BLOG POSTS
Broden Halcrow-Ducharme Broden Halcrow-Ducharme is a Cree, Indigenous writer, director, filmmaker, and content creator whose community is based in Cross Lake First Nation. His writing in these blog posts reflects the realities that Indigenous people face today related to truth, justice, safety, healing, and cultural understanding.
Confronting Oppression: The Weight of Balance
The scales of justice have never truly been balanced.
For many Indigenous families, fairness has always felt out of reach. One side holds power and policy, built by systems that protect themselves even when those systems remain corrupted. The other carries the truth of loss, waiting, and unanswered calls that echo through generations...
Understanding the Pathways of Violence
Human security means being safe from harm and free from fear. It is about more than just protection from violence or danger. It is the right to live without constant worry, to belong, and to have the freedom to be who you are. In Canada, safety is often talked about as something everyone has, but for many Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, safety has never been guaranteed...​​
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“Safety” - Under-Resourced and Over Policed?
Safety is something many people rarely stop to think about until it is challenged. For some families, the word security no longer means freedom from danger, but a daily effort to stay connected, to keep going, and to hold onto one another through grief.
Human security is not just about protection from harm. It is about stability in all parts of life: home, family, health, identity, and purpose...​
When Trust Feels Out of Reach
Human security depends on trust —trust that, when something goes wrong, someone will respond. But when that trust is broken, safety feels far away. The absence of security is not only about danger; it is also about silence, delay, and the feeling that no one is listening.​ When help takes too long to arrive or people are ignored, the promise of safety begins to fade...
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Identity and Healing for Indigenous People
Culture is like a drumbeat; steady, grounding, and alive. It connects generations through rhythm and memory, reminding us that healing begins when we can hear the sound of our own heartbeat.
Culture is a foundation of identity and wellness for Indigenous peoples...
Social and Economic Marginalization
A small plant growing through a crack in the sidewalk. Change often begins the same way, pushing through even the hardest ground.
The image of the small plant breaking through concrete symbolizes resilience and renewal. It reflects how Indigenous communities continue to grow and create change...
When Healing Reflects Culture and Community
How can we learn and maintain languages that hold a deep connection to health and well-being? Is the funding fair enough to allow communities the freedom to create care that reflects their own needs? What happens when care is offered but does not reach the people who need it? And what does healing look like when culture and community are finally part of the health care system?
Accessing Truth and Justice: Beyond the Silence
The silence within truth and justice is the loudest sound for those who wait… It is the silence of phone calls that go unanswered, of reports left open, of gatherings held year after year without answers. It is the same silence that surrounded the children who never came home, and the same quiet that still lingers in communities waiting to be heard. For many Indigenous families, that silence continues in the search for justice...
Before It's Too Late: Let’s Turn Words Into Action
Talking about change is easy. Action takes work. That’s why we call it a call to action. Awareness is an important step, but what matters most is what we do next. Across the country, Indigenous families, youth, and communities are showing what real action looks like. Patrol groups, safe spaces, and support networks are being built from the ground up by people who refuse to wait...
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"Nobody Is Safe.”
The words “We’re not safe. Our women are not safe anymore. Nobody is safe.” were shared by a witness in Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (2019). Found in Volume 1a, pages 503–504, these words speak to what safety truly means for many Indigenous families, not as an idea but as a lived experience...
No One Is Forgotten
When someone goes missing, families wait for answers that are often slow to come. They make calls, post photos, and walk through uncertainty with hope that never fades. Behind every search is love, love that continues even when silence tries to take its place. For many Indigenous families, the search for a loved one is not just about finding someone. It is about being heard and seen...
Restoring Balance in Child Welfare
For many Indigenous families, the child welfare system has been a constant presence, one that often separates rather than supports. These systems run deep, following the same patterns of control and disconnection that began with residential schools and continued through the Sixties Scoop. During that time, thousands of Indigenous children were taken from their families and placed into non-Indigenous homes...
The Right to Be Heard
The right to be heard is a basic part of justice, respect, and human dignity. Across Canada, Indigenous people have spoken about being ignored by systems that were supposed to protect them. Their voices have often been set aside, even when they spoke the truth about violence, discrimination, and neglect.
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