Activism and Community Work

My journey into activism began alongside my healing journey. When I got sober in 2018, I began reconnecting with myself, my community, and my purpose.

In 2019, my wife and I founded Protect Our People, an anti-human-trafficking campaign that began in Saskatchewan and quickly grew into a national movement. Through grassroots organizing, we raised awareness and helped connect survivors and families with support, information, and resources.

Our work expanded into advocating for Indigenous and treaty rights in response to proposed federal legislation that threatened to further erode those rights. Through the Resistance campaign, we visited colleges, community centres, and other gathering places to educate people, build support, and encourage action. We also organized rallies, teach-ins, and community events.

I later became involved with Idle No More and other Indigenous resistance movements. Through this work, I learned more about my own family history, including my connection to my auntie Sylvia McAdam and my direct descent from Chief Big Bear. That knowledge brought an even deeper sense of meaning and responsibility to the work.

As a national organizer, I helped coordinate campaigns in more than 12 cities, drawing tens of thousands of people and connecting communities across the country. This included organizing around Cancel Canada Day as unmarked burials at former residential school sites received national attention, supporting Shut Down Canada, and standing in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan Nations. We also supported rallies defending Mi’kmaq fishing rights.

Our work has always extended beyond rallies and campaigns. I have participated in ground searches alongside families of missing and murdered Indigenous women, as well as families searching for missing boys and men.

I was also deeply involved in the search for Samuel Bird, helping with organizing, strategy, and search efforts on the ground. This work was profoundly personal because I had gone through something similar with my late brother, Nathaniel. Supporting Samuel’s search became another way for me to honour my brother’s memory while standing beside a family and community seeking answers.

Every part of this work has been grounded in our medicines and guided by mentors, spiritual leaders, and Elders.

In 2021, I stepped back from formal organizing to protect my mental health and be more present for my family. The work did not end. It simply took on new forms. Today, I continue supporting my community through art, clothing, music, youth engagement, and solidarity work. This includes standing with the people of Palestine and with relatives around the world who continue to experience the effects of colonization.

Social justice and community action remain at the heart of everything I do. Whether I am creating, speaking with youth, sharing medicine, or supporting people on the ground, my purpose is the same. I want to make a meaningful impact for our communities and the generations yet to come.

I believe that standing together in unity, solidarity, and the pursuit of justice is the only way forward.