'They helped me heal': Online series sharing Indigenous culture through stories told by grandmothers

Speaker series teaching Indigenous culture Grandmother's Voice co-founder Jody Harbour shares why she started the initiative that’s drawing thousands of viewers.

TORONTO — A new online speaker series called Grandmother's Voice is helping to share Indigenous culture that was lost amid Canada's history of colonization through stories told by elders in the Halton, Ont. community.

Jody Harbour, co-founder of Grandmother's Voice, told CTV's Your Morning on Tuesday that initiative is for elders to share their wisdom and teachings to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

"My grandmother's voice was what led me to my family," Harbour said. "Indigenous people, they understand that our ancestors guide us to the good life."

Harbour says her grandmother, who was from Cayuga Nation of the Six Nations of the Grand River, helped her make sense of the generations of suicide in her family.

"When I met her, she shared with me the truths that caused the intergenerational trauma of my family and then she helped me heal and understand my responsibilities as an urban Indigenous woman," Harbour said.

She says Grandmother's Voice has become a "community of practice" providing Indigenous education for non-Indigenous people and helping those of Indigenous decent reconnect with their culture by addressing intergenerational trauma.

Despite being located in Halton, northwest of Toronto, Harbour says the series has drawn thousands of views from across Canada.

"It's led by Indigenous women, and amplifying the voices of Indigenous people that were connected to culture and their understandings of what they wanted to share with the people so that they could provide healing with their stories," Harbour explained.

Harbour said the initiative was mainly started by the grandmothers, who wanted to address the trauma that had been passed down through Indigenous families in an effort to reconnect younger generations with their culture.

"To know that they went through this genocide, and they made it to share their stories, to provide resiliency to the rest of the world. It's a magical culture," Harbour said.

"They helped me heal and understand what my purpose is as a woman," she added.

During the online sessions, Harbour said the grandmothers share their own personal experiences to connect with those who may be struggling with their Indigenous identity.

"They use a lot of metaphors when they speak, which is so beautiful because it gives you that space to really figure out how their story relates to your own," Harbour said.

Harbour said the grandmothers show "so much humility and love" to everyone involved in the sessions, two emotions she believes Western society needs more of.

"[Society has] oppressed the fact that love and peace and just coming together as community actually works, it actually heals people," she said.

For those looking to educate themselves and further help after the remains of 215 children were found buried near a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C., Harbour said Canadians’ efforts need to go beyond praying and putting shoes down.

"Find your community. Uncle Neil says it best: 'Go wake up the sleeping elders.' They're here to teach you, reach out, find your residential school survivors," Harbour said.

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If you are a former residential school student in distress, or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419

Additional mental-health support and resources for Indigenous people are available here.