She is beautiful, she is strong, she is independent, she is a Disney princess.  Pocahontas was what made me notice skin colour.  Her movie was different from the other Disney princess movies, her story seemed real.  I envied her freedom to explore the land and have animal friends.  I wanted to be her. Although you cannot be a Disney princess, and the real story of Pocahontas is not a fairy-tale.  As I child it did not matter.  Pocahontas made me notice skin colour but more so notice that people have different cultures, but it was a positive realization.  Watching Pocahontas informed me as a child that white people took over First Nations land.  It also implies that the white settlers were being greedy: “because we invaded their land and cut down their trees and dug up their earth”.  So, from the beginning I knew that there had been injustices.      

My aunty has been with a man since right before I was born, he has a lovely tan complexion, dark eyes, dark hair, a voice with its own type of accent.  He is my uncle, and he is First Nations.  It was never out of the ordinary for me, I spent a lot of time growing up in Fort Qu’Appelle.  First Nations cultures were prevalent in the parades and daily life there.  I always wanted to know more about First Nations culture but being so young – about five years old – it’s hard to ask to be taught about it.  My aunty would make me gifts, beaded necklaces, earrings that looked like a Headdress, a pink dream catcher that hung at the head of my bed for years.  I always wanted to know how she made these beautiful gifts, and if there were any stories to where they came from.  And even still I am absolutely obsessed with the beauty and hard work that goes into Indigenous art. 

  I feel as though noticing skin colour as a child is not a ground-breaking discovery, you see it every day.  Children know that people look different from one another, they just don’t understand why people look different.  Taking a minute to research why people look different (Ex. darker skin or hair) and explain that to a child in simple terms takes power away from the negative associations that society has come up with.  I have heard many negative things about every race, as far back as I can remember.  But being immersed in First Nations culture helped avoid connecting skin colour to the stereotypes people give them.