Inuk truth speaker visits Algonquin Public School
Vanessa Brosseau, aka Resilient Inuk, stopped by Algonquin Public School on Monday amidst her Canada-wide tour to raise awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP), intergenerational healing and urban Inuk identity.
Brosseau shared passages from her children’s book Because We Care, which teaches children about MMIP as well as the importance staying safe and looking out for one another.
“The kids are amazing,” she said. “It’s why I do it. Their energy, their love for one another. They’re the ones who are going to be the change makers. They’re very, very smart. We really just need to start opening our hearts to these children so that these things don’t happen to them. [Because we Care] is a book I wrote for eighth grade and under to learn about missing Indigenous people in a kind way.”
Brosseau’s sister Pamela Jayne Holopainen has been missing for over 22 years.
“I’m trying to create awareness not just for missing and murdered Indigenous people, but safety for all people,” she said. “It’s something I’m passionate about because of my sister. I’m grateful to be here in Thunder Bay, because it has such a high population of Indigenous people and missing and murdered people as well.”
In the afternoon, Brosseau hosted a workshop to teach Algonquin’s eighth graders how to make sealskin red dress pins.
“My family comes from Sanikiluaq, Nunavut, so I work with seal skin. A lot of times these children have never seen seal skin before. So at the same time we’re learning about MMIP, we’re able to learn about seals, seal skin and Inuit history, how we still use seals today,” she said.
This is the second year Brosseau has embarked on her Rolling Resilience national tour. Last year she went from Sanikiluaq to Prince Rupert, BC and back in 41 days. This year she plans to make more stops on at least a 60-day trip.
“We’re on day six today. We came from North Bay, and our next stop is Winnipeg,” she said.
Learn more about Brosseau’s work and her Canadian tour at her website resilientinukcreations.ca. You can also donate to her journey through her GoFundMe.
