Project Description

By Anonymous: 2011-2017

I am a Turtle Island citizen (first nation). My family was very loving. I was first put into a a foster home on false grounds as a child in Ottawa, Ontario. I ended up getting assaulted by the biological child of the foster parents, and I was thrown of the second floor onto concrete. I have severe brain damage as a result. I received emergency brain surgery that the foster parent and the social workers refused to sign for. The doctor did it anyway. He saved my life while putting himself at risk. Eventually, I was returned to my family. Due to the severe damage, I had to wear a hockey helmet until I was seven and my family was forced to move to another city that was more equipped to handle my needs. We moved to Calgary. Life was great; me and my sister went to private school had a great home, great family.

Then when we needed help – the services all these “Canadians” think we receive. They set up my family. They told my parents that they had to be homeless regardless that we had been years ago and had doctor letters from multiple professionals saying that can’t happen and will result in more mental damage and delayed education. Eventually we had no choice and the government turned around and said you can’t handle your children and accused my parents of false abuse and supplied false statements. I was picked up from the mental health unit at the Calgary Children’s Hospital after multiple breakdowns in the homeless shelter environment. I was 11.

They moved me to Woods Homes Capital Hill. They immediately starting changing doctors and refused my previous doctors recommendations and completely blocked everything except my school from my previous life. That’s when they started switching medications without my permission. I wasn’t even fully aware of what I was taking. It resulted in surprise more mental breakdowns and outbursts. All those years of work my family and I put in to get me stable thrown down the drain. I started being verbally abused first quite quickly by one and one worker they gave cause I kept cutting myself and running away. Eventually, I started getting restrained for no reason. No one listened and they didn’t let me see my family in private so I never got a chance to inform anyone. My old teacher from the previous year even bought me markers so I could draw on my arm in an attempt to prevent myself from cutting. It delivered a very similar sensation, probably cause my skin was so sensitive (I had bad Eczema and was worsened by nickel and other minerals/metals in our water supply and in things like buttons).

I had a early day that day; it was a Wednesday. They had their weekly meetings during this time, all the staff with there higher ups. When I walked in this manager got mad cause I drew on my arm. Me and my one and one worker began to explain it was being used to prevent myself from cutting, but she didn’t care cause “We have people who come through here to inspect, but more importantly people who donate. They sponsor our programs. These fundraisers are more important than your markers.” She took them away, and I never saw them again. When I told my teacher she worked with my principle and the school advisors and lawyers psychologist to make a complaint and report the manager. Instead what happened is they tried to stop me going to my private school. A judge blocked it. I ended up getting more and more punished (cleaning, loss of phone calls, and privilege to go out).

I ended up going back and fourth between the mental health unit in the hospital and this group home, so they moved me to Woods Homes Stabilization, also known as Cottage D. It was supposed to be a short stay. They had little food: only bread and cheap cereal in the mornings, little meals for dinner. After more breakdowns and more med changes, I started feeling like I was in a dream. Idk exactly the concoction they had me on, but it also helped with memory loss. However, they had there own doctors that are enclosed and acquiesce with the system and these facilities as these doctors move between handling children.

After about a month they wanted a more long-term placement, so they moved me a couple cottages up the emotional needs program. I had met a girl who was like a big sister. In fact, my sister was dating her best friend, so I was somewhat more protected this time. However, all she could do was report to staff, and I do not believe they ever even made it on paper or a computer. I was being repeatedly targeted for being restrained by several individuals, primarily one. Turns out it was for his wedding coming up that his wife pretty much demanded that all kids in the group home attended. We never met her, as having any interaction outside of the facility during working hours with a child was not only against policy but illegal. This person knew and was well aware, and so were the other staff that was going to bring us there. I kept telling this person that had been restraining me for no reason that I didn’t want to go, but I wouldn’t ruin it for everyone else. But he refused to listen. This went on for months till the day before he demanded I come after giving him an ultimatum that either you let me stay or I get you in trouble and stop it. He thought I was dumb (he was extremely racist), so after he refused the top manager was there I walked up to him in front of him and everyone and told him what was going on. He was pissed. However, this person that tried bring kids he worked with no biological relation hasn’t know any one of them longer then 2 months (was only a 3-4 month program). He didn’t get into trouble but he made my life hell. He turned other staff against me.

