Livia Manywounds and her source of strength

By Laura Mushumanski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

(ANNews) – Anything that is unfamiliar is seen as a perceived threat in the body and outwardly if what is happening in the body is misunderstood, it can cause a lot of harm towards people, places, and things. For Indigenous peoples, this reason alone, cultural genocide, has led to Indigenous people being the last social group to be allowed to receive an education within Canada, and how much this has factored into Indigenous peoples and their social determinants of health.

“Why do I feel this way – and [how does blood memory] connect to mental health?” asks Livia Manywounds, an Indigenous communications specialist, Indigenous designer, and artist currently residing in Southern Alberta.

“If you have grown up on the rez, you are going to have that rez mentality depending on which family you come from and their upbringing, a lot of people don’t realize that. So, when you have these young people going into post-secondary, it is a culture shock for them, because they don’t get the opportunity to experience that outside world. That is why a lot of [Indigenous students] struggle.”

And when non-Indigenous people do not come from the same lived experience and background as Indigenous people, there are limitations to understanding deeply what Indigenous peoples continue to be challenged with, from within our communities, that stem into academia and everything we do.

“The things [that I do] all have in common: storytelling and art. I am healing through the threads of my creation and storytelling…My story is really emphasized on my grief and loss and how I am able to heal through that.”

For our Tsuut’ina (Dene) and Siksika (Blackfoot) sister, Livia Manywounds, her grief and how she walks with it has become her strength when walking in two worlds, “I think for us being Indigenous we have to walk two worlds. We can’t just be individuals in society because we have all this culture, language and spirituality that we carry on a legacy for – not only for us, also the seven-generation principle. A lot of people don’t understand that we can’t just be individual; we have to think about seven generations ahead, think about our family… everybody.”

All Indigenous peoples on Turtle Island have been impacted by cultural genocide, and it wasn’t until 2015 that the Truth and Reconciliation 94 Calls to Action started to unravel the severity of Indian Residential Schools and other forms of assimilation. It’s effects are still being unraveled; they have greatly impacted Indigenous peoples’ communities, family systems, and livelihoods. And for Manywounds, it is an honour for her to walk with teachings passed down to her in understanding the importance of sustainability within communities, known as the seven-generation principle of always carrying these practices of taking care of each other and living a good life onto the next generation.

“It’s still really fresh for me, my parents were residential school survivors, and I still suffer from the effects of their stories and traumas,’ explains Manywounds. “I was the only one in my family to graduate from post secondary… I [recently went] back to school with all these kids fresh out of high school. [Now we] have so much more support, so much inclusivity – there is just more allyship there compared to when I was fresh out of high school. I suffered a lot more racism, especially the first time I graduated from post-secondary, being the only Indigenous person and having to deal with racist professors or comments – things that I didn’t have the support system for.”

The thread that has tied Manywounds’ source of strength came from her late parents’ teachings. These have been fundamental in how she walks in the world, “My dad had the opportunity to learn from his grandfather, he would take him away from day school and take him out hunting. His grandfather played a vital role in raising him with our traditional culture, our language, our spirituality and horsemanship. My dad ended up being a professional cowboy…I was raised in a rodeo family, grew up with horses. It was more about the cultural and spiritual aspect towards it – the spirit of the horse. As I grew older I came to understand that it plays a role in our mental health.”

And when these teaching – the spirit of all living beings, started to intersect with each other – that led to Manywounds healing journey. “It took a really long time to overcome my grief and loss…I never thought I would be where I am today. I live a healthier lifestyle today… I never thought I would doing all these cool [things]. … [The advice I would give my younger self], love yourself and know that your resilience is not only for yourself but for the future generations.”