intervene in a safe way, uh, beginning with early interventions, with beginning with our children when they are young, and to teach them about safety and boundaries and who to tell. Uh my generation didn't have that opportunity because we were in the residential schools, but when we when we look at subsequent generations and where we are today with the information that is readily available, we should work towards one, keeping those home fires warm and safe, teaching our children about safety, working with the schools as well to create that intervention within the public school or the private school systems, whichever they may be, to uh to recognize and to uh create awareness about what human trafficking is, and to create interventions that are safe, that are inclusive, but also that they are diverse of Indigenous peoples within that school system. And I say that because quite often Indigenous children and Indigenous peoples are often targeted uh due to vulnerabilities that have been created over time with human trafficking and the predators and and the shaping and the framing that these predators will do and the promises that they make. Human trafficking happens in our own communities, and it's been happening for for generations. I I remember, and I'm digressing a little bit here, just going back, but I remember as a child uh we were told uh because we just had gravel roads, right? Uh at Manegasibia Nishinabe, and we would walk on the roads and to the lake or to go visit family, and we were told if we saw a car, we would have to hide. If we heard a car coming, we would have to run into the bush and we would have to hide because um they were they were predators at that time. They drove nice cars, they would come into the reserve and they would take people. And so we know this has been going on for decades. However, the only interventions at that time were keeping families safe within the communities. We have access to many uh today that have been built over the years. Uh, having said that, though, unfortunately, Indigenous women uh continue to be targeted and Indigenous families, um, men, uh, uh, children, and uh we must uh continue to have conversations, however difficult they may be, because I think we all think at some point, well, this is not gonna happen to me. I it I I'm safe, I'm good, I know what what uh violence is, or I've been um, you know, my life has been not so safe at times, you know, people might think so. This this this human trafficking stuff that that happens elsewhere. But when we look at uh what's happened recently, even here in and around the Calgary area, a project called Buffalo, Buffalo Project, where they intercepted 10 men who didn't belong to the community who were attempting to traffic young indigenous girls. And how easily it is for them to come into our nations and communities and to and to actively uh perpetuate violence and risking the lives of these young women. So whoever does the work at the front end, when it quite often, in this case, it was the police, they saved several lives because the awareness that that created across not only in Alberta, but I believe across the country leads us to believe that there is a lot of human trafficking going on. Uh, I've seen it happen in many locations. In my previous work, I have seen women trafficked by other women. Uh and wherever women gather, there will be uh promises of um of you know nice clothes, good food, a place to stay, uh whatever that woman needs, they're being prepped for uh the human trafficking. And some unfortunately are never seen again. And uh so where uh we as well in Alberta, uh I know that there is a task force on um on human trafficking in Alberta, but it does not speak specifically about the Indigenous women's experiences. And I believe that there needs to be greater inclusion to frame indigenous women's experiences because we're not all the same. The experiences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous women are very different. We have different social experiences, and we are treated differently in this society and oftentimes treated as we are disposable, that nobody cares. But that is entirely false because we have entire communities across this country that that embrace who we are, and we must work with the systems. Although they are continue to create barriers, uh, these systems continue to uh open the doors, so to speak, uh a little bit, but won't let us in entirely uh whatever systems that are uh in place or funded, uh, then we must uh have an Indigenous-led uh program that will support human trafficking from an Indigenous lens. And I believe that that's the way that it will work. And we're not there yet. I I think we have to work vigorously at uh at creating those frameworks and creating those policies.

SPEAKER_01 11:56

Absolutely. Speaking of Project Buffalo, we're hoping to interview the chief of police at Tusguna to unpack some of the details of Project Buffalo that occurred on the Cetin Nation. For people listening and trying to understand the risks, what are some of those trends?