Eventually I turned 12 (the legal age to be charged in Canada). Yes I admit I did some bad shit that night but four of the 12 charges were bogus. A staff that hated me was with this guy in training to become a police officer of Calgary police. I watched this person arrive after I was already arrested and in the back of the paddy wagon. When I watched this person arrive along with another staff and they talked, I could tell she was basically yelling at the other staff. The other one looked scared. That’s when they started talking to the police and gave them false statements. What pisses me off more is if someone just payed attention or the other staff spoke up that those two people weren’t involved I would have gotten probably a better outcome. That’s when a cop came to the back again and stated they were now trying to charge me with assaulting a police officer. I tried explaining that they just arrived. He told me to shut up piece of shit. They couldn’t cause she wasn’t even sworn in yet was still waiting for the results of her completion of her training.

I ended up at Calgary Young Offenders Center with my co-accused. I kept my mouth shut like I was taught but because I was “Indian,” keeping my mouth shut and my co-accused who was over a year older then me that only had ADHD. Compared to my list of diagnosis they saw a white kid with little problems who was “forced” to be my accomplice while they saw a first nation kid with a lot of problems, and my social worker used it and her office as a way to put all these misinformed events of mental breakdowns from before I was even 12, labeled my parents as extremely abusive, and I almost got to serve the maximum sentence, as the white old judge saw this evil kid. I had told the judge and my lawyer that I was even willing to plea guilty to all the charges except the one I didn’t do and that they were false. I was labeled a liar an extremely dangerous child that must get the maximum sentence. When the judge said that, I went to bed crying my eyes out. I was already so removed from my family and was on a unit with 23 hour lockdown single celled due to my history of suicide attempts.

Then the next day court took forever to get started. I got lucky my judge got sick that night. Court was late to find another judge. That judge was a white woman who had just dropped off her 12 year old son at school, and she was heartbroken with what was going on so she released me but not before the social workers came with a list of demands for release conditions. That’s right, my social workers didn’t align themselves with my lawyer nor the prosecutor. They got what they wanted. I was on a type of house arrest and could only leave if approved. I was then moved to a shelter–Avenue 15–for just the night. My iPod touch my grandmother bought me for my birthday got stolen and they refused to even look for it let alone replace it.

I was then brought to the Stampede Boys Ranch (it was coed before I got there). It was 2-3 hours outside Calgary, west of Longview, Alberta. The only place after it was Eden Valley, a small reservation before the Kanaskis Mountains. I remember pulling up there were the gang name CRIPS burnt into one building. Everything looked super old, sketchy, and dirty. I was given a room with only a metla bedframe with about 3 inch bed foam thing, nothing else but a window. I had no door. When I complained about it they gave me a bed sheet and some nails. I got into my first sign of problems when I tried making friends. I kept thinking this was some Scared Straight show, as every room in the cookhouse didn’t have a door. There were 23 boys with only 3 staff during the day and 2 at night that always fell asleep by 11 pm. It was almost all “indigenous” children, only about two white kids, only one remained the whole time. However, we did get a couple once in a while, but the rest full status children all covered by the federal government through aboriginal affairs.

On about the third day, it had rained hard before I arrived, and there was this miniature lake in the field where some horses were. I was convinced to go out with some kids by a staff to go out on the “lake” with the canoe. Turns out after stepping in in it with my only shoes that it was rain mixed with sewer runoff. The ranch was dumping waste into the field beside it, and everyone was aware and never told us to stop. The exact opposite. I took a shower. Later that day, I got in my first fight. There was an older kid, about 16. It started while eating. He liked to say “damn right;” that was his quote, his phrase. He threatened me to stop in front of staff at dinner. I didn’t want to look like a bitch, as I had realized this place was running similar to jail but with less enforcement, almost like no adults were there. Everyone swore, everyone smoked, everyone did drugs and alcohol. I didn’t back down, so when he said let’s go outside I went. I got my ass beat, but at least they knew at first that I would defend myself. Some kids didn’t have that; they were being physically abused not only by the other kids but the staff, in front of other staff. Nothing ever happened.

