Lauren
Tansi and welcome. My name is Lauren and I am blessed to live, learn, and explore on the traditional and unceded territory of the Coast Salish people. I wanted to take a moment to recognize the land in which I am fortunate to reside and thank those who share their home with me. It took time to discover how I wanted to convey my letter in a way that was meaningful, well articulated, and showed my learning journey. I decided to engage in a form of story-telling, which is a traditional way of sharing knowledge, history, and experience with those in our communities. As this is a tradition and honour reserved for our Elders, I want to state that I mean no disrespect and hope that I am able to convey the stories passed on to me by those who were willing to share their experience. The process of creating my spoken letter was an experience driven by emotion, passion, and intrigue. I identify as Metis, but I was raised within dominant society and benefited greatly from that privilege. I am white-passing, therefore have never experienced racism or discrimination in the healthcare system. Racism within healthcare was not on my radar and I was oblivious to the struggles, fears, and pain Indigenous communities experience on a daily basis within these structures. When I mentioned that this process was highly emotional for me, I mean that the stories I was told tore at my heartstrings, made me take a step back and recognize my own privilege, and saddened me deeply. When creating my spoken letter, recalling these stores from friends, family, and Indigenous community members brought tears to my eyes and awareness to my heart. This experience has provided me with the strength to stand up against racism within healthcare and advocate for those who are trying to navigate the system that was not designed for our culture or traditions.
I filmed my spoken letter with the assistance of my good friend who has a talent for film. We were able to attend Beacon Hill Park in Victoria BC and use the Spirit of Lekwammen as a background to my spoken letter. The totem stands at 180 feet and 3 inches tall and was installed in memory of the Indigenous men and women who lost their lives in the World Wars. Images used throughout the presentation were filmed by Eric Orton and used with his permission. Hospital and medical staff representation are part of Adobe Premiere Pro stock content and are licensed and owned by Eric Orton. The film was edited together to create a story that shows the beauty of our home. The music used was a “Native American Flute” compilation provided by Adobe Premiere Pro and is licensed to be used. I chose the flute as it provides a melodic and peaceful back ground to the story being told. While drumming is a more commonly used traditional form of music, the flute provides a tone that helps to soothe the community during hard time.
Throughout my spoken letter, I wanted to highlight the difficulties and barriers of Indigenous people within the healthcare system, but also show that there is change on the horizon. I hope that I was successful in conveying the growth and learning that I have obtained as well as inspired others to use their voices to stand strong with Indigenous communities. Systemic racism is ingrained in the very fibre of our civilization and it is time that we open our eyes and see the pain and sadness within our own communities.
Thank you
