This is the ninth article in our series about social innovation. We had many opportunities to talk about fundraising during our visits together. She was generous with her money, her time, and her wisdom, and I began to wonder how we could take philanthropy in Canada to a new level. As AnishinaabeKwe an Ojibway woman I have dedicated my entire career to improving the quality of life for Indigenous peoples. Our life chances, social conditions, and living standards have improved, however they still do not come close to those enjoyed by non-Indigenous peoples.
I studied sociology because I wanted to understand the dynamics of society and what drivers led us to the place we are at in Canada. As a youth activist, I fought for equality and against racism in Thunder Bay, where I went to high school. These issues are highly resistant to resolution through any of the existing modes of problem-solving.
A suicide epidemic is a wicked problem. I worked on youth suicide prevention for five of my seven years at NAN. In , APTN reported that data revealed close to suicides in these northern Ontario communities since the mids. A third of these deaths are young people, between the ages of The most common method is hanging. Colonialism in Canada has provided a history of heartache. Solving wicked problems can be a matter of life and death for Indigenous peoples.
I found in social innovation β when I participated in the Getting to Maybe: Social Innovation Residency at the Banff Centre in β an insightful way to see, comprehend, and potentially transform the systems that continue to produce undesirable, and often deadly, outcomes for our communities.
For Indigenous peoples, most wicked problems are bound up in a history of colonization and genocide. The layered traumas caused by dehumanizing policies and practices, such as the Indian Act and Indian Residential Schools, manifest in high rates of suicide, addiction, violence, morbidity, and mortality.
