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TheyBuildBridges, Box 3673, Vermilion, AB (2026)

10/02/2026

On Sept 30th, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, I was invited to contribute “something meaningful” to Cornerstone Coop Management team at their annual gathering that includes a Team building activity in the afternoon.

I must admit that this was going to be one of the most unique things I have been asked to be a part of as a Truth and Reconciliation speaker and presenter.

Because when I met with CEO of Cornerstone Coop Kory Kralkay, he told me that the afternoon activity was going to be a theme similar to the Amazing Race.
Honestly, I hesitated a bit….how could I bring something meaningful to an event that is designed to be a series of fun challenges?….Especially on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Then I had an idea …

I proposed a Cree speaking challenge where each member of the 11 teams would have to introduce themselves to me in Cree using a sheet I created as a
guide, that only had the Cree introduction, with each Cree sentence followed by a phonetic sentence to help with pronunciation.

Here is how I presented it in a meaningful way…

“Your Challenge… Is to Speak Cree in honour of those who could not, those who were prohibited from doing so through the Residential School history of Canada or have lost the Cree Language as a direct or consequential result of Residential School history here in Canada.”

After 2 minutes of practicing, each member of the teams had to recite the following introduction in Cree, with only the phonetic cheat sheet to guide them.

“My name is (insert name here in English), and I am from (insert hometown, country of origin, or ethnicity here in English).

I work near Vermilion in the middle of Treaty 6.

And I am thankful to be here with you today.

Every Child Matters.”

When I read the Challenge out loud to the first Team, I became very emotional, but I had to hold it together as the many dozens of ways that this Colonization and Assimilation history in Canada has affected my family, flowed through my mind.

This was particularly harder as I tried to be focused and intentional by looking into the compassionate eyes of the many contestants of whom many were visibly moved by the Challenge as I read it out to their Teams.

That…was…hard.

I am so very thankful for the caring and compassionate way ALL of the contestants tried with such diligence and respect, expressing their gratitude for the station with a handshake before they moved to their next challenge.

I am also grateful for Kory Kralkay and the whole Team at Cornerstone Coop for their meaningful intent on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and for inviting me into their “circle”.

I am most thankful to God for leading me to this group, on this day, for this reason, and the opportunity to share “something meaningful” in a space that my own insecurities had me second guessing “the native kid” or anything I have to say.

Ninanaskomon Kiyawaw.
I am thankful for all of you.

Tahto Awasis Ispihteyitakosiw!
Every Child Matters

In honour of our Mother, Helen John🧡

10/01/2026

On Tuesday Sept 29, we had the pleasure of spending time with Wainwright High School for their NDTR day.
We shared 2 KAIROS Blanket Exercises with 2 Jr High Classes in the morning, and then I shared a customized Session I call The Narrative Web with 2 Sr High Classes in the afternoon.

For weeks ahead of this day, and even months prior, a theme in my mind was around “legitimacy”. The legitimacy of Indigenous People in society and how that has been compromised by the Government’s Colonization and Assimilation policies for well over 159 years. Yes, it started long before Confederation, due to the Dominion and their practices imposed against Indigenous People here in Canada. They gave authority to the fur trading companies and agents to set a framework of coercion and control.
The fur trading companies and their agents were the ‘de facto’ government before Confederation.

But as this day drew closer I realized that legitimacy is not the right word to use to describe how our Indigenous people were compromised, and here is why.

The foundational definition of ‘legitimate’ is ; what is proper or what is legal.

My concern is that this is a Eurocentric Patriarchal definition of the word, founded in their perceived supremacy as a race, and their opinion of what is legal.
And their perspective and practices forced over our Indigenous People in Canada were based in their perspective that Indigenous People were not legally people. They even created laws and and an Act of legislation called the “Indian act” that treated Indigenous People as though they are not legally people, and could only be ‘legal Canadians’ if they sold their Treaty Rights to the government and officially and legally assimilated into Canadian citizenship.

For this reason, I changed the theme to wrap around “Indigenous Humanity”. Because the foundational definition of ‘humanity’ is ; all human beings collectively as a
Race; the quality of being human; or the quality of being kind and compassionate.

We shared and taught from the perspective that we are not superior over anyone in our audience or other ethnicities of people, but that we as Indigenous presenters want to be leaders in kindness and compassion as we share from this deeply sensitive and emotional history that has affected generations of our family.

Thank you to Travis Hartl, Wainwright High School, and the leadership of Buffalo Trail Public Schools for your ongoing work and support in Reconciliation and for inviting us into your circle once again.

Tahto Awasis Ispeyihtakosik!
Every Child Matters! 🧡

Elaina Davey Travis Hartl

09/30/2026

Off to the 5th and last session of the day with the Vermilion Cadets.

