Honourable senators, I acknowledge the soul work of artist Leanna Marshall in her work entitled Zaagi’idiwin: Silent, Unquestionable Act of Love and the movement forward that comes from her teachings and the jingle dresses that she designs.

Our story as First Nations Peoples on Turtle Island has a long history. Today, I share with you an intersection where people meet to understand and explore the essence of relationships, of the deeply personal stories of connection, disconnection, then reconnection and the pain of loss — yes, I am talking about the Red Chamber. It’s my deep personal story that shaped my perception of my place, then no place and then limited space in my home country. It’s the social inequities, resistance and sorrow that taught me the importance of compassion and forgiveness that ultimately help to move forward to a new and more affirmative place of being for me but also, more importantly, for the collectives whose voices I bring to the floor — and also a more affirmative place for the senators who support the work we do.

Here is our journey together on Orange Shirt Day:

our voices are vibrations

travelling a path from heart to heart

it is up to us to decipher meaning

like ancestors who had visions Seven Generations ago

tune into the reverberation

narrative stored in our DNA

memories linked to our histories

stories filtered through generations

healing stitched in fabric

hope gathers in jingle dresses

fabric gathers stories along lines of jingles

like treelines along the shores of Lake Superior

with each jingle a story is remembered

like roots running in the earth gathering strength

a full moon story

a residual memory

from life at residential school

a painful moon connects broken families

a crying moon carries the hurt

as a young girl endures pain from wicked hands

a praying moon enlightens

as a young girl’s pain is remembered

with a grandmother’s voice

a jingle is stitched for every day at residential school

in each stitch, jingles heal a grandmother’s journey

back to a full moon of hope

there’s no shortcut or bypass

the only way is to find your voice

the voice finds strength with each telling

the chords thread and stitch our lives

Remember —

— remember this, senators —

— and honour

voice, story, self.

Thank you.