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Oakville Beaver | Thursday, June 15, 2023 | 26 insidehalton.com Get a at-am ie) a4 as reliable as the freshness at the farmers’ market (6 NColUla elero] Mee lalatcrellie)n} COGECO TB NATIONAL INDIGENOUS HISTORY MONTH ‘TT MAKES ME WANT T0 CRY’ WORKSHOPS BY INDIGENOUS-LED ORGANIZATION, ODEIWIN, FULLY BOOKED WITHIN HOURS MELISSA WALLACE melissawallace@yrmg.com In celebration of Na- tional Indigenous History Month, Metroland intro- duces readers to 30 Indige- nous people who are mak- ing a difference. rowing up in Rich- mond Hill in the 1980s, Ba was adopted, but didn't know much about where she came from. fruth i is, she did know. iological family was i om Lac ves Milles Lacs First m in norwestern, Ontario, t's an Anishinaabe nation, andthe traditional lands we hydroelectric companies multiple times," she said. "As the land was being de- stroyed, the _community er grandparents and great grandparents." ler mother was taken Scoop at four years old, and Schus- brought to Richm« Hil Fortunately, Schuster’: s adopted mother was An- ishinaabe as well, and her family made sure to stay ersed in Indigenous culture, attending pow- wows and ceremonies. "I never felt safe telling people my story," she said, of her school years. "And I really never thought {hat there would when it would be. some. of tie Steve ene deh ‘Metroland Sarah Schuster is an Anishinaabe woman working wi an Indigenous-led, not-for-profit organize thing that was acceptable to talk abo She ticed a shift in people's jattitudes about 15 years ago, and began forming connections other displaced Indige- nous people. "I didn't feel so isolated anymore and it was then that I started to,as the say- ing goes, ick wp my bun- dle,” she ‘It gave me a reason io ‘want to make change and create spaces using the sills Ihave fora better futur In Toronto, she led a grassroots community group called Allan Gar- dens Food and Clothing shat , providing basic ne- ‘ies to people who were homeless or in nee Then last year, she be. gan facilitating and co-or- dinating programs with Odeiwin, an Indigenous not-for-profit tion that aims to improve the education, employ- ment and socioeconomic gaps between Indigenous and non-! Indigenous com- munities while ensuring a continued connection to Indigenous community and culture. Launched in Septem- ber 2022 by founder Jay Shea, James Bay Cree, the organization runs acces- le programs in Rich- mond Hill that bring peo- ple of all nations together. Schuster, who thrives making crafts and garden- ing, has enjoyed sharing her gifts with a communi- ty hungry to learn. deiwin events are widely attended and often fully booked within hours. Examples include medi- cine garden planting, be- ginner beading and learn- ing about smudge feath- ers. On June 25, the frst Indigenous vendor ket will take place at Rich. mond Hill Central Li- brary. “The response has been over ‘whelming to the point it we can't keep up, but ite beautiful and it makes me want t Schuster. much diversity and beau- ty that we can learn from each other as a communi- Lr SCAN THIS CODE ar rmoe tun through Storytelling