Trigger warning: This film contains mention of violence against women and children

Gaamominik (Karen Watts), is an Odawa survivor/storyteller from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory on Odawa Mnis “Manitoulin Island”. Stolen from her biological family by their landlord before the age of four, Karen grew up in the heart of Toronto, Ontario with an assumed name and identity. Enduring years of psychological abuse and being bullied for being Native, she finally escaped to the streets and found herself living in a vicious cycle of alcohol and drugs. By her mid-twenties, Karen defied all odds and turned her life around so she could rediscover her true identity and begin her healing journey. Her perseverance and resiliency brought meaning to her life and a reconnection to her family and ancestral homeland. She now lives her life in recognition of Anishinaabe values and Traditional Teachings in Nogojiwanong (Peterborough), Ontario.

This film was produced by ReFrame Film Festival with the support of the Electric City Culture Council's Arts Alive Fund.

Links for more information:

 The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls:

https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/ 

The Truth & Reconciliation Website (with links to the Calls to Action):

https://nctr.ca/about/history-of-the-trc/trc-website/ 

Links for support:

The Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program (IRSRHSP) provides safe, confidential, respectful, and non-judgmental mental health and emotional support services to eligible former Indian Residential School students and their families.

Crisis Line provides immediate emotional support for former Indian Residential School students. Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Call 1-866-925-4419

Native Women's Association of Canada Elder Support Line | Canada-Wide

Available Monday-Friday 9AM-11AM EST & 1PM-3PM EST

Call 888-664-7808

First Nations, Métis & Inuit Hope for Wellness Help Line | Canada-Wide

If you’re experiencing emotional distress and want to talk, call the First Nations, Métis & Inuit Hope for Wellness Help Line, available 24/7, Canada-wide. 

Call 1-855-242-3310

The filmmakers wish to thank:

Amy Siegel, Creative Director ReFrame Film Festival

Angus Pontiac (for bringing me home)

Dean Smith, Indigenous Education Consultant

Family of Genevieve Migwans-Debassige-Post

James Cullingham, Historian & Filmmaker

Native Child & Family Services of Toronto

Susan Bacque, ReFrame Director

Unity Singers: Barb Cook Rivett, Joanne Argue, Brenda Maracle-O’Toole & Heather Y. Shpuniarsky

Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory

SPONSORED BY:

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Cambium is a people-oriented multi-service consulting and engineering company located in Peterborough, Kingston, Oshawa, Barrie, and Calgary. Since 2006 we have been providing valuable services in the Peterborough and surrounding area. We focus on meeting local project needs with inventive and practical solutions. We have a team of over 130 skilled professionals providing governments, corporations and community business initiatives with innovative, sustainable answers to everyday issues. Our team offers expertise in Environmental and Geotechnical Engineering, Construction Quality Verification and Building Sciences to provide solutions grounded in a sound conservation ethic.

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For more than 50 years, Trent has incorporated traditional teachings and perspectives into its curricular and extra-curricular programming. In fact, Trent’s groundbreaking leadership in Indigenous Studies dates back to our beginnings, when we became the first university in Canada, and only the second in North America, to establish an academic department dedicated to the study of Indigenous peoples and Indigenous knowledges. It’s just one of the ways we think differently, and inspire our students to do the same. 

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Our members, both indigenous and non-indigenous, learn together. We do our best to become an example of what reconciliation looks like: people working together and treating each other with respect, justice and equality.

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The Unitarian Fellowship of Peterborough is a liberal religious community, grounded in love, that strives to be welcoming and inclusive, by dismantling racism and all systemic barriers to inclusion...in ourselves and in our society. We choose to embrace life with wonder and inquiry, to foster personal transformation, and to act for a just and sustainable world.