Foytlin is handcuffed and she shouts, “We are First Nation! We are First Nation! Not today, colonizer! Not today!” More quietly, she tells the people arresting her, “I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t have to.”
This is how Foytlin, a divorced mother of six and a former journalist, landed in jail with an intake nurse who asked if she had any chronic health conditions.
“Yeah, I suffer from long-term colonization,” she recalls telling the nurse.
“Colon…what?” the nurse repeated, clearly trying to understand the nature of the ailment.
The activist clarified: “Colonization. It’s when too many White folks crawl up your ass and won’t go away.”
Foytlin says the nurse paused for a moment before she stamped the intake form and called out, “Next!”