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In this webinar, Desmond Jackson will provide an in-depth view of his (Blackfoot) oral way of life. He will discuss how the Blackfoot People view and come to decisions regarding oral processes and "policies,” natural law, their governance, and decision-making versus the dominant default system of Western societies and their written processes, policies and decision-making. He speaks about avoiding cultural confusion and working in a parallel system, where both processes are valid, and how we, as a society, can begin to understand and appreciate both systems as equals.

Speaker:

Desmond Jackson - Miisinskii Saahkomaapi (Badger Boy)

Desmond was born in Pincher Creek, AB, and raised on the Piikani First Nation, which is a Blackfoot Reserve in Southern AB. Desmond began and completed his grade schooling on the Piikani Reserve, graduating from the Piikani Nation Secondary High School. Desmond attended Lethbridge Community College where he studied Criminal Justice. Desmond was born into a family with a rich cultural background, the Crowshoe family. As a young child, Desmond was immersed in his Blackfoot culture attending ceremonies on the Reserve. Desmond joined his first Blackfoot Society, the Niipoomaa’kiiks (The Little Birds or Chickadee's Society) at the age of 6. Desmond aged out of the Niipoomaa’kiiks becoming an elder to this Society. Desmond was then transferred into the Thunder Pipe Society by his great uncle and mentor Dr. Reg Crowshoe.

Desmond continues to practice his Blackfoot Oral way of life participating in various ceremonies taking on numerous societal roles in these ceremonies such as the All-Night Smokes, the Thunder Pipe Ceremonies, Sweat Lodges, the Tea Dance Ceremony and the “Okan” also known as the Sundance. Desmond is the current Indigenous Relations Advisor for the Town of Okotoks. Desmond was a Police Officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) beginning his career in 2009 and retiring in 2022. Desmond served for 13 years with the RCMP in various provinces and territories throughout the country.

During his Policing career, Desmond excelled, receiving numerous accommodations from RCMP leadership for his work in the Major Crimes field investigating fresh and cold case homicides including MMIWG investigations in both an overt and covert role. Desmond formalized the current process for adults seeking extrajudicial sanctions in the form of healing and sentencing circles in the Yukon Territory. Desmond partnered with tech giant TELUS to create the Home Phone for Good Program, which put a landline phone in every vulnerable, marginalized Indigenous person's home on a reserve in Southern AB, so they had not only the means, but the ability to call for help in emergencies.

Desmond’s upbringing on the Reserve, coupled with his experience being an Indigenous person navigating the dominant society's Western written processes and policies, have illuminated his innate ability to walk in both the Indigenous Oral world and the Western world's society. Desmond is an expert in this field, differentiating and having the ability to respectfully operate within both worlds the written and oral.