SPEAKER_00 12:12

So there is certainly a lack of services and supports. We require wraparound, culturally responsive services and supports to that individual, but also to her family, because chances are there's a reconnection, chances are there's dynamics that we don't know about. And so those dynamics and that reunification of that family is going to be very, very critical to keep those home fires burning. Uh, is there one in Alberta? I'm not one that I'm not aware that there is one. Is there any across the country? I believe that there is in in uh in Winnipeg, I believe that there is one. But uh, how can we model what other people are doing across the country to be able to make um these safe places for for Indigenous women who are trafficked?

SPEAKER_01 13:02

So, following the release of the national inquiry and it's 231 calls for justice, where do you see the most significant gaps between those recommendations and the current response on the ground?

SPEAKER_00 13:16

That's that's a really good question because there is no improvement. I mean, from the 213 calls to action, we it was reported in February at the federal provincial territorial meeting, uh not by the government, but we all know it, those of us working on the ground, that only two of the recommendations have been fulfilled. And and there are some, I believe, in sort of in transition and that they are uh hidden somewhere, but it's really difficult to identify where, uh, whether it's in policing, justice, health, uh, corrections, uh, no one seems to know where these changes are are implemented. So it's very frustrating as uh as a national organization for us to see this happening because we have worked, as you know, Native Women's Association has worked for 50 years since 1974 to change legislation around at that time, it was around the Indian Act and and women losing their status when they married non-Indigenous, but that kind of thing happened. And and so, you know, you fast track 50 to 50 years later, and we're still we're still fighting the same fight, and we're still working to gain that voice, and we are still working to change legislation, we're still developing policy papers, we continue to uh appear at the parliamentary sessions and and the various committees that uh that we're invited to, and we bring that voice to uh uh to the table, and we continue to develop um toolkits, for example. Uh you've probably seen them online, and and there are a number of them that have come out through Native Women's Association Facebook. So I would welcome anyone to go on, download, uh, and uh and reach out for that kind of support. Uh, I think is really important. So we continue to vigorously uh uh advocate and uh because you know I have to say we're not going away. We are not going away. We are going to continue to uh uh to raise that voice. Uh this m this issue is far too important for us not to not to continue at it, to continue to dig at it and to continue to seek justice and to continue to ask questions so that we can uh in our heart and spirit feel that our loved ones have been uh given the proper recognition and the proper uh support that need that's needed. But also for families, I think we have to consider that uh that there are children, how many children have been orphaned by uh by uh human trafficking, by uh violence against indigenous women, and that we are seeing a second generation of children now um becoming uh continuing to bear those vulnerabilities and push to the margins because the services and supports are not there for them. It was reported, uh I believe it was Ontario Native Women's Association that um said that there are the the MMIW and the murders are two times twice the um as what they were since 2017. Um and so there's a lot happening uh across the country. There's a lot of women on the ground who are doing some work. There are women at the you know at the national organizations that are doing that work as well. You know, I I have I have spent far too much time. I uh and and as I say, my aunt was murdered 50 years ago, and I and for 50 years I've been walking the um the vigils. I have organized vigils in Calgary for more than 25 years, and I have um written speeches, I've gone to rallies, I I've spoken to any authority that will listen to us uh to help make those changes. It's not going to stop. It'll continue. Um, I think uh, you know, there's been certainly disappointments, and the 213 calls to action are a severe disappointment for um for Indigenous women and certainly for Native Women's Association of Canada. Uh we do a yearly report card on them. It's available online, but I think it's time that Indigenous women from across the country that we work together, whether it's as a coalition and that we build a better, we we build a framework or we build a uh a policy area to uh to have a more of a and a better collective voice across the country.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

Absolutely, and I agree with that. There's so much work to be done, and you've done a lot of work. I'm shocked by what you said that since 2017 it's doubled in numbers. And COVID seemed to really escalate some of these problems, right?

