Renowned Blackfoot educator Ramona Big Head talks about overdoses and other tragedies, the ripple effect of residential school abuses through generations and families, and hope.
Recent deaths in her community and family "knocked me off my feet," she tells cohosts Jessica Vandenberghe and George Lee. "I think I'm still processing the magnitude of these losses. And it's still happening."
Among her tools for healing are prayer, ceremony, physical exercise, humour, empathy, and spending time with her grandchildren.
"I'm such an optimist," Ramona says. "I honestly believe that this generation of kids. . .they could be the first generation of our people that absolutely, 100 per cent stay away from drugs or alcohol. Why? Because they see immediately, you take that drug, you die."
Warning: suicide, sexual abuse, and substance abuse are discussed in this episode.
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