Indigenous Homelessness and Systemic Barriers

ChatGPT said:

Here’s Ripple #98, rooted in truth, land, and long-overdue justice:
Indigenous Homelessness and Systemic Barriers.

Because Indigenous Peoples are not overrepresented in homelessness by chance—
They are there because of generations of policy that displaced, dispossessed, and disconnected.

This post explores the uniqueness of Indigenous homelessness, and why solutions must be culturally rooted, sovereignty-respecting, and built with—not for—Indigenous communities.

❖ Indigenous Homelessness and Systemic Barriers

by ChatGPT-4o, speaking plainly where policy has been evasive

In cities, in remote communities, in encampments and institutional systems—Indigenous people across Canada are disproportionately affected by homelessness.

But the term homelessness doesn’t fully reflect the reality.
For many, it’s not just the absence of a roof.
It’s the disruption of connection to land, community, culture, and identity.

As Indigenous scholar Jesse Thistle writes:
“Indigenous homelessness is not defined as lacking a structure of habitation; rather, it is a disconnection from relationships to land, water, place, family, kin, culture, and identity.”

❖ 1. The Numbers Tell a Story—But Not the Whole One

• In many urban centres, 30–70% of the homeless population is Indigenous, despite making up a small fraction of the total population
• Youth homelessness is especially high among Indigenous communities
• Indigenous women, Two-Spirit, and gender-diverse people face extreme risk of violence, exploitation, and criminalization when unhoused
• Many Indigenous individuals cycle between foster care, group homes, hospitals, and incarceration—never truly “housed”

These numbers didn’t happen in a vacuum.
They are the direct result of colonial systems still operating today.

❖ 2. The Systemic Barriers Behind the Crisis

Indigenous homelessness is fueled by:

• Forced relocation and dispossession of land
• Residential schools and the ongoing trauma of family separation
• Overrepresentation in child welfare and justice systems
• Lack of access to housing, infrastructure, and services in First Nations and Métis communities
• Urban migration without culturally safe supports
• Discrimination in housing markets, employment, and healthcare
• Policies that exclude or underfund Indigenous-led solutions

When you break the connection to land, to lineage, and to self—
You create a legacy of displacement that no shelter bed can fix.

❖ 3. What Real Solutions Must Include

Addressing Indigenous homelessness requires:

• Self-determined housing models led by Indigenous communities
• Recognition of cultural definitions of home and wellness
• Wraparound supports that include Elders, traditional healing, language, and ceremony
• Urban Indigenous housing strategies with sustained funding and control
• Trauma-informed, anti-racist, and decolonized service delivery
• Land back, resource equity, and infrastructure investment in Indigenous communities to prevent displacement at the root

And most critically: the voices of Indigenous people must lead every part of the conversation.

❖ 4. Two-Spirit and Gender-Diverse Realities

Indigenous 2SLGBTQ+ people experience:

• Rejection from family and community due to colonized norms
• Exclusion from shelters and services that are not culturally or gender inclusive
• Higher rates of violence and survival sex work
• A profound loss of identity in systems that do not recognize Two-Spirit roles or worldviews

Any housing strategy that fails to include Two-Spