Updated: Jul 2, 2021
Hello, my name is Jessica I am a 39 year old indigenous mother of 2 sons. I am a 60s scoop survivor. I was taken from my family and community at a very young age and adopted out to non-Indigenous parents. This resulted in growing up with shame and guilt about being indigenous. I had some memories of my mother and later learned she herself is a residential school survivor and spent a lot of her life incarcerated. Although I was raised in a colonized world I still suffered lifetimes of trauma and abuse.
At 15 I became very depressed and suicidal. To cope with this I began using drugs and alcohol to escape. At 23 my biological family found me in Alberta and brought me home to Saskatchewan. Struggling with addiction I moved through my 20s and 30s and somehow managed to complete a Bachelor’s degree in nursing science, have 2 sons and move to BC in 2013. In 2016 my sons were taken by MCFD which threw me deeper and deeper into addiction. Feb 10, 2019, feeling death was close I gave treatment another try (for the 7th time). Today my life is unbelievably different and good! I am happy and healthy. I am consistently in my children’s lives. I honour my culture through learning and speaking cree, attending ceremonies, and spending time with elders. I show gratitude for my recovery by attending meetings regularly, working with women, and working the steps. I am all in 110%.
