Nakuset is the executive director of the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal.
She spoke with Global News about how the past decade shaped up, the challenges she faced in her work as well her hopes for the future.
Global News: What were you doing 10 years ago, in 2010?
Nakuset: I was working at the Native Women’s Shelter; I have been working there for 20 years. So in 2010 I was doing the exact same thing I’m doing now but on a smaller scale, advocating on behalf of women and children. I became the executive director in 2004, so in 2010 I was probably trying to get funding to expand the programming.
GN: How were you hoping things would shape up in your community or work over the past decade?
N: The thing about Indigenous organizations is that funding always gets cut. In 2010, I was receiving money from the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, so the shelter looked very different. But then funding was cut in 2014.
We had many more services before that. We had a healing camp in the summer, we had a sexual assault aid worker, a program coordinator, professionals who came in to help women. The money we had was supposed to counteract the effects of residential schools, and because most of the women that came to the shelter either went to of residential schools themselves or their parents did and they were affected. So we wanted to create programs to help them heal.
So in 2010, we had money. In 2014, when they cut it … I had to scramble to find new money, because it’s unfair to the people that come and use our services to be like “I’m sorry, we don’t provide that anymore, go somewhere else,” and no one else is providing those services. So I had absolutely no idea that I would be chasing money as much as I have over the past 10 years.
GN: Were you right or wrong about what you had envisioned? If you were wrong, how so?
N: It’s kind of like having the carpet pulled out from under your feet. Even if you envision that you are going to make the surroundings a safer place, it’s an ongoing battle. The Viens commission (the public inquiry commission on relations between Indigenous people and public services in Quebec, chaired by the Honourable Jacques Viens), the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) commission, truth and reconciliation — all largely ignored. The systemic issues that face Indigenous people, the discrimination on every single level is the biggest challenge.
Trying to change the system, it’s changing the perception of Indigenous people that has been the biggest fight in every single institution.
GN: What is the single biggest change that has happened in your community or work over the past 10 years that was most significant?
N: Everything that has happened has marked me. Every time we see an issue that’s ignored. Bystander syndrome, working to fix that. Looking around and asking, “Is someone going to do anything about that? No? Ok fine, I’ll do it.” That’s what I have been doing: trying to fix the issues that people ignore. In terms of youth protection, we try to make great strides with them.
The lack of housing — something we are creating is a second-stage housing for Indigenous women and children, but it’s only happening in 2021. It has taken 10 years to develop. Why has it taken so long? Because you need to find the right location, the right people to put it together; you need to find the funding. Originally they wanted to put it in the east end, where Indigenous people will not go. We needed it somewhere local.
GN: What has been your biggest win?
N: Cabot Square. I’m super proud of that. The fact that I have aboriginal Fridays every summer at Cabot Square, the fact that we have an outreach worker is huge. The fact that we have aboriginal day, the only day we get to celebrate. Even though I have to apply for the money, fill out paperwork, present to a jury and then get a very small amount and then fundraise some more after that, that day is super significant because it recognizes that we are still here.
We do those concerts with Indigenous artists, and most of the population could never afford a ticket to attend those concerts, and they get to go for free. It builds community and gives them hope, gives them pride in their culture. That is something I’m super proud of. I’m also proud that we are in the process of putting the second-stage housing together, but right now it’s just a shell.
GN: What was your biggest disappointment?
N: I have an issue with the fact that we are often reported on, in terms of commissions and inquiries, and then there are all the recommendations that get largely ignored. Why are you consulting us and asking us to come and speak? I went to the MMIWG inquiry in Calgary for three days to testify, I went to the Viens commission also for three days to testify, and everybody goes and breaks their hearts giving information on what kind of discrimination they have experienced, and nobody does anything about it.
Resilience Montreal is a direct solution to the discrimination against Indigenous people. We are creating a safe place and bringing in all the services there and making them feel human.
GN: What was the biggest story of the last decade in your community?
N: I don’t know. How many times are we in the news? Is it the MMIWG inquiry? A discrimination story? The thing is, when it comes to media, they usually only report on us when it comes to the four Ds: when we are dancing, drumming, drunk or dead. That’s usually when the media will come and see us.
But there is an enormous amount of potential in every single city and community, and that is what the media needs to focus on: the good things. Not every time our kids are taken away, or when we are discriminated against, or are over-ticketed, or someone went missing, or the police mistreating us. Of course it’s all true, but there are other positive things about us, and that changes the perception of us.
If people always see us as victims, then they feel sorry for us. Don’t feel sorry for us. We have survived 500 years of colonialism and we are still here. That’s huge.
GN: How has the makeup of Montreal and the community you serve changed over the last decade?
N: A lot more condos, and it’s pushing us out.
GN: What’s your biggest hope for your community in Montreal for the next 10 years?
You look at other cities like Vancouver and it’s so much more progressive. You go into their airport and there is Indigenous art everywhere. You enter the city and you know you are on Indigenous land. That’s not what it’s like here. The schools there actually teach First Nations language in the curriculum. We have a lot to catch up on.
GN: What is the biggest challenge facing your community over the next decade?
N: All the current challenges.
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