SPEAKER_00 18:17

I I think COVID bought out a lot of weirdos and a lot of predators that uh that deliberately, I mean, because there are people online that will deliberately stalk uh vulnerable women. Uh they will stock them on the streets, they will stock them in in the bars, they will stock them in public spaces as well. Um and I think safety, safety, our perception of our own safety is very, very important. And I want to talk about that a little bit because I think that uh as as indigenous women, um, and the word that I like to use is um uh you know using plain language, is we've been kicked around long enough. And here's why. We're seeing generations of women who have uh suffered uh uh genocide, cultural genocide uh for decades, and we have been um locked in the residential schools, we had been forcibly removed from our families, we were forbidden to speak our languages and to uh uh become good little Indians and to take the spirit out of the child. And that was done primarily through punishment. It was done through fear of the fear of God uh that uh uh that you would go to hell because you're a little savage. And I've heard that so many times as a kid, and not to mention the the beatings and the abuse that I that I received as well. Um and and so when you have those experiences from the residential school, but you also have experiences from the um the child welfare system. Uh you have experiences in areas that um that have compromised your safety many, many, many times, which I have. Uh I I was actually a kid on the streets for a while in in Winnipeg in 1972 to 73 while my aunt was uh was still alive. And so I remember those vulnerabilities and feeling the way that I did at the time. And so quite often for many of us indigenous women, we carry those experiences because we know fear. We have been there, we we've had that fear, and uh uh so we tend to, you know, our perception then becomes a little bit different. So if you have um, you know, a middle class person that grew up in the burbs and they've had everything in their lives and everything was safe, they're gonna react very, very differently than we do today. We need to understand that safety is life and that uh safety is also spirit because our spirits are incredibly strong. That and we need to lean closer into building that sense of who we are and that spirit because our lives matter.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

Thank you for sharing that because I practice safety as well. And growing up partially in Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and now I'm in Calgary, it's been all my life I've gone through some things myself. I've learned always to be aware of my surroundings, which is super important. But at the same time, it's really tough on the nervous system. Through your leadership now at NWAC, and I'm so happy that you're now the president of the Native Women's Association of Canada, and congratulations on that. It's so important that now you're at these tables where national and international conversations are being discussed. Discussed. What would you say knowing about the funding that we heard that is going to be cut, how is that going to affect our Native women and girls?

