Hon. Michèle Audette: [Editor’s Note: Senator Audette spoke in Innu-aimun.]

Honourable senators, June is summer solstice month, as well as National Indigenous History Month.

I’d like to tell you a story, just as I like to do with my granddaughter, Waseha.

Once upon a time, a group of people lost their way. They thought they had discovered an unclaimed, empty land, a terra nullius, so they planted a cross, as if to declare that this land was now theirs. Imagine their surprise when they realized we were watching them, observing them and analyzing them. They were dressed rather strangely. They spoke a different language. They looked tired and sick.

We thought we couldn’t just leave them like that, because, after all, we are a welcoming and generous people. So we said to them, “Ashtum kepak. Ashtum Quebec.” We invited them to come ashore, promising to look after them and to share our stories, our knowledge, our culture and our science. We promised to show them how to live on this vast land.

Then history took a sharp turn. Another path was imposed on us. It was a path we did not choose. It was marked by uprooting and attempts to erase our identity, and yet —

[English]

Look at us. We are still here, standing proud in a process of healing and affirmation to honour our histories, celebrate our cultures and ensure our Indigenous languages are alive.

[Translation]

Because our stories are rich and still alive, we are writing our future and sharing our past with you.

Today, we are walking through the front doors of universities, laboratories, businesses and even decision-making spaces. We are doing it for Waseha, for Mother Earth, the community, family, children and, most importantly, humanity. We are still those engineers, historians, artists and leaders.

I would like to close with another true story, that of my little train from Sept-Îles to Schefferville. Until 1989, there was a specific car on that train reserved for “the savages.” That was the term that was used at the time. I was almost born on that train. Today, that train is owned by my Innu Nation and the Naskapi Nation, but that is not all: We bought it to open it up to everyone. You are all welcome.

I say all of that to remind you that there are also some excellent examples of healing.

I wish you all a happy National Indigenous History Month.

[Editor’s Note: Senator Audette spoke in Innu-aimun.]