Tahto Awasis Ispeyihtakosiw.🧡
(Every Child Matters)

09/29/2026

Off to work with Jr and Sr high students in Wainwright today in honour of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Miyo-kisakaw nitotemak 👍🏽

TAHTO AWASIS ISPIHTEYITAKOSIW!

For Mom 🧡

08/30/2026

Ongoing “Systemic” issues that neglect, fail to protect, or cause harm to First Nations people are not limited to the Indian Act, child welfare programs, health care systems and land dispossession.

A trailer hitch weighs between 10 and 15 pounds!….and he threw it from a moving car saying after the hitch hit Barbara, “I got one” and laughing.

Here’s a snip of the news report…

“But Pierce said Monday that she accepted the Crown’s argument that Bushby is responsible for what happened to Kentner after he assaulted her, regardless of whether she was in poor health.

She also accepted evidence from the pathologist who testified that Kentner’s health was clearly in decline after the attack.

The case drew criticism about how the justice system deals with incidents involving Indigenous victims after Bushby’s second-degree murder charge was downgraded to manslaughter and aggravated assault.”

Stand for Indigenous People in prayer over this March. 🧡

08/20/2026

COPY/PASTED FROM ANOTHER SOURCE.

BECAUSE ITS IMPORTANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH BEHIND THE MOUNTAIN OF INDEBTEDNESS THE GOVERNMENT HAS MADE FOR THEMSELVES.

And I Quote….(edited for profanity)

🚨 RECONCILIATION ISN’T COSTING YOU BILLIONS.
🇨🇦 CANADA’S MISTAKES ARE.

Let's put this in regular taxpayer language because apparently that's where Canadians understand things best.

Every time you hear:

💰 “Billions more for Indigenous people.”

🛑 Stop.

Ask what the money is actually FOR.

Because a whole lot of those billions aren't gifts.

🧾 They're bills.

Bills Canada ran up.

🇨🇦 Canada took Indigenous children.

🏫 Canada put generations of them into residential schools.

💔 Children were abused.

🕯️ Children died.

💔 Families were broken apart.

Then came:

▪️ The Sixties Scoop
▪️ Indian Day Schools
▪️ Federal Indian Hospitals
▪️ Indian Boarding Homes
▪️ Child welfare
▪️ Jordan's Principle

Different programs.
Different generations.

But Canada keeps ending up in the same damn place:

⚖️ COURTROOMS AND SETTLEMENTS.

And taxpayers keep getting handed the bill. 🧾

So maybe it's time taxpayers started asking the government some different questions.

Because somehow the story became:

💬 “Indigenous people cost us so much money.”

No.

🚨 GOVERNMENT FAILURE IS COSTING YOU MONEY.

Take First Nations child welfare.

For years, Canada fought allegations that First Nations children were receiving discriminatory services.

⚖️ The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found discrimination.

🇨🇦 Canada fought that case.

It went through years of litigation.

And eventually Canada agreed to a:

💰💰💰 $23.34 BILLION COMPENSATION SETTLEMENT

for First Nations children and families affected by discriminatory child and family services and the federal government's narrow application of Jordan's Principle.

Read that number again.

💰 $23.34 BILLION.

That's not the price of Indigenous parents being incapable of loving their children.

⚠️ THAT'S INSTITUTIONAL LIABILITY.

And there's something else Canadians need to understand.

The government spent generations saying Indigenous children needed to be taken because institutions could supposedly give them something better.

🏫 Better education.
🏠 Better care.
📈 Better opportunities.
❤️ Better lives.

Okay.

Then explain the abuse.

Explain the neglect.

Explain the children who died. 🕯️

Explain why survivors eventually had to take Canada to court. ⚖️

Explain why governments eventually had to negotiate settlements worth billions. 💰

Because if you're going to blame Indigenous families for what happened to Indigenous children, you don't get to stop the story at the front door when the government took them.

🚨 FOLLOW THE CHILD INTO THE SYSTEM.

What happened after Canada said it could do better?

That's where Canada's liability starts showing up.

And yes, some Indigenous families struggle.

Some parents cannot safely raise their children.

That's true in every population in this country.

But Canada cannot spend generations interfering with Indigenous families, placing children into institutions, separating generations, documenting abuse and discriminatory services, and then point at the damage afterward and say:

👉 “See? Indigenous families are the problem.”

No.

You don't get to remove children from wounded families, put them into systems that wound them again, and then pretend the government had nothing to do with what comes next.

And THAT is why reconciliation keeps getting expensive.

Because Canada keeps doing everything in the most expensive order possible.

💥 Cause the harm.
🙈 Deny it.
⚔️ Fight people about it.
💼 Hire lawyers.
⚖️ Spend years in court.
📉 Lose.
💰 Settle.
📋 Build a claims process.
💵 Pay administrators.
💰 Pay compensation.
❤️‍🩹 Fund healing programs.
🔎 Hold another inquiry.
🎤 Issue another apology.
🤝 Promise not to do it again.