SPEAKER_00 22:08

Yeah. Well, I think it's going to adversely affect uh folks that are on the ground and and and uh with uh programs and funding, uh, whether they're sunsetting, whether the the contract, you know, it was a one-year contract. Uh and and that's there's a lot of difficulty that lies in that because when we're attempting to build uh community research or research agenda, or we're attempting to build capacity and that kind of thing in our community, we often have to rely on year-to-year funding. It's also difficult to get staff with year-to-year funding. You develop expertise with a certain, you know, with staff members, and all of a sudden they're gone because uh they um they they can't rely on the fact that they may not be there next year. That's so service delivery is caught severely compromised because now you have to recruit new staff who don't have that same experience, who don't have the lived experience, who do not uh come in with the proper training. So you're starting all over again. Uh uh, and and it's and and I've seen this for generations, uh, for decades uh over the past 50 years. Uh, and um that's very frustrating. But more importantly, it affects the families, the families who are um who have lost a loved one, the families that require the supports on the ground and how um uh missing people are reported, um, the wraparound supports that are often required, to uh to look for a loved one, to report a missing loved one, to navigate services and systems that that are not so friendly to us sometimes, and to have the emotional supports that are required. Uh, I think, you know, whether it's um, you know, funding so that our elders can uh can gather to to to to embrace us, you know, because we need that from them, uh, to to tell us uh to and to nurture and uh you know we do the same for them, but also to uh to keep us in a safe place and and to tell to do some of the storytelling that we can share about our loved one. We can cry, we can we can heal. All of those things are very important. You know, I have seen um, you know, kids that have um this always makes me a little bit emotional because I've had to uh you know, I've seen my own two uh two little nieces. Well, they're young, they're women now, you probably you probably know them. And uh they had lost their mom when they were little. And how, you know, how that affects and and one of them particularly still misses her mother so much. And having to see that, you know, is is not easy. It's uh uh and and so I always try to mention the children because uh they too carry that uh whether we call it, you know, that trauma, that um um that lived experience through through their blood, and and and that they have to continue to live it. You know, I often say, you know, that those goodnight kisses that they should have had, those um bedtime books, you know, that that embrace that they should have had. And the love and nurturing, because only a mother can love and nurture her kids the way that they need to be nurtured. Um I think that that's really important to uh I mean we have our grandmothers, you know, who who do the same thing, but uh uh my experience has been that uh it's both that that uh the little ones need. So it's important to remember them because we are doing this for them and and uh you know and and for their children and grandchildren, because you know, looking at future generations, I and I want to be positive about this because I think looking at future generations, I think we have to be optimistic that yes, we are in grief, and I and I understand that, and there's grief across the country uh while we have these conversations, whether they're at the federal, provincial, territorial tables or whether we have them at our own kitchen tables. Um that grief continues to be there. But moving beyond that, uh, what we can do is uh uh we can push for change, we can we can push for a safer uh Canada, a better, a safer, a safer road to walk on in our communities, uh safer places, uh, and our home fires can burn warmly with that uh with that glow and that embracement of our lives collectively. I think that's really important. I mean, there's a lot of political work here that needs to be done in terms of um of the continued advocacy, in terms of the continued policy papers, the research position papers, all of that continues to that that needs to be done. And and the will of the government as well to uh uh to participate in those conversations. We know now that uh resource extraction and development is uh is certainly part of the work moving forward and how we must, you know, the work that we're doing at our organizations must speak to you know how we're going to do that in our programs and services. I find that challenging uh for a number of reasons, partially because when we have, you know, we're talking about extraction and resource development when we uh when we know that resource extraction and development will increase the um the level of human trafficking in our in Indigenous communities, it'll increase the level of violence, it'll increase the level of other vulnerabilities that are going to affect Indigenous women. So my position on resource extraction is going to come from that level. How do we ensure that Indigenous women are safe while this resource extraction is happening wherever they may be? If you have a community of 500, you bring in a community of uh 1,500, you know, in a man camp, how do we ensure that the community is going to be safe? And how do we how do we prepare the community for safety? And how do we develop safety plans and action plans with them to ensure that the land is left behind the way that it before they came in? So uh, you know, that and and that involves the medicine picking and the ways of life that that that we know. So it's safety way of life, and it's also about economic prosperity. We need to continue to work and to provide these services and programs, uh, and to ensure that the other piece that we're working on with other Indigenous organizations is to uh indigenous women's organizations is to how do we uh uh how do we develop oversight on this resource and extraction to ensure one that there is safety, secondly, that there is that there are plans and implementation in place for that safety, but also for the economic prosperity piece as well.

SPEAKER_01 29:27

Speaking about the safety of our women and girls in these communities and the extraction of resources, it's well known that those conditions bring not only drugs, alcohol, and violence, but also human trafficking. Do you have anything that you'd like to share that has come up in these discussions?

