Unfortunately, years after that happened to my mother, it happened to me. A man tried to murder me off Yellowhead Trail, and I had to fight for my life. I ran so fast that I ran out of my shoes. When I called for the police to come, they left me there. They never came, because they asked what nationality the woman was that it happened to, and when I said Aboriginal or Native, they left me there. A long walk home in my bare feet, knowing this happens to my people, knowing this happens to our women and girls, and this is what's happening to me.

After that, I changed my life. That was twenty-seven years ago. I changed my life for the next twenty-six years, and I've dedicated my life for the past seventeen years to being an advocate and sharing the story I shared with you. Sharing what happened to me, what happened to my mother, is very important. I'm very lucky to be alive, so I feel that I have a responsibility to truth, a responsibility as a survivor, and in these different lenses. I try to get us safer. I try to educate, share truth, and make sure that we can make some kind of change. I support those who need it and try to be a voice for others that don't have one.

"As a way to honour your mom, what were some of her passions or goals, or is there anything else about her you would like to share?" (WLMN Interview Question, 5:15, H. Williams)

Well, my mother was a beautiful, beautiful woman, inside and out. Unfortunately, she went to not only one but two residential schools, so she carried a lot of extra hurt, a lot of extra abuse. She was such a beautiful girl, such a beautiful woman, and that kind of attention in a survival time made it harder for her.

But you know, just being her daughter, and learning a lot about her, she was a wonderfully talented dancer. She was one of the first Indigenous women go-go dancers for the bands in Alberta. That was something she never shared with us. I found out later. I was wondering why she would always put me in dance. She put me in modelling, she put me in acting, she'd do all this stuff for me. I was wondering, you know, so artistic, why was she always getting me out there? It was just lovely that she'd do that for me. I remember being a little girl dancing in this pink tutu, and looking at her, like, you know, she never shared that with us.

Then I found out she was a wonderful hairdresser. It's funny, because now I remember as a little girl she used to do my hair, do my makeup, all these things with me. She taught me how to cook certain things. She was a wonderful cook, but so talented in the arts, just so talented. A music lover, oh, she loved music. She really loved music, so I think that's where I got that from. Now I'm on stages, opening for big names. I'm a professional recording artist. She made sure that we had a lot of music in the home. We always had music in the home. She loved all kinds of music, it didn't matter what kind it was, as long as it spoke to her, it spoke to us. I remember going through all the records we used to have, and I'm really grateful for that. Music was my confidant, my friend, my healer. It still is.

So yeah, those are some wonderful things about her. I also just remember her beautiful hands. She had these beautiful hands, and her handwriting was just immaculate. Those are some things I remember, but I just remember her being such a fun, loving person that was just so about life and creation. Those are the beautiful things I remember about her.

"As a survivor, what are some key takeaways or truths that you want society to understand?" (WLMN Interview Question, 8:15, H. Williams)

As a survivor, that trauma bleeds into our everyday at different levels. I think that's a big thing. Our loved ones, and what happened to us, it never goes away. It never goes away. It just depends on how we handle ourselves, how we react to things, how we take our steps in our healing journey.

You know, I just want people to know that these horrible things that have happened to us historically are still happening to us today. Right now we are in a lot of danger. We're still not safe. That's part of my job, trying to change that and trying to keep us safe. It's really hard when the people who created the problem are doing the financial cutbacks to our solutions. It's really sad that our, you know, murdered and missing funding is now cut. That's a big issue for this country and the families. We have a lot of work to do.

We're still going through genocide. We're still going through racism. We're still going through planned oppression. When the legal system allows people to hurt us with minimal time, when a country doesn't charge human traffickers with human trafficking, we're in trouble. We're the most hunted and targeted population in this country, though it's our own country. Though we are the lowest population wherever we go, we are highly, highly targeted and hunted, because this country has told the public that we are disposable.

With things like the National Inquiry, when the public and all people are not answering the calls, us survivors feel very failed. We feel very failed even still to this day. There's not a justice system, it's a legal system. People say it's broken, but we don't believe it to be so. We just can't go to the people that created the problem for the solutions, and we're realizing that.

I think that as survivors as well, we need more right leadership to be leaders for their people and community. I think more than ever right now, when we keep being failed in these systems that don't work for us, we need a lot more leadership to come back down to ground. As a survivor and a grassroots person, I think grassroots is very, very important, and it should be more supported. That's a big one.

