Inside the first hearing circle of the public inquiry into Innu in the child protection system
Hearing investigates death of James Poker, 17
Smoke from a smudging ceremony swirls around dozens of chairs arranged in two concentric circles in the great room of the healing lodge in Natuashish, in front of an orange flag reading "every child matters."
Each morning of last week, the sacred smudging practice and a prayer opened the public inquiry investigating the treatment, experiences and outcomes of the Innu in the child protection system, where commissioners will probe the death of six children who had been in custody of the child protection system.
"It's going to be difficult, but we know that we want to help Innu people, help the province, help Canada, find a better way to deal with child protection," said commissioner James Igloliorte during the first circle hearing.
The inquiry's first circle hearing investigates the death of 17-year-old James Poker, who was found frozen to death in February 2015 while trying to walk to Hopedale from his home in Natuashish.
"It's not helping us. It's killing our children and it's hurting all the families," James' father Thomas Poker said of the child protection system, as he sat in the hearing's inner circle.
Thomas Poker says the Innu have been surviving on the land for thousands of years with their own laws, culture, language, tradition and values.
"We cannot constantly [follow] the white man's ways. Having said that, we are striving to have a better future for our children, our grandchildren," he said.
System akin to residential schools
James and his brother Shawn were both in the child protection system, and eventually ended up in a foster home in North Bay, Ont., thousands of kilometres away from their Innu culture in Natuashish.
"I'm angry at the system," Shawn told the hearing. "I went through it. I lived it."
Shawn said he and his brother experienced culture shock and racism while in care outside Natuashish. He likens the child protection system to residential schools.
He said after years away, he's trying to learn Innu-aimun and reconnect with his family, but his loss of culture has taken a toll.
"But I'm distant from them because I sniff gas or drink, right? I do these things and they push me away, I push them away," he told the hearing.
The Pokers say James wasn't himself, felt lost and disconnected and didn't know how to fit in when he returned home after being in care in Ontario.
Thomas Poker said James had mental health issues and was medicated.
"I didn't know that he was on medication… I didn't know that, depression pills, I think," Thomas said.
"But I think he stopped taking medication and then just started using and that's what made him worse," said his brother Shawn, adding James had been talking to himself a lot because of his mental health issues.
Shawn, who is James' older brother, said the pair got in a fight before James left to walk to Hopedale, and he still carries guilt and grief.
"He would have been alive today if I looked after him," he said.
System doesn't work
Meanwhile, Thomas Poker said he would like to see the Innu more involved in child welfare in their communities.
He said the way the child protection system operates now doesn't work for Innu.
"Their policies and rules and regulations that they are imposing on our people doesn't work. If they [listened] a long time ago, James would probably still be here," he said.
Instead of taking children away from their families, Poker wants the system to help with the whole family.
"They need to stop breaking the family unit. They should at least try to make it more stronger," Thomas said.
Meanwhile, Shawn said a transition plan for youth returning to their home community is needed, because he says he experienced culture shock in Ontario and upon returning home.
A more holistic approach
The inquiry's circle hearings are far different from other public inquiries held in Newfoundland and Labrador.
While there are still lawyers and exhibits entered into the record, this inquiry is a less formal and adversarial process, with space and time for families to share their stories and Innu history.
"We know that the Innu history right now is one of a huge amount of trauma. People are still experiencing trauma and we need not carry that harm any further," said Igloliorte, who is one of three commissioners overseeing the inquiry.
The Mushauau Innu First Nation, which was traditionally a nomadic tribe, was forced to settle in Davis Inlet in 1967.
Social conditions there were poor, with no running water or sewer and the Innu were far from their traditional hunting grounds.
Many Innu who testified at the first day of the inquiry say the problems their community still face started in Davis Inlet, when people started drinking, using drugs or sniffing gas to cope with the reality of forced settlement.
Thomas Poker was born in Davis Inlet and says his sons James and Shawn spent the early part of their lives in the community.
Things came to a head in the early '90's when the conditions in Davis Inlet catapulted the community to the international spotlight. In the early 2000s the Mushuau Innu were relocated closer to their traditional lands in Natuashish.
"It's important for people in Canada to understand who Innu people are and what we have been through, what the government has done to us," said commissioner Anastasia Qupee, who is a former grand chief of the Innu Nation.
Today, commissioner Mike Devine, who is a retired social work professor, says it's the child protection system that's doing the Innu harm.
"It's been a dismal failure. It's really done a lot more damage, regardless of what the intention was. And we clearly heard that from the people. So they want to take over their own child protection system," Devine said.
Meanwhile, Thomas Poker hopes the circle hearing will be a way to help him heal.
"I still carry the hurt and suffering from all those years. Maybe this circle here will help me to let go of some of the stuff that I've been carrying and start [moving] on," he said.
However, he said governments need to listen for there to be true reconciliation.
The inquiry will also investigate the death of Jacob Collins this week, who died by suicide in the Labrador Correctional Centre.
Four more hearings will be held in the fall and winter before the inquiry commissioners submit their final report and recommendations to the government.
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