The year in the life of Potato-Chip
There was a time in James Peters' twenties when he tried to end his life with a cocktail of drugs, alcohol, and pills. The Creator saw him through many other attempts to end his life. "Why did God see fit to keep me from death and to heal me so many times?" he asks. "All I know is that I gave God the huge mess that was my life and He somehow brought me through."
I am a 54-year-old First Nations man living in the suburbs of an affluent, multi-cultural community just north of Toronto, Ontario. My father was a Potawatomi and my mother a Chippewa, so I call myself a Potato-Chip. I tell this to most people I meet and I had one Mohawk elder laughing for hours after I greeted her this way. Our people love to laugh.
I sit and reflect on the past and I remember the good, bad, and sometimes ugly moments, and hope for all the best in the future.
In 2015, I shared with people about my difficult upbringing as a First Nations person growing up in Canada during the...