Then somehow...

🔄 END UP FIGHTING ANOTHER GENERATION IN COURT.

😂

🇨🇦 Taxpayer, THAT is where your money is going.

Not because Indigenous people woke up one morning and became extraordinarily expensive.

🧾 Because institutional liability eventually comes due.

Residential schools?

💰 Billions in compensation processes.

Indian Day Schools?

⚖️ Settlement.

Sixties Scoop?

⚖️ Settlements.

Indian Boarding Homes?

⚖️ Settlement.

Federal Indian Hospitals?

⚖️ Settlement.

First Nations child welfare and Jordan's Principle?

💰 $23.34 BILLION COMPENSATION SETTLEMENT.

At what point do you stop staring at the people receiving compensation...

👀 ...and start looking at the institution that keeps becoming liable for paying it?

Imagine a company doing this.

Every decade:

⚖️ Another lawsuit.
📋 Another finding.
💰 Another billion-dollar settlement.
👥 Another group saying the same institution harmed them.
💼 Another mountain of legal fees.
🧾 Another compensation process.
🎤 Another promise to change.

You wouldn't scream at the customers:

🗣️ “LOOK HOW MUCH MONEY YOU PEOPLE COST US!”

You'd look at management and say:

🚨 WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

THAT is the conversation Canadians should be having with their governments.

Because reconciliation itself isn't the billion-dollar problem.

⚠️ REFUSING TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM BEFORE IT BECOMES A LIABILITY IS.

Want to save taxpayers money? 💰

⚖️ Stop creating Indigenous lawsuits.

⏳ Stop fighting Indigenous people for 10, 20 and 30 years before admitting something went wrong.

👧 Fund children properly the first time.

🏠 Keep families together when they can safely stay together.

❤️‍🩹 Provide services before families reach crisis.

⚖️ Follow court and tribunal decisions.

📜 Honour legal obligations before somebody has to sue to enforce them.

🚨 And when Indigenous people tell you a system is hurting us, maybe investigate it BEFORE ANOTHER GENERATION BECOMES A CLASS ACTION.

That's called:

🛡️ PREVENTION.

Businesses understand it.

Insurance companies understand it.

Taxpayers understand it in their own lives.

Apparently Canada needs another few billion dollars in settlements before it catches on.

So the next time somebody says:

💬 “Look at all the money Indigenous people get.”

Correct them.

🧾 LOOK AT ALL THE MONEY CANADA HAS HAD TO PAY.

Those are two very different statements.

One makes Indigenous people sound like the liability.

The other identifies where the liability actually came from.

🚨 WE ARE NOT THE BILL.

🧾 WE'RE THE PEOPLE CANADA OWES THE BILL TO.

And if taxpayers are tired of paying it?

Good. We're tired of going through it too.

Stop yelling at us.

🇨🇦👉 START ASKING YOUR GOVERNMENT WHY IT KEEPS RUNNING UP THE TAB.

08/17/2026

We are all Treaty People …

08/14/2026

As I prepare for an upcoming session around “The importance of Indigenous Resources in a School” for Learning Commons staff in a School Division, the word “Literacy” comes to mind because as I understand it, the definition of Literacy is much bigger than reading, writing, and comprehension as I was taught in grade school a mere 45 years ago.

Looking deeper into it, I find a much fuller definition that is more suitable in the context of Truth and Reconciliation, and is more aligned with what I have learned “Literacy” to mean in my own Reconciliation journey.

UNESCO defines literacy as;

The dynamic capacity to identify, understand, interpret, create, and communicate information to safely navigate and actively shape the modern world.

This post is inspired by a “new to us” discovery that my wife and I experienced on our trip to Jasper this week. We have come to Jasper for most of the 37 years we have been married, and we have NEVER known about or experienced the story of the Moberly Homestead.

Having visited the site, I was reminded of how important it is to continue to learn the history of our Indigenous People, in this case, the Asiniy-waciwiniwak or the Rocky Cree People.
I’ve always known that Literacy in Reconciliation is more than learning the “hard Truths” of colonization and assimilation history, and this is a great example of the extended learning we should be doing in Reconciliation.

It helps us connect to the People in understanding their lifestyle, hard work, and innovative creativity as well as their support of each other and their contributions to settler establishment.

If nothing else, it should help us see their value in humanity, and grow our appreciation for them and others like them who helped shape the society and communities we now know.

In doing so, we grow our Dynamic capacity to identify, understand, interpret, create, and communicate information to safely navigate and actively shape the modern world.

Ekosi Pitama,

Mosom Kevin

TheyBuildBridges

10/02/2026

10/01/2026

09/30/2026

09/29/2026

08/30/2026

08/20/2026

08/17/2026

08/14/2026

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