SPEAKER_00 29:43

We need to know that people have thought about this, that they have analyzed what you know, what their uh what their appearance or what their uh uh in the community is going to look like. Is there even enough water in a community? Like, are we compromising the the water of the people in the community community? Are we compromising the medicine picking that's done, you know, with berries and that kind of thing at certain times because we only have windows, right, to pick uh to pick some of the medicines and the berries and and uh you know there so that environmental plan needs to be developed, but also safety, safety for the people. Uh I mean if there's if their only health center is one nurse, how do they plan to do that when they have an influx of uh of uh 2,000 population all of a sudden in their communities? It's going to exhaust the infrastructure, it's going to exhaust the policing, but more so it's going to affect the people that are living and living on the land as as a way of life. So that's uh so I would say people in the community must be resourced to develop these plans for themselves and how they see their community. Resources and extraction companies must come in with uh with with plans and they cannot uh you know parachute a plan in and say, well, here's what we're gonna do for you, and we're gonna give give you give you this and give you that. Uh that's not going to work. I believe that communities are strong. Uh indigenous communities have the expertise, uh, the wisdom. There's many knowledge keepers on the land. I mean, even my own, you know, community back home, Negasabia, and Shinabe, we we don't have any berries anymore. We don't have any more fish in the in the waters. And when at one time when I was a kid, they were plentiful. We would go out in the morning and we'd have a bucket of fish, you know, because the the ministries thought it was okay to do commercial fishing in the area. And the elders could see at that time, we won't have any fish down the road, and sure enough, you know, it's starting to regrow again, but for about three decades, there was nothing. It's all through environment, it's through paved highways, it's through whatever it is that's in the environment. It's killed it all. And so those kinds of things, while we may not see them now, your children, your grandchildren are gonna see them in the future. Now is the time to act on those uh on those matters and those issues. Because I know my grandparents did with us, but they told us they uh you know, my aunt papa said, you know, one day he said, we're gonna pay so heavily for water, he said. And at that time we were still drinking water from the lake. Uh and sure enough, we do, we do pay heavily for the water now.

SPEAKER_01 32:31

Thank you so much for that. In your view of the current geopolitical landscape and what's occurring with Trumpism and the things that have been happening in the province of Alberta regarding separatism, it seems a judge has ruled in favor of the case of our First Nation chiefs for right now. There's this sense you have to be much more vigilant and aware as an indigenous person. What do you see in terms of this current time we're living in?

SPEAKER_00 33:01

What I'm seeing is a lot of courage. You know, a lot of courage and strength from our First Nations communities who stood up in the courts and who stood up at the legislature last week to say, no, this is treaty six, seven, and eight land, and that they are going to uh defend their treaty rights. And I 110% support that. So with that, I uh I mean kudos to to for for that uh uh rally in Edmonton, and certainly I think that uh uh and a stay on um on the counting of the ballots or whatever it is on this uh uh I think we'll know more as we move forward. I mean if the referendum comes up, whether or not you know Alberta should stay or not, um, I think is going to be really important. I believe that uh it has also um riled up the political right in terms of uh in terms of their values and their ideology, and has uh uh turned into a bit of a mudsling where they are saying this and that about uh and and the racism as a result of uh of these issues, I think is very, very concerning. Um I myself put in a phone call to the RCMP the other day because I saw some posts that were very, very uh derogatory and that kind of thing. And I and I made uh I also made a complaint to the mayor of that city because I think that people need to do better. Uh I think municipalities, and it is in the truth and reconciliation documents that uh municipalities have a very strong part to play in um truth and reconciliation. Uh it's going to be very difficult uh with the current uh redneck mindset, for lack of better words, to uh uh to move in this way. But uh I think we also have to increase, you know, you've already mentioned we need to be much more vigilant. Uh I think we there are mechanisms if people are feeling that their lives are in danger, uh, you know, as a result of what's of what's happening. But I have to say I am very, very, very proud of our leadership uh for standing up to uh to to the the current political mindset, you know, whether it's uh provincially or uh to the south of us uh in uh in the US, we we need to be strong and we need to defend what is rightfully our inherent uh birthrights, and and that should never change.

SPEAKER_01 35:52

Yes. When that type of unity happens, I think there's so much hope that can bleed into this area of awareness and action. Do you think that's translated into meaningful change, or are there still large pieces missing?

SPEAKER_00 36:07

Well, I think that there can always be pieces added in terms of education to to different people across the province. I think there needs to be more of a comprehensive. I I know that you know there is uh one plan for one for one Alberta, let's say, and and but that plan often is exclusionary of indigenous peoples because they don't take into consideration what's important for us and and what is constitutionally protected, etc. So I believe that there needs to be greater conversations, uh uh, perhaps even some town hall meetings for so that people can can become more educated, perhaps more uh online education. And you know, as people have pointed out to the course at the University of Alberta, uh, and sometimes people don't have time, sometimes we just have an hour with people to be able to teach them about why this is so important. Uh, and I think there has to be a number of ways to be able to do that, but that again needs to be resourced adequately to get it done. Um, and and that's I see that as a responsibility of the province and the municipal governments to do that as well.

