Day 20 – July 9th

Today I biked the 70 km into Saskatoon. My body feels strong again. Passed 2 big Potash Plants with huge red tailing mountains.

This was a bit of a surreal day.  As I tried to find a coffee shop to sit and maybe meet some people, I biked by CTV.  I pulled together my courage, went in and asked if they would be interested in an interview and they did!  Not sure how it panned out.

Then I met a First Nations Woman beside Starbucks with a large tattoo on her chest stating: Woman of Constant Suffering.  I was not sure if I could ask her about the nature of her tattoo.  She said she was one of Pickton’s victims.  She spoke of the gangs of men who pray on native women and pimp them.  She said their (First Nations) way of life used to be free of this but they, and she excused herself for saying this to me the non native guy, wrecked it all.  They broke our way of life.
She said Vancouver is getting better but Saskatoon and Winnipeg are very bad for First Nation’s women ending up in violent sex trade.  When I asked her what men need to change she said, “not treat us as things”. She also wants the police to get serious about getting after the organized sex mafias.  She cheered me on for doing the Change the Cycle, and I thanked her for telling me her story.  I wanted to make sure it was OK to tell it further, and she agreed to that.

Then I went to Star Phoenix, the local paper, to ask if they are interested but they were already closing down.   Maybe they will contact me tomorrow morning before I cycle on towards North Battleford.

As I was getting my bike ready a man came out of the Star Phoenix building. I  asked him where I could find a store to buy some food.  He said it’s on the other side of town and offered to drive me to the store as he had time to kill.  So i put panniers and stuff in his car, locked up the bike and cruised through town with him.  He was a First Nations man who works two jobs.  One as a youth counsellor. He knew very well about the missing and killed women on the Highway of Tears.  When I asked him what men need to change he said this is difficult but men need to instill respect of women in boys.

He spoke of sexually violent comics he found a boy reading at the treatment centre where he works. He strongly believes this is one influence on boys that leads them to become violent towards women. He supported my campaign on ending violence against women although his experience in his relationship was that his partner was emotionally violent towards him.  It became apparent that she had been in an abusive relationship previously.  She was aware of her behaviour and wished she could have changed it.  He sounded sad about how this relationship did not work.

I thought more about some of the goals of Change the Cycle.
As I cycle through this vast country, working hard to reach the next destination, my thoughts on the project change as well.
The faces of the people I meet, who may give me looks because of the writing on my jersey, who comment on the issues of violence against women, who ask questions, who disclose some personal or collective stories, are somehow superimposed on the landscapes and city – scapes.

All the Canola that had a different name once…. had we gotten rid of rape this beautiful hybrid would still be called Rapeseed.

Anyway there are goals I want to emphasize more.

Change the Cycle weeks to:

• Wake up men to recognize that any form of male violence affects all of us
• Encourage all men, particularly the “good guys “, to be part of the change
• Engage men so they see abuse when it happens, recognize its damaging impact on women, children and themselves, and challenge sexist behaviours they see among their friends, relatives, neighbours, and colleagues.
• Promote critical awareness in men of: the potentially sexist and violent nature of their own behaviours, of the media they use and share with their kids, of the impact of gender stereotyping and sexist video games
• Encourage men to be caring to their sons and engage in meaningful conversations and play
• Help men see all women as people, not objects.

The prairie horizons were wide and beautiful with relative peace in the air.