(Details below on how to support Dawn): Every year, thousands of Indigenous children are separated from their parents, their communities and their culture by the child welfare system that, as CTV reports, "in many ways, continues the cycle of colonial violence." 

One of those kids is the child of wrongfully charged, award-winning Okanese First Nations writer Dawn Walker, who faces decades in prison for the alleged “crime” of trying to protect her child from abuse. According to court filings, Dawn “fled Saskatchewan due to her honest belief that her child faced grievous imminent harm. Their flight to the United States was Ms. Walker’s final, most desperate attempt in a long series of fruitless bids to seek protection from the authorities from her ex-partner’s ongoing sexual abuse and harm.” 

For the act of trying to save her child, the colonial government of Saskatchewan has forcibly separated Dawn from her child, and will only allow occasional “supervised” visits that cost Dawn $1,200 a month. This is how the colonial system treats an Indigenous mother who is, by the system’s own rules, presumed innocent.

It is preposterous in the so-called Truth and Reconciliation era – where politicians continually spout "never again” platitudes – that Dawn’s ability to share time with and nurture her child is dependent on her ability to pay for colonial child supervision services.

As Dawn endures the lengthy wait to contest the bogus colonial charges, she needs our support to pay for those supervised visits and maintain an essential connection with her child. 

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Women Who Choose to Live is organizing “40 for 30,” seeking 40 people who will publicly, proudly commit to send $30 a month (less than the price of a daily coffee) to meet those costs. We are asking that folks commit to six months of support. 

To join the 40 for 30 campaign, contact Women Who Choose to Live at tasc@web.ca

"We are supervised for every second of every visit but we do a good job of playing games, eating snacks and cuddling even under this scrutiny," Dawn writes. "At the end of the visit, my child always stops before letting himself be escorted away - he will step back in the doorway to look up at my face to make sure that I'm not crying. As little as he is, he is trying to look after me. I have trained myself to only cry after I hear his footsteps down the hall.” – Dawn Walker

“First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples know the trauma of unnecessary removals of children away from their parents by the State. Every separation is traumatic and that trauma deepens as time away increases often resulting in life long and multi-generational harms,” says Cindy Blackstock

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Hear what 40 for 30 Contributors are Saying:
 
 
“Half the imprisoned women in Canada are Indigenous….but they are only 5% of the female population. While thousands are missing and murdered, our travesty of a  justice system busies itself throwing vulnerable Indigenous women in jail. Dawn Walker,  an award-winning author, speaker and activist, could get no help from police to protect her and her child; she fled; she is now being punished, out on bail and facing multiple charges. Discrimination against indigenous women is built right into our system; it has to stop. We must help to stop it, with our outrage, our voices, our financial support." – Michele Landsberg, OC, is a Canadian journalist, author, public speaker, feminist and social activist. She is known for writing three bestselling books, including Women and Children First, This is New York, Honey!, and Michele Landsberg's Guide to Children's Books

Join this special night of readings in support of Dawn: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/writers-read-for-dawn-walker-drop-all-the-charges-now-may-10-8-pm-est-tickets-618257754587