“I was learning about who I was . . . and learning and understanding these systems are built on the genocide of my people.”

Crystal Scrimshaw is a daughter, mother and friend who’s been living in Nogojiwanong/Peterborough, Ontario for the past 11 years, and now works at a job she loves supporting Indigenous students

But she’s so much more.

Through her activism — from embracing land and water rights at Standing Rock, North Dakota, and Wet’suet’en First Nation in British Columbia, for example, or advocating for missing and murdered women to protesting, organizing rallies, hosting, speaking out, fundraising for different causes, organizing healing circles, drum circles and Ceremony — Crystal has worked hard for the needs of Indigenous people in Nogojiwanong and across Turtle Island (North America).

Alongside this work, she educates settlers about the Canada’s true history and the struggles faced by present-day Indigenous people.

With the gift of a strong spirit inherited from her Plains Cree ancestors, alongside her own healing journey, and the devotion of her adoptive parents, Crystal has built a supportive atmosphere surrounding her children — now 23 and 18 — her parents and community.

But the barriers that came from being raised outside her community and the intergenerational effects of residential schools have meant she has needed that ancestral strength many times over.

“I was learning about who I was . . . and learning and understanding these systems are built on the genocide of my people,” she said, in a recent interview with JOURNEY Magazine.

It was when she came to Nogojiwanong that Crystal’s activism really took off.

“When I moved here, I went straight into Ceremony — sweat lodge Ceremonies, shaking tent Ceremonies, full moon Ceremonies, sacred fire Ceremonies, sunrise Ceremonies. I really just immersed myself in the culture and took every opportunity that I could to learn, whether it was language classes, workshops, or drumming,” she said.

And, here she is.

On Nov. 19 at Trent University in Nogojiwanong, Crystal will be speaking at the showing of “Yintah”, a film documenting, over a decade, the impact on the lives of the Wet’suet’en people who live on unceded territory as they oppose the construction of multiple pipelines on their land.

Rachel Small, Canadian co-ordinator of World Beyond War, will also be providing commentary at the event, which begins a 7 p.m. at the Bata Library Theatre.

Another example of her impact on her community was “the orange bus”.

On Canada’s very first Truth and Reconciliation Day, Sept. 30. 2021, and for two years after that, a city transit bus travelled the streets of Nogojiwanong wrapped in bright orange and emblazoned with the Every Child Matters logo — a bold reminder of the country’s residential schools, and the need to raise awareness.

Crystal made that happen, spear-heading the idea with former Peterborough city councillor Stephen Wright and two other community members.

“That was a history-making moment for Peterborough,” she said.

“I really hold my community close to me. That’s a piece that I think about and I reflect on, like creating spaces for others to heal. That’s what usually happens when I create an event. I’ve always had a knowledge keeper and we always do Ceremony, at every single event, even protests.”

There is prayer, drumming, songs, round dances and speakers, all with the intent of educating people, she explained.

“My parents were definitely supportive of me getting to know my culture and they also had an agreement with the Alberta courts that I maintain my relationship with my biological sister who I have out west,” she said. “So. every year when I was old enough, in high school, I would take flights home and spend some time in Alberta. So I was really thankful for that.”

Born in Alberta, Crystal was raised in Ontario by her adopted family, the Scrimshaws.

After secondary school, Crystal attended college at First Nations Technical Institute in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, Ontario, studying Indigenous journalism for one year.

It was a course that taught Indigenous culture as well as journalism, she explained.

“And I learned a lot about my culture. The college was right on the reserve, so daily I got to meet other native students there. That’s where it started.”

Her life has now come full-circle since her student days at First Nation Technical Institute as she recently got a job there as a student success facilitator for the Bachelor of Indigenous Social Work cohort.

What is Crystal’s message to settlers? She would like them to educate themselves about Canada’s history and share that message.

“Because once you know something, you can’t unknow something and that’s where that seed starts,” she said.

That ancestral strength she talks about has served her well.

“I come from a long line of Indigenous people who have survived colonialism. We are resilient. We are still here.”

By Melodie McCullough