Photos from inside the house

Stories From Inside The House

You ask me for a solution—for some advice that will help the problem of housing people with disabilities? How can people do a better job of assisting First Nations people with disabilities? That’s easy. I am not an Indian. I am not an Indigenous person. I am not a person with a disability. I am Koous. I am a human being. I am a human being in exactly the same way you are a human being. If people saw me as a human being—if people treated me like a human being I would receive the help and respectful care I need.

RON MARTIN, MUKWILA, TLA O QUI AHT FIRST NATION

Some of the messages we were told repeatedly during our Phase 1 and Phase 2 engagement sessions were: Do not forget why you are creating a new system. It is for the people who live in the houses, who drink the water— the individuals—the families. Housing and infrastructure is about family and community. A new system must improve the quality of life for First Nations people wherever they live.

We approached the topic of “the people” by engaging different target audiences each with its own housing needs and struggles. We call this section “Stories From Inside the House” because the rest of the report focuses on governing, managing, and financing the overarching system, and if we are to understand the purpose of changing the current system we need to go inside the house where the people are and listen to their concerns. We decided the best way to hear those concerns was to listen to their stories.

The participants told stories about the absence of adequate housing in First Nations and discrimination and racism against First Nations people searching for housing in the mainstream. The storytellers’ requirements were simple: they needed a safe place to call home for themselves and their families, whether in First Nations communities or in the mainstream. They call for fairness and justice—to be treated equally and given equal opportunities as others in their pursuit of housing. But finding a home is complicated in a system that is in constant crisis and that is stacked against First Nations people.

The stories highlight the desire of people to live in a supportive community. For most that meant in their First Nation or in their territory and if not, then at least in a safe accepting neighbourhood. The stories shed light on how the housing shortage in First Nations drives their citizens to substandard and often dangerous places to live.

We appeal to you for what we consider justice, and what we think you would yourself consider justice if you were in our position.

CHIEFS OF THE SHUSWAP MAY 1911