Offered by Dev Ramsawakh, Centre for Independent Living in Toronto (CILT)
March 10, 2026
I will take this time to acknowledge and honour the disabled Indigenous artists, activists and scholars who have taught me and shared their experiences with me so I could understand the intersection of ableism and colonialism. Colonialism is a disabling force through systems like medical racism, the control of access to nutritious food and clean water, police brutality and more. Colonialism also reduces us down to our bodies’ and minds’ ability to produce labour that support capitalist interests and equates our value to how well we perform it.
But I’m grateful to have had the opportunities to learn about and from disabled Indigenous people like Yolanda Bonnell, Theo Cuthand, S.O. Nault, Michel Dumont, Hope-Adina Adler, Trevor Stratton, Justin Many Fingers, Jack Hawk and Kay Chan. These are important voices that belong to our community and I hope to continue learning from them and other disabled Indigenous people as I continue forward with this work.
I’d also welcome if others would like to share of any disabled and Indigenous people they’ve learned from as well.