A couple weeks in, our water got contaminated with sulphur. I knew it was sulphur, as my sister had bought me stink bombs (little glass anvils willed with sulphur water) to create a stink room from a old toy shop. So when the staff said that they were getting water and not to worry because we will have bottled water when we came back from school, the owner (as this was a privately owned group home), Joel Edey, refused to buy water and claimed it was safe. It was so bad; the only way anyone drank the water was by dumping a lot of powdered ice tea they fed us. Eventually, it got stolen, creating a market if you wanted to drink water without vomiting. Kids were getting headaches, rashes, stomach aches, nausea, vomiting, and all the symptoms of sulphur toxin, so kids even started going to clear water creek or another mountain river, as we’re told by these “expert survival teachers” that mountain water cleans itself every 10 feet and that it was completely safe, even though we were downstream of the reserve, where illegal dumping from outsiders was rampant.

During this whole time, they had a child labor system. This has destroyed my spine, as I already had spine damage from my incident when I was 4 years old. It worked like this: There is green flag, yellow flag, and red flag. If you were on green flag, you got a trip to town and ten bucks (that’s what they said, but really if you did manage to get on, you had to pick – only ever had about one, no more then two, people at once out of 23 boys). Yellow flag, you have standard privileges: you can leave the ranch go visit, and you get to keep what ever you earn from your work. Then there is red flag. If you are own red flag, you had “hours.” The maximum was 25. When I first arrived, minimum was 5 hours. Staff would give them out for really anything: you swore at them, they just didn’t like you, you got blamed for something with no proof, you got caught smoking anything, etc. You had to work each hour by the hour, so if you have 25 hours you can’t leave the ranch, you can’t use the phone, you can’t visit family, you can’t do anything. They even used to put a lock through the hole of prongs on wall plugins for our TVs or DVD players or my guitar. I spent almost all my time there on red flag. Only once did I ever get on green out of the two and half years I was there.

Eventually, Joel told me that if I defined myself again he would have me charged and breached, so I started having to essentially take a beating that went on for years by staff and other kids. I got sexually assaulted by staff and by other kids in front of staff. I reported it, but nothing ever happened. It didn’t matter if there was a witness. I saw kids try to stab other kids with rusty nails or knives in front of staff, but nothing was done. I saw a couple kids get stabbed and never get charged. Towards the end, my mom was working on getting it shut down for all its violations because even the so called “work” to help doesn’t meet the legal safety standard in Alberta, Canada. They made us pour household bleach into our water supply when it got contaminated instead of getting proper water treatment and supplying water bottles until it took effect like the inspectors told them. They used to make us shovel horse shit for 7 hours when minimum wage was 14-something. I thought I made a lot of money, but nope–I made 14 the whole day. They also had these plus tickets or minus tickets. Say you did something nice, you were supposed to get a plus ticket, but that never happened. You do get them if you work; however, the owner distributed allowances, and if you had negative tickets they deducted an amount that was never clear. There was no “you work this job it’s five bucks;” it’s all by discretion. So even I had a couple of plus tickets that totaled over 30 dollars and had no minus tickets, but because Joel (the owner who lived next door and rove by all the time) said that if you took a five minute break or honestly I think sometimes he just said he saw you not working and would take everything. So you might have no minus tickets, have 30 dollars worth of plus tickets, and you could still get all your money taken away and end up with hours as if you had more minus then plus. I never saw the board with less than 7 boys having hours to work off. Almost nobody got on green flag.

We were forced to dump stuff illegally in burnt down homes on the Eden Valley reserve without permission. They used to employ people from there to make it seem like on paper they have negative teachers; however, these people have little to no education, have no training, no way of reporting outside of writing down in the book that never left the ranch. We had no internet and very little cell services. We had bears show up and sit on kids’ cabins. We had four cabins that originally had 3 kids in each till it was turned down to just one halfway through. We got cut down to 16 kids due to multiple sexual abuse cases. It didn’t stop anything; actually, it made it worse. The government of Alberta passed a law that pulled all the power away from the owners of the group home. Originally, Joel Edey had almost complete control with kids. If he didn’t want you there, he could tell their social worker and send them back in three days or less. Then they took that away and cut us down to fourteen kids.

