For my Blueprint for change project I wrote a piece of slam poetry that talks about the calls to action from the MMIWG report. The poetry was written with the intention of respecting Indigenous story telling. It was intended to bring forward the need for all Canadians to make changes to respect and follow the calls to action, whether that be a politicians need to change unjust policy, or a parent’s job to teach their children to treat every person with respect and empathy. 
  
 Called to Action. 
 We have been called to action, and this is not a movement that only a fraction of the community can take part in. We need everyone. We need social workers and politicians, teachers and those in positions of power within indigenous communities. We need everyone. From police to parents, we need to increase understanding of an issue that has been long standing in our community since before any of us were born. We can no longer pretend we are torn between what is right and what is free, there is no degree of uncertainty, they told us what they need in an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous woman and girls. 
  
 The report found that Canada is responsible for genocide, and even now people deny this truth, preferring to turn a blind eye to media lies of mistakes made in the name of progress, politicians only now apologizing for generations of abuse as if that justifies the homicide of indigenous youth. But now we have been called to action. 
  
 In schools we learned about colonization. But this was a simplification of generations of mistreatment, because unless you wanted to do your own research, they never told us about the starvation of children in residential schools, or the deforestation of reserve land. They didn’t teach us about the over representation of indigenous youth in the child welfare system.
  Teachers didn’t talk about generational trauma, never explaining that the social determination of health was caused by wealth not being evenly shared with indigenous organizations. 
  
 This needs to be helped, because it’s an unfair hand that has been dealt generations ago when white men imposed the melting pot approach to Canada’s first people. But we have been called to action. 
  
 This will not be a quick process, real progress never is, it will take time to change our mind sets, to use cultural safety and to bravely admit that we have caused harm. But we have been called to action, and our response to this call will determine whether we finally fall on the right side of history. Let us fall on the right side of change, as we have been called to action.
  
Keaundra Howden


 References 
 Alina Reynbakh 2016 Pow wow little kids take part in Kahnawake 26th Annual Echoes Of A Proud Nation Pow Wow in Kahnawake reserve – Image. Royalty Free Stock Image: 451005517
 Gatien 2013 Scenes from Mi'kmaq Mawi'omi traditional ceremony – Image. Royalty Free Stock Image:771461536
 Meunierd 2015 Native Indian unidentified child in traditional costume. Royalty Free Stock Image: 295224911
 Reinke Fox 2005 Ethnic black raven silhouette. African / totem / tattoo design – Vector. Image Royalty Free Stock Image: 292675022
 Valmedia 2005 Women holding and playing their sacred drums outdoors in the wintertime – Image Royalty Free Stock Image: 1130428331