1.3 COLONIZATION Youth linked the homelessness of Indigenous youth to historic and contemporary forms of colonialism, embedded w<strong>it</strong>hin multiple systems and structures. Several youth contrasted their own poverty, and the poverty of their commun<strong>it</strong>y, to the land, wealth, and housing that settlers continue to accumulate at the expense of Indigenous Peoples. “Colonization, like if that didn’t happen I feel like I would be so good.” VANCOUVER YOUTH One youth explic<strong>it</strong>ly stated that if colonization hadn’t occurred, he wouldn’t have become homeless. “Police are AWFUL towards the Aboriginal people. It’s almost like the police believe they’re guilty before the trial. So, then you get police that go ahead and arrest the Aboriginal people and then they end up in jail and they end up w<strong>it</strong>h a criminal record on them and work becomes harder to find.” EDMONTON YOUTH Youth felt that racism towards Indigenous Peoples was very common, and that <strong>it</strong> contributed to poverty and homelessness by blocking access to the benef<strong>it</strong>s, supports, services, education, employment, and housing that many other young people are able to access. This racism was viewed as happening at all levels of society. At the systems level, youth particularly highlighted racism in the rental housing market, staff or worker racism in the child welfare system, and police practices that target and criminalize Indigenous Peoples. At the structural level, youth commented that housing, education, and social services w<strong>it</strong>hin Indigenous commun<strong>it</strong>ies and on reserves are severely underfunded, w<strong>it</strong>h some even lacking access to clean drinking water. Importantly, youth framed these inequ<strong>it</strong>ies as human rights violations. Youth also discussed intergenerational trauma w<strong>it</strong>hin their family, describing the roots of familial conflict, abuse, and addiction as colonial. Some young people identified this family trauma as the direct cause of their own homelessness, explaining that fleeing family violence made <strong>it</strong> difficult to stay connected to their cultural roots, history, commun<strong>it</strong>y, and way of life. Youth who grew up in isolated Indigenous commun<strong>it</strong>ies or on reserves explained they lacked access to adequate supports or services that would have helped, such as family mediation, and were forced to leave their commun<strong>it</strong>ies in search of help. Some youth described this disconnection from Indigenous her<strong>it</strong>age, culture, and commun<strong>it</strong>y as deeply painful and disorienting. WHAT WOULD IT TAKE? 50
“Well, for me, like, because of residential school and because of the effect <strong>it</strong> had on my family, I’ve had a lot of traumatic experiences in my family, and thus, affecting every generation. And, because I haven’t learned my own culture I’ve learned this region’s culture instead of my own, and feeling lost and feeling alone, really.” YELLOWKNIFE YOUTH
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MOVING FORWARD Canadian research sh
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WHAT WOULD IT TAKE? 3. PREVENTING I
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ADDRESSING FAMILY CONFLICT, ABUSE,
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“This is real. We did not choose
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Lack of services and supports also
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MOVING FORWARD Youth across the cou
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ADDRESSING SOCIAL EXCLUSION & ISOLA
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“I’m just trying to say that, i
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ADDRESSING VIOLENCE IN THE COMMUNIT
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YOUTH’S MESSAGES TO ALL LEVELS OF
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We need to dramatically shift our a
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RECOMMENDATIONS 1 GOVERNMENT OF CAN
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5. Align ministerial, departmental,
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2. Embed youth homelessness prevent
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INTEGRATED GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS 1. W
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3. Require that all school boards a
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5. Offer comprehensive, youth-focus
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8. Systematically investigate and e
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Provincial/Territorial Ministries R
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6. Seek to provide highly integrate
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3. Foster meaningful youth engageme
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Gaetz, S., O’Grady, B., Kidd, S.,
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Statistics Canada. (2011). National