Then Cody, a white boy who claimed Native status (a common practice among white Canadians – they think because they have 0.1% blood of Native or heard through family, never verified, they claim status and the government grants it cause it helps the economy; also because frankly if you’re white you don’t see the harms really; it’s just dress up, and they agree with all the goverment’s talking points so they can claim they talked to our people with their projects then screw us faster) had been in cabin with another boy who is my best friend. He was there for about a week and then left. That was unusual, as SBR was considered permanent housing for troubled youth after the social workers had complete control and Joel could only make recommendations. They sent him back at the end, and I had to help uncover sexual abuse by this other youth. Turned out that’s why he was in care – for sexually abusing his family member, then his foster family members, then groups home kids. He was like 16; I was 14. I had to take a little native boy into my room, give him cigarettes, blast music, lie to him that I wouldn’t tell anyone because he was exposing himself all of sudden after being there for years. This was two months after all staff received sexual abuse training about how to spot and stop it. It didn’t help. In Alberta, if you’re a minor, your first offense, only a judge, police officer, or a probation officer can breach you. Once you get on your second offense, that rule breaks now any guardian can breach and charge you. This happened to me. It was how I was threatened – blackmailed really – to do horrible things on other staff’s behalf. However, this person was on their like fourth offense. After the police got him that night, I woke up, sent the little onto his new home on his reserve closer to his family. The night after that I woke up to the predator right in front, acting like nothing happened and everything was fine. The staff told us that even if he starts a fight, they have been instructed to charge us instead of him. Even if he swung first, this is illegal, especially with children. Then I went back to Calgary to Summit Group Home.

There’s Hull Homes as well. I’ll leave this one last cause it’s a 30-day involuntary secure facility they use to keep kids for years, but they had been sued into only 30 days. How it worked was that your social worker went to family court, no evidence needed, and provided reason to make warrant. You get picked up by police, dropped off, and get court documents. Then they strip search you, take your clothes, give them these used clothes, force you to shower, and check for lice. Then you wake up and are treated similar to jail. You can’t talk about anything outside the facility. If a staff tells you to change the subject and you don’t you get punished. If you mention anything outside of secure you get punished. Every phone call is monitored, even the ones the court/social worker declares must be private. They used to withhold protein powder from me that I paid for but gave us caffeine coffee in the morning since I was 11 years old. Even though they say it can’t go any further then 30 days, they continually broke that policy/law and kept me for 90 days. This happened so much, even for nothing that in total I have spent about 2 and half years in that program from 11-17, almost all for 90 day holds.

I would go through withdrawal and vomit almost every meal for the first month yet they never brought me to doctor. When they did bring their own in, they barely did shit. They never even checked my pulse or weight. They work with “clinicians” that think they’re smart, but really they’re just for legal reasons. They are there to suggest you need to stay longer or be moved to another one of their programs. Sadly, many of these programs have their own legislation in Canada. Hull Homes is called the William Rupert Hull Act, and it makes this a nonprofit company that is held by a trust. No wonder it took years for them to be sued. It was made by a white man who maybe did mean good; however it is clear now having been through the system where almost all children in every group home is native, you can’t say this isn’t residential school all over again. The ranch was modern day residential school. These programs are all the same: don’t help children, hold them against their will, restrain them and get more money for “mental health help.”

Eventually, i just ran away for months at a time, then would get picked up by police and brought back. I even ran away to Ottawa, back home to my family. They returned me. Air Canda has a deal with them to move children. They get police to escort. Canada has legalized child trafficking. It couldn’t let it go after residential school. They realized it was great for the economy and a great way to commit genocide, as my family alone – my great great grandmother – received the apology for residential school from Steven Harper, Canadian Prime Minister at the time in 2008. He said it would happen again. My grandmother translated they said never again, that was a lie that say residential schools closed in the 90s, and under international law the consistent removal of children form a population from a specific nationality is called genocide. It meets the legal recognized standard as genocide crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression. The government said they will negotiate but they didn’t. The ministers said we are ready to settle this never happened.

Now I am still fighting for what I deserve. It’s funny, a lot of Canadians deny this shit happened, that they weren’t involved, so they shouldn’t have to pay through their taxes. However, right now white people are screaming about the Epstein files. How come when white people are the victims people can recognize that. It wasn’t just the p*dof*les; it was the doctors that refused to report and covered it up; it took police officers, judges, lawyers, nurses, teachers, pilots, politicians… You can understand that when it’s Jeffery Epstein, but when it’s First Nations all of a sudden you have never been involved with any social worker agency, you never delivered food, you never overheard something, failed to report, you never said that didn’t happen regarding residential school. All of sudden your pension isn’t invested in these companies removing our children or the oil they steal from our land that makes us sick. We ask for a clean water bill, we get told we are asking for too much.