As a survivor, I think we need to make a choice every day of how much we love ourselves enough to build ourselves back up to heal. I think that's the biggest thing, that many of us don't value ourselves and we don't love ourselves enough, because we let the trauma pain block that. We have to do everything we can to piece that little shell that's broken within us back together, in order to move forward, in order to take those steps every day that we need to take. So I think the most important thing, at this point, as a survivor, is self-love and self-care. Just making sure that we don't leave ourselves behind on the back burner. Though we try to move fiercely forward for others, we just have to remember not to forget ourselves.

"In terms of justice and healing, what do these words mean to you?" (WLMN Interview Question, 11:57, H. Williams)

Well, justice is a mythical thing. It's not something you really see. It's not something that we really hear in our communities. We are utterly failed in justice, so that's a word that's not really used that much. I think it's a word for other people other than Indigenous People.

You know, I don't think we're ever going to get the proper healing we deserve until we get the justice we rightfully deserve. That's a big thing. But we have a lot of people that don't know truth. When it comes to justice and healing, you need to know truth. You need to be woke. You can't be in your slumber anymore, because only when we know the truth of what's happening to our people can we actually make that change.

Like I said, I think with justice and healing, leadership has to take on a bigger role. Leadership has to take on a bigger role. I also think the lateral violence has to go. I think that's the biggest thing that prevents us from even having either of these things, especially the healing, because, you know, we are all at a place in an overpopulated world where mental health is an issue. We're overstimulated. Our phones are a curse and a blessing. We're trying to find balance in this world right now.

But yeah, I think that justice and healing has a lot to do with just being a human being, and I think we're not acting like that much right now. I just see these things out there changing, you know. They know what's happening to us, and still nothing is really being done. To a point where we have the responsibility as families, at our own home fighters, to make them well and warm and inviting, and healing ourselves within our own homes. When we try to go to those places where they say there is healing, we're failed there or forgotten there.

I think our men and boys have to be included in all of this as well. We can't leave them out. They are some of the highest rates as well. I think that's really important, that we have our men and boys be the protectors and warriors they were always meant to be.

But I think with healing, you know, that's been with us since time immemorial. The power that we have, the resilience that we have, is always within us, but we let this trauma, this anger, this hurt, and this pain block that. It's really important to piece the broken child within us back together, because then we can move forward better, and get that healing, and then go fight for that justice. Right now we really have to fight. It's such a horrific outrage how we are failed in that.

"Through events like this and when sharing your story, what are some final takeaways you would like society to learn from this?" (WLMN Interview Question, 15:25, H. Williams)

That's the thing, you need to come down to the ground to find truth. You need to come talk to survivors to extend on that truth. You need the grassroots advocates and the community people that actually love their people and are actually doing the work to be more elevated and supported. But with these cuts, we're in danger. We're in danger more than ever now with these cuts. I don't understand how any Canadian would allow this to happen when they know it's happening to us.

I think, you know, we have to come together more, show up for one another more. I just want the public to know that though this is happening to us, it is happening to so many. Yes, we are the highest rates of everything awful in this country, but that is more of a strategic thing. This country does have an agenda against its owners, right? You know, that's our land, that's our water, those are our trees, and I think we need to connect more to that as well.

I think more Canadians need to just come together and show up for one another. When we are having these gatherings, when we are having these rallies and fights, we need you to show up. We need you to have truth and correct those racist people when they say something. Be a voice for us when we're not around. Make sure you have the right people who are well and love their people, and elevate them in those spaces. All non-Canadians should be trained in all of this, of what's the truth and what's really happening. It's also important for the public to know the safety precautions of what's happening, when human trafficking is the fastest growing crime in this country.

I think we have a lot more to do for each other. We need to be keeping each other safe. Not only that, we don't need the smokescreen and distractions of people being separated, people fighting and arguing, because the fight isn't between you and I. The fight is out there with the people who fail us every day. That's the biggest thing: be your own advocate, be a voice for your people, and be a voice for those that are utterly failed, which is our population of peoples.

You know, create that really great friendship that can always be created still. It's not there yet, but I think that more people are awakening to truth, and when you have the truth, that's when you can truly make a change.