SPEAKER_01 37:18

Based on the work that you've seen across communities, both regionally and nationally, what types of Indigenous-led community-driven solutions are proving the most effective in preventing human trafficking and violence?

SPEAKER_00 37:32

I think it's important to uh to resource and to uh continue to advocate and to be vigorous about it and and to challenge, challenge those systems. And and I think we need to speak uh uh you know when when whenever we can, wherever we can, and not to be afraid, because uh you were given that voice by you know through ancestors and and uh we need to uh uh uh we must and and we were told how to use it.

SPEAKER_01 38:06

Hi, hi. That is really hitting home for me today. So thank you for that. In close, for Canadians who are increasingly aware of these issues, they may see it in the news or social media, but people are unsure how to respond. Uh what is one shift in understanding or action that you believe is most urgently needed right now?

SPEAKER_00 38:29

I believe education and awareness is is is number one to understand the issue and to pay attention to the issue as well. And also uh to read that the 231 calls to action from the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. If you don't have time, because it is a lot, a lot of reading, read the executive summary and then read the pathways uh document to understand the issue. But I also believe that uh we need allyship, we need you to be our allies, we need you to speak up, we need you to call it out, we need you to talk to your MPs, to talk to your MLAs, and to and to ask questions around human trafficking, and particularly how that affects Indigenous women, and that uh uh as Indigenous women, we uh we carry much more vulnerabilities because of the continued uh colonial violence that's perpetuated against us by systems across the country. So I would say we all have voice. Imagine if we all said this is not okay, and that we understood that why it's not okay, and that we had the resources to be able to say that. Because right now, as we speak, as we sit, there are predators out there and there are people stalking that will um that will hurt uh and take lives, and we don't want to see that happen. So collectively, I think as a as a society, as a civil society, we need to come together and start saying no to the issues around all forms of abuse, human trafficking, uh, and and the violence that happens in our communities. I think we need to start teaching safety uh at a much earlier age. You know, we do that with our littles, right? We we keep them away from the stove and we keep them away from you know things that might hurt them or the traffic. But now we need to start teaching that uh that that inner or whether you want to call it spiritual or whether it's you know uh uh the the emotional supports where people are feeling that I'm emotionally safe, I'm psychologically safe, but I'm also physically safe and and that we need to focus on those areas and we can do that by sharing who we are, as uh as whether it's as anishna be kwewak or whether it's as a uh as a cree person or however you do that, but I think it's important that these children uh that that we have today know who they are and where they come from, and that they are valued and that they are loved. And that's our responsibility, and let's keep them safe. Let's start with that. Again, I go back to our home fires. What's in our home fires that will create that environment where children will be safe and understand safety?

SPEAKER_01 41:23

Well, thank you so much, Josie, for your knowledge, service, and compassion and being here on our podcast, Stolen Voices.

SPEAKER_00 41:34

Thank you so much for having me. It was a pleasure to have this conversation. And uh I look forward to uh to another time that we can we can do this again.

SPEAKER_01 41:44

Thank you so much, Josie, for your knowledge, service, and compassion. To our listeners, thank you for joining us for this episode of Stolen Voices, the fight against human trafficking in First Nation communities. If this conversation brought up strong emotions or memories, please take care of yourself. Reach out to a trusted support person, community resource, or crisis line. This podcast exists because our stories matter, our people matter, and every single stolen voice deserves to be heard, honored, and protected. If you or someone you know needs help, please call the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline at 1833-900-1010. It's available 24-7, confidential, and judgment free. You can always reach out to us by email at stolenvoices the podcast at gmail.com. Please subscribe to the podcast, share it with your community, and follow G4 Justice for updates. Until next time, stay safe and stay informed. Hi hi, you're not committed, which means increase. Thank you. I am very grateful.