TB NATIONAL INDIGENOUS HISTORY MONTH ‘RED SHEEP OF THE FAMILY’ FIGHTS FOR JUSTICE HELPING T0 HEAL A DISEASED WORLD KIM ZARZOUR kzarzour@yrmg.com In celebration of Nation- duces readers to 30 Indige- nous people who are mak- ing a difference. ive-year-old Dawn Ma- racle stared back at her fa- ther, defiantly. He was furious, hands on hips, yelling, while she slared, little chin jutting it, determined to put an end to misogyny. ree years old, she'd tried to get her parents to quit smoking; at four, she'd urged her mother to di- vorce her father because “he's not nice to you.” And at five, she tired of her brothers being alloy wed to play while, as a girl, she stayed home to complete chores. She stomped her foot, demanding fairness. It was a sign this little girl, every inch the Mo- hawk, would one day be a trailb! ‘periencing injustice; it was absolutely unacceptable to me." It's why she now calls herself the red sheep of the family. "I knew I was differ- ent. More spiritual. I ques: mn, analyze and don't a cept things as they are. "I never saw the boxes put in front of me. I could always see beyond ... Colo- Dawn Maracle is the founder of Dawn T. Maracle Consulting, Dawn Maracle photo CEO of skyROOTS Indigenous Education Institute, and executive director of HOPES (Healing Our People through Education, Sports and Social justice). nization has created boxes, but they've also created a very diseased world.” Today, Maracle is doing her best to heal that world. For the past three de- cades, she has worked with and for Indigenous commu- nities. With multiple educa- tion and native studies de- grees, she left her mark on education and_ training, health/medicine/tobacco, and contributions too long to fit into this article. Now, as executive direc- tor of Healing Our People through orm piace CHOPES ‘a ial digonome raining Network, she em- others to make ex zs change. But beyond all those ac- complishments, the one Maracle says makes her most proud is her daugh- ter. Maracle wanted her child's legal name to be tra- ditional and she worked with her clan mother in Akwesasne to find that At five months preg- nant, Maracle dreamed her deceased father floated down from the sky, hand- ing her a baby, light as a feat em xt morning, th bey in her belly | started The perfect name found "in the basket" ‘avail able to the Mohawk Nation Akwesasne Bear Clan), ae karonhiakans stares at the heavens." risingly, Mara- cles 'S daughter now aged 16, Jans a career in astro- physics and carries that same trail-blazing torch as her mother, fighting to en- sure profits from orange T- shirts are directed to Indig- enous causes and launch- ing her high school's first Indigenous Students Asso- ciation. "I realized as a young person, we are the ones we have been waiting for," Ma- racle says. “We don't need to wait for change. If some- thing isn't just, we need to make the change now to make the world a better place." a FOR MORE o1 National indigenous History Month and H to meet more Indigenous peoples scan the code. THE CITY Did you receive your 2023 final residential property tax bill? The City of Waterloo 2023 final property tax due dates are July 4, 2023 and September 1, 2023. Final tax bills have been mailed or emailed if you signed up for our new electronic billing service. Please note, you are responsible for paying your taxes on or before the due dates. Non-receipt of your property tax bill does not exempt you from taxes and/or late payment penalty charges. If you have not received your tax bill, please let us know by contacting us at revenue@waterloo.ca or calling 519-747-8718. x Did you know you can pay your tax and water bills online? We offer a number of payment options including our new online service, online banking, and pre-authorized payments to make it easy to pay your tax or water bills from home. °o PAY ONLINE OR SIGN UP FOR E-BILLING ¢ For payment options for your tax bills visit www.waterloo.ca/taxpayment ¢ For payment options for your water utility bills visit www.waterloo.ca/waterpayment @ Pay IN-PERSON Payment can be made Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at * Waterloo City Centre 100 Regina St. S. * Waterloo Service Centre 265 Lexington Crt. 1550 TTY. 1-866-786-3941 waterloo. PAY BY MAIL Please remit the stub of your tax bill along with your payment to: City of Waterloo Revenue Services 100 Regina St. S. PO Box 337 Station Waterloo Waterloo, ON N2J 4A8 €70z ‘ZZ euNr ‘epsunyy | ejo}u0IyD COLEZeAA | G B'9]9|UOIYDOOLLE}2MA