Canadian Immigrant - November 2015

COMMUNITY

Immigrants and Aboriginal people have many similarities, and it’s important to recognize their connection in Canada’s mosaic By Rebeca Kuropatwa

M

andela Kuet was 12 years old when he moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1989. He was born in South Sudan and moved to Cairo, Egypt, where he spent most of his childhood prior to coming to Canada. When he first moved here, his relatives warned him about associating with Aboriginal people, though he settled in a part of Winnipeg where many Aboriginals live — the North End. “When I am going to school and I’m seeing my [Aboriginal] friends interact and I go to their house, I see their parents are just trying to make ends meet, but everyone else around me is saying something different,” says Kuet. “And I’m like, that’s not true.” Fifteen years later, Kuet has found a way to show those with preconceived notions about their Aboriginal neighbours that they

are struggling with problems similar to those faced by newcomers — issues like underemployment, integration and discrimination. As a youth and family support worker at the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba (IRCOM), Kuet reached out to local Aboriginal leaders Michael Champlain and Leonard Monkman. Champlain and Monkman have been running an Aboriginal community program called Meet Me at the Bell Tower, held at the bell tower in the North End (at Selkirk and Powers streets) every Friday at 6 p.m. At these meetings, they lead a ceremonial bell ringing, sing songs and discuss a selected topic. “They started with [talking about] stopping the violence and protecting women and children, and advocating for indigenous rights,” says Kuet.

Kuet felt this would be a great place to make connections between Aboriginal people and newcomers, and, after talking with the organizers, they agreed it would be a fitting venue to connect the two communities. “Leonard, Michael and me, we all grew up in the North End, and I still live in the North End, and they still live there. We grew up there and we have the same perspective from the same angle,” says Kuet. “We’re trying to build that relationship and make sure that community members understand first-hand … [that] these are our neighbours, these are our community members, and help them break down stereotypes from both sides.” The theme of a recent Meet Me at the Bell Tower meeting was “Newcomers be Welcome,"

and Kuet attended along with a group of newcomers who live in the North End. The newcomers met with Aboriginal elders, young adults and families. About 100 people came to the meeting, which is more than double the usual attendance. “There was a [Blue] Bomber [football] game that day, so they could have chosen to go there, but they didn’t. They were pretty excited. They thought it sounded pretty cool and wanted to check it out.” Kuet wants to serve as a bridge between newcomers and Aboriginals, and to help them find role models in one another. “I think we are moving in the right direction — doing things like this, having this as a core value, and wanting to create this opportunity, this dialogue, this space,” adds Kuet. “Our kids share the same schools. We live in the same community … Yet, we don’t interact as community members. Why is that?”

Understanding each other

That question is relevant not just in Winnipeg’s North End, but in regions right across Canada. Many immigrants come to Canada not understanding the long and complex history it has with its Aboriginal people, including its years of colonization, residential school system and dispossession that has created devastating effects on these communities. As a result, many newcomers

14 canadianimmigrant.ca

November 2015

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