Video Highlights Indigenous Disability Awareness
November is Indigenous Disability Awareness Month in Canada. Begun in 2015, this observance is dedicated to recognizing and celebrating the achievements and contributions of Indigenous people living with disabilities while also acknowledging the barriers they continue to face.
Sandra Pronteau, a member of Nelson Avenue CRC in Burnaby, B.C., is a devoted advocate for inclusion and justice. She is Cree-Metis, a member of the Canadian Indigenous Ministry Committee (CIMC), and has served on the intercultural cohort planning committee. Her work and witness bring an important perspective to the conversation about disability, belonging, and faith.
Pronteau is featured in a powerful short film produced by Inclusion BC, an organization that works to build inclusive communities and to connect people experiencing barriers with systems of support. The video is available at this link: Inclusion BC: Sandra Pronteau.
A Sixties Scoop survivor, Pronteau grew up in Christian foster homes. Some were caring, and others were painful, she said. As a result, she added, she has a strong sense of purpose and a calling to speak up for people who are often overlooked.
Reflecting on her work with CIMC, Pronteau pointed out, “A person with disability on top of being Indigenous is so needed” in this ministry. And on Indigenous involvement in the church, she observed, “We still have a long way to go.”
The video project took a year and a half to complete, she said, and it includes interviews with people who have known Pronteau through many stages of her life. Noting its importance to her, she explained, “I wanted to leave a legacy for the younger generations, especially those dealing with disability. Living with disability isn’t easy. You have to come to terms with accepting it.”
Pronteau’s message emphasizes dignity, perseverance, and mutual respect. Speaking directly to people who live with a disability, she said she hopes the video will serve as a call “to not undermine yourself. . . . To work with what you have. To learn to educate others. To stand up for your own rights.”
Pronteau also called attention to the way society, and sometimes the church, treats people with disabilities. She said, “People tend to put disability in a hierarchy, and that, to me, is wrong. All disability should be treated the same. It’s about opening your eyes and seeing what that person is on the inside, not what they look like on the outside.”
Issuing a challenge to the church, she added, “They need to listen. All people who come through the door of God’s house should be treated as who they are.”
For Pronteau, faith and community are inseparable from healing and justice. Sharing about her experience with CIMC, she said, “When you’re among your own people—your Indigenous group—and you’re all faith-based believers, it’s something we can relate to because we’ve all done our healing. We’re seeking justice to help integrate how we can better serve our people . . . to be the voice of those that are afraid to come into the [church].”
Pronteau also encouraged non-Indigenous Christians to keep learning. Urging everyone to explore Indigenous and ally authors and resources such as Mend by Jodi Spargur and works by Richard Twiss, Adrian Jacobs, and Ray Aldred, she asserted, “People on reserves don’t get free handouts.”
Indigenous Disability Awareness Month is designed to encourage people to take time to listen deeply, learn humbly, and act justly while working together toward a church and a society where every person is seen, valued, and fully included.
