A little about my CPT experience

A lone birch tree stands amidst a clearcut forest.

From July 28 to Aug. 6, I (Andrew) took part in a CPT delegation to Kenora, ON. I learned a lot more about the issues facing Native people in that area specifically, but even generally I have discovered on a much more personal (rather than academic) level just how much we have taken from them. From mistranslated treaties to residential schools we have stolen land and stolen culture in the most brutal and selfish ways possible. I have volunteered to write an article on behalf of the delegation, so I'll post that up later.

The delegation was a wonderful experience. I spent this week with five other very wonderful and compassionate people. From the beginning we seemed to have a great trust for each other and built a very strong sense of community. As is worked at in all CPT delegations, we worked to always build consensus when the group had a decision to make. We shared duties of meal preparation, log keeping, worship leading.

CPT has spent several years now in Kenora working first as observers at blockades of logging roads and more recently at undoing systemic racism in Kenora itself. The hard work that has been done to gain the trust of the Native community was demonstrated by the invitation we received to join one of our Native friends at their summer camp on Trout Lake (several hours north of Kenora), an invitation that few white people have ever received.

One interesting experience was joining the street patrol roaming the streets of Kenora between midnight and 3:00 am. They go around and find intoxicated street people and send them to the detox centre until they get sober and are released. They do this because inebriated street people (mostly natives) are at high risk of being beat up by inebriated white people when the bars close. We had mixed feelings about this service because it really seems to further victimize the homeless instead of addressing those who are perpetrating the violence.