Biigtigong Nishnaabeg band representative advocates for child welfare

By Rick Garrick

BIIGTIGONG NISHNAABEG — Biigtigong Nishnaabeg’s Todd Genno recently shared some of his experiences while being brought up in foster care with different families in his home community.

“I was brought into foster care at a young age, about four or five-years-old, down in Toronto — that’s where my mom and dad lived,” says Genno, who was one of six children in his family and is now a singer, drum keeper, master of ceremony, arena director, and stand-up comedian. “We lived down there for a few years and there was a time when the Chief wanted to bring the children [in care] back to the community so we were transferred to Marathon CAS (Children’s Aid Society) and we lived in [Biigtigong Nishnaabeg] with a family for a while. And from then on, I just bounced around to many different foster homes until I was about 18-years-old.”

Genno says his three sisters were adopted and one of his brothers was with the same family throughout his time in care.

“I have a brother down in Toronto that I haven’t met,” Genno says. “I bounced around in about 20 foster homes. As a young child, you don’t really understand, you just kind of go with the flow, and it doesn’t really bother you until you get older when you try to figure out relationships with people and why relationships don’t work. It goes back to not feeling like you belong anywhere or you could trust people, so I think that’s had a huge impact on me as an adult, more than it did as a child.”

Genno says one of the positive experiences he had when he was brought back to Biigtigong Nishnaabeg was being surrounded by the Elders and ceremony.

“I got reintroduced to our spirituality and I think that’s what really laid down the foundation of who I am and my ability to be resilient and to heal,” Genno says.

Genno says one of his foster homes was with Biigtigong Nishnaabeg Chief Duncan Michano for a couple of years.

“His thing was always taking me out on the land,” Genno says. “He knows so much about the land, we did lots of trapping and hunting and fishing and even prospecting. He was a man that lived in the bush all of his life and depended on it, and he always brought youth from the community along as well just to involve them because being on the land was so important.”

Genno says he also had some negative experiences, including one home where the mother was generous at the beginning but later abusive.

“So that’s one example of a foster home I was in that was not very pleasant,” Genno says.

This march, he requested his CAS files from the three agencies he was involved with, but has only received one so far.

“In the last two years, I’ve done lots of healing, I’ve done counselling, and I was ready to take a look at that,” Genno says. “There was a lot of stuff in there; I learned a lot about myself that I had no idea [about]. I learned lots about my mom and my dad, my biological parents, that I never had contact with.”

Genno says he discovered that he had Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) while looking through his CAS file.

“I didn’t even know that until I read that in my file,” Genno says. “So I must have had a lot of problems in school.”

Genno says that all former Crown wards have a right to their files from the CAS they were involved in.

“They have a right to see what was written about them but have supports in place when you are ready,” Genno says. “Don’t read it alone if it will be triggering.”

Genno says he was previously married with whom he shared four children, including a set of twins he had with his partner.

“Even though I’m not with their mom, her children are my children and I’m still really close to all of them,” Genno says. “I don’t believe in the term ‘step-children’. I raised them since they were babies.”

Genno says he saw a lot of different parenting styles while being brought up in foster care.

“That can teach you a lot about what to do, but also what not to do,” Genno says. “I was lucky that I always had positive male role models in my life to kind of teach me because I watched how they parented their kids.”

Genno says one of his 14-year-old twins is now a Jingle Dress Dancer.

“One of the things I was taught is the Creator gave everyone the choice of free will and as long as I showed my kids this way of life and our spirituality, it’s up to them if they want to carry it,” Genno says. “One of my daughters loves travelling around with me. She’s a Biigtigong princess right now, a senior princess.”

Genno says he is currently the band representative for his community in child welfare.

“I advocate for the families in [Biigtigong Nishnaabeg] that are involved in child welfare,” Genno says. “We’re there to help give them a voice and do what is in the best interest for the families and children.”