This is the fourth instalment in a special series prepared by Black Press Media. You can find more of the series and other articles on truth and reconciliation online at or in this weekB次元官网网址檚 edition of Greater Victoria papers.
Steve SxwithulB次元官网网址檛xw spent his 20s trying to find his way.
The Penelakut Tribe member and Kuper Island Indian Residential School survivor said at that age, you really donB次元官网网址檛 know what youB次元官网网址檙e doing. B次元官网网址淵ouB次元官网网址檙e trying to find your way, break the strings of the past and reliance on your family,B次元官网网址� he said
Today, SxwithulB次元官网网址檛xw is 56 and living in VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 Cook Street Village, having started a family of his own. After more than three decades of confusion with identity and place, he reflects on a career attempting to erase what he calls that B次元官网网址渙ld narrativeB次元官网网址� of trauma and despondence seared into a derogatory perception of B.C.B次元官网网址檚 Indigenous peoples.
As a police constable, broadcast journalist and TV producer, SxwithulB次元官网网址檛xwB次元官网网址檚 work has centred around community-led and community-based practices that create a fuller picture of different peoples.
Part of that came with SxwithulB次元官网网址檛xwB次元官网网址檚 experience with a B次元官网网址渄ifferent style of policing.B次元官网网址� It began with a sign B次元官网网址� a job poster looking for security guards while he was unemployed in his 20s. Eight months of training landed him a gig outside an Army and Navy department store in VancouverB次元官网网址檚 East Hastings, B次元官网网址渁t the heart of where people have the toughest times in life,B次元官网网址� he said.
He carried that experience with him as he started his own policing service in his home region near Ladysmith and Chemainus after going from a corrections officer at 26 to a police officer at 30.
But while policing on his own Nation on Vancouver Island built transferable skills, SxwithulB次元官网网址檛xw said the work was made challenging by a lack of budget, equipment, and personnel and downtime came with the price of feeling woefully unappreciated.
The pressure of it caused SxwithulB次元官网网址檛xw to leave the force in 2003, only revisiting it years later in his capacity as a journalist.
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The move in that direction came from another job ad discovered during one of his last police postings. B次元官网网址淭hey were looking for radio personalities for the community station B次元官网网址� so I signed up and did four hours every Thursday night,B次元官网网址� SxwithulB次元官网网址檛xw said. The phone was soon ringing off the hook with song requests for B次元官网网址淐onstable Steve,B次元官网网址� he said, which encouraged him to pursue courses in broadcast journalism.
SxwithulB次元官网网址檛xw learned he had the knack for it in 2007 but while he enjoyed working in front of the camera for major outlets, he didnB次元官网网址檛 like the direction newsrooms were taking at the time. The regular features on dancing, drumming, drinking or death B次元官网网址� coined the four Ds of stereotypical coverage by Indigenous journalist Duncan McCue B次元官网网址� drove SxwithulB次元官网网址檛xw away from mainstream media as they failed to portray a complex history.
Instead, he began a relationship with the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network as an independent producer. One original show, B次元官网网址淲arrior Games,B次元官网网址� featured Indigenous athletes across North America and allowed its subjects to reclaim Indigenous identity through cultural sport. But it was B次元官网网址淭ribal Police FilesB次元官网网址� that brought SxwithulB次元官网网址檛xw back to the policing community.
The most surprising element of the series for Canadians, SxwithultB次元官网网址檟w said, was the different style of policing. The First Nations police services showcased were community-led and community-based, SxwithulB次元官网网址檛xw said, and demonstrated that policing in Canada is only as strong as its community ties.
Considering an upbringing in a colonial system, living within the Indian Act, mediating the intergenerational trauma of residential schools and experiencing racism, SxwithulB次元官网网址檛xw said the B次元官网网址渞ough rideB次元官网网址� endured by North AmericaB次元官网网址檚 Indigenous peoples needs to be understood if itB次元官网网址檚 to be addressed B次元官网网址� whether thatB次元官网网址檚 through the media or policing policies.
B次元官网网址淭here has to be some empathy B次元官网网址� and some understanding.B次元官网网址�
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Support for survivors and their families is available. Call the Indian Residential School Survivors Society at 1-800-721-0066, or 1-866-925-4419 for the 24-7 crisis line. The KUU-US Crisis Line Society also offers 24-7 support at 250-723-4050 for adults, 250-723-2040 for youth, or toll free at 1-800-588-8717.
Do you have a story tip? Email: kiernan.green@blackpress.ca.
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