Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse Wanting a better future for Manitoba First Nations

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This article was published 02/09/2021 (1506 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With just six weeks under her belt as the new regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations, Chief Cindy Woodhouse is no stranger to the inner workings of First Nations or the issues they face.

She was elected at the Assembly of Manitoba Chief’s annual General Assembly in Long Plain First Nation, in Treaty One Territory, on July 14, 2021.

She lives with her husband, Curtis Nepinak, and two sons Kyler and Kolt in Fairford, where the Pinaymootang First Nation is located on Fairford 50 Reserve, about 220 kilometres north of Winnipeg with a population of approximately 1,300.

The Brandon Sun’s Indigenous reporter, Kimberley Kielley, first met Woodhouse during the anniversary of the signing of Treaty No. 2 in Wasagaming, Treaty No. 2 Territory and requested a Q&A interview of the newly elected chief.

The Brandon Sun: Who is Cindy Woodhouse?

Chief Woodhouse: I am the Assembly of First Nations regional chief. I am a member of Treaty No. 2. My Dad is a member.

I was raised on my First Nation, in Fairford, in Treaty 2 Territory. I was raised there with my family. Three days a week, I’d be with my grandmother. She was a widow. So my mom always wanted me to stay with her because Granny didn’t like sleeping alone. The rest of the time I was with my mum and dad. It was a typical childhood.

Those were really pivotal moments in a young girl’s life. She made us pray every night, for 30 minutes. You had to sit there. She’d pray in the Anishinaabe language. I’m glad I’m able to understand. I wish I was more fluent.

SUN: Where did you go to school?

CW: I went to the Little Saskatchewan Day School, run by the Anglican Church. I went there in Grades 2 and 3. Grade 2 was really hard. My colleagues will attest to that. It was almost borderline abuse, the things we went through. But, that’s okay. I survived it.

Then, I went to Fairford school. Those were happier years.

But, remember two years in Day School, as a little girl, it was something that changed my life as well, in a little bit of a negative way. You kinda go there innocent, and then you kinda have a really mean teacher. They kind of do damage to you when they’re abusive and leave wounds.

At high school, Mum was the principal back home. I was tired of being around her, so I went to Astra and Central school. Then I moved to Winnipeg. I started at the University of Winnipeg.

Then I got to meet more diverse people.

SUN: What was the experience like?

CW: It opened my mind up that there was the rest of Canada out there because prior to that, I only knew First Nations life. So, I had to get to know the farm kids and rural kids. I became friends with so many of them. They would say things like, ‘Cindy, can I tell an Indian joke today?’ Depending on my mood, I would say yes or no. They were respectful that way. As kids. I think it was because I got along with them. They were my friends. At university, I met an atheist.

You kind of come out and meet all these diverse people. You meet all these great people, It expands your learning again on different cultures, on food and language and the way they do things.

My dad said he wanted me to join an organization at the university because during the time here in Winnipeg, women were going missing and getting murdered. I think my dad was very fearful that I would get in with the wrong people. That it could happen. It was so common.

I started a march for missing and murdered Indigenous women. And nobody knew about the issue yet. There were maybe 15 or 20 of us. We’d push and yell and speak about all these issues. Where are our women going missing to?

Thankfully, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Committee, the Women’s Committee, stepped up and asked for a national enquiry. Now everybody started to pay attention. I’m not saying women don’t go missing anymore. But at least there’s a light on it now. The way it was – and watching the horror of that – I think that shaped me as well.

SUN: When did you get interested in politics?

CW: My dad took me to the Fairmont Hotel (in Winnipeg), and met a guy named Paul Martin, I didn’t know anything about politics coming from a First Nations community. He was really nice. He told me he wanted to be prime minister. He took me under his wing. They took me everywhere with them. I was on their campaign. I got to meet young Manitobans, Canadians, and friends all over this country. Then he became prime minister.

I figured I better help my chiefs because then at least they could talk to the government. That relationship is so fractured. I helped that a bit. We had the Kelowna Accord at that time. It didn’t go through. Then the Liberals lost government for like 10 years.

When I was In university, I met so many people there. I learned about world history, including our own history. A lot of our history isn’t written in those books. A lot of our stories aren’t told.

I got my degree. I worked and then I met Justin Trudeau’s team. All my friends were joining that campaign. I helped him prior to 2015. Probably in 2009, it started for about six years. So I got to know all the ministers that are there now and the election came and they offered me to come work for the government. I didn’t really want to do that. I thought, ‘What if I don’t like it? I can’t do anything for five years.’

I met Perry Bellegarde, who was running for national chief at the time. I went to help him. Then, I became a senior advisor with him. I worked on the Indigenous Languages Act, the Child and Family Services Act, to give First Nations the right to develop their own Child and Family Services codes and they want to govern themselves so they have space to occupy in their own community.

In Manitoba, unfortunately, we have the highest apprehension rate in Canada, and possibly the world. I don’t think there’s anybody higher than Manitoba. It breaks my heart.

SUN: What are some of the issues you see for First Nations in Manitoba?

CW: We have a lot of poverty issues. We need housing in the province. We have to find innovative ways to make sure we fund that and get that in there. Many communities don’t have Internet access, or very slow access. Many of them can’t even attend university in their community. They take our children. There’s a Birth Alert. They’re going to take your baby right from the hospital and not even give you a chance.

There are many, many issues. I’m not an expert here. I know we have to put more infrastructure into communities. I commend the Liberal government for investing $45 billion under Mr. Trudeau. He is the prime minister that’s invested the most out of any previous prime ministers. We need better access to the Internet. These are things Canadians have. We have a lot of water advisories. We have a lot of work to do, and there’s still work that needs to be done. I think we need a lot more investment, better homes, water.

SUN: What are some of the goals you hope to achieve during your term?

CW: I’m not going to be one of those people with a hands-down approach. I want to help First Nations wherever they may be. A lot of them are developing their own child welfare legislation models. Some of them are working on goals, and they’re really progressing. Some of them are negotiating on various land claims. I want to be there for the First Nations of Manitoba, I want to help advance them.

One thing I want to focus on is the connectivity to First Nations. I know there are communities moving forward. I’m proud of them. Some are going as groups for better Internet access. The pandemic shone a light on how terrible it was. Living in a First Nations community during the pandemic and trying to watch a movie, you can’t even watch a movie. It’s horrible. That’s not fair. You can’t discriminate against people for where they live.

As well, I’m doing research for a housing initiative. It’ll be a pilot project, working towards a greener economy for First Nations. We have to start taking better care of our land.

» kkielley@brandonsun.com