My God? I forgot all these stories!!! There's a lot in there!!!! Click read more to read the rest. This could go on till the fall!
Early in the protest and before my petition, I was sitting in my chair under a tree near the sidewalk and away from my tent.
I was approached by a Native from Red Bank.
Her name was Dorothy Paul and I found her very intelligent and straight forward with her views on Ritalin.
She told me that young Natives are forced at a very young age on Ritalin.
The reason is that they cannot adjust to the white man school system so therefore they give them Ritalin.
This was one of my first story coming out from the Reserves.
Trust me!
Myself and T.J. Burke had many debates of the issue of Ritalin on the Reserves.
T.J. Burke is the first Aboriginal to be elected in the Legislature.
The first time that I crossed pact with T.J. was on a talk show call - Voice of the province which is shown on Rogers.
I found the young politician very intelligent so therefore what better way to find out if there’s a problem with Ritalin on the Reserves?
I confronted T.J. with this statement - T.J. You’re the first Aboriginal to be elected as a MLA and we don’t want you to go gun-ho on the Native issue but I heard there’s a problem with Ritalin on the reserves.
I told T.J. that I heard that the kids are force to take these pills so they can adjust to the white man school.
He quickly demised my story and told me that he would have heard of it if that was the case?
There’s really nothing that I could say because I’m not living in the reserves.
Three days later, I was confronted by a nice looking young native woman from Big Cove.
She told me that Ritalin is a problem on the Reserves because five members of her own family are on Ritalin.
I noticed T.J. walking in front of the Legislature and I once again confront the young politician.
Again, he didn’t see any problem of the use of Ritalin on the Reserves.
I was confused! Why do I hear all these stories? Is someone lying to me? Who and why?
One day, me and T.J. really debated the issue.
I was chatting with a couple who has a son with ADHD.
I turned around and noticed an old native woman near my tent.
She appeared out of nowhere.
These Natives sure can be sneaky!
She stared at my signs near my tent.
I approached her and said - May I help you?
She never said a word and kept on staring at my signs around my tent.
You could tell that she was angry.
Minutes went by and she said - I lost my son last week because of those pills!
I read in the paper the week before that a young native guy got shot dead on the streets of St.Mary’s and I guess that drugs were involved.
I was shocked to see her mom near my tent.
Her name is Alma Brooks.
She continued - I was told that you have a petition and I came here to sign it!
I told her that it was incredible that she knew that I had a petition because the media didn’t cover my protest. I gave her my petition and I asked her - Do you feel better since the shooting?
She glanced at me and in a very stern manner said - How can I feel better when I lost my son???
I’m not too good at this I guess so I decided to keep my big mouth shut before I got in real trouble.
I noticed two young Natives Kim Brooks and Wayne Brooks watching us very closely from a red truck!
She walked to the truck and they told me the same statement - There’s a problem with Ritalin on the Reserves!
I gave the last copy of my column to Alma Brooks who sat in the back seat.
She told me to continue the battle and don’t give up!
The truck left and I felt a very sick feeling in my stomach!
Guess who came around the corner with a soda in his hand?
You got it!!!!
T.J. Burke himself!
I quickly confronted the young man again with Ritalin but this time around I mention - Alma Brooks.
He quickly told me that Alma wasn’t around since the accident, she left town for a rest.
I felt like I was a lawyer and T.J. was on the stand.
I told him to hold on while I look for their names on my petition.
Once I located the names?
I said - Here we go - Alma, Kim and Wayne Brooks!!!!
Do you recognize these names?
Do you know them T.J.?????
He glanced towards the sky and said - OH Boy???
He said oh there could be a problem?
I was angry and I told the smart lawyer turn politician that once this petition is presented to the house that he must stand up and talk about the problem that the natives are having on the reserve with Ritalin.
Little did anyone knew including myself that he was going to be the one who was going to present my petition.
That’s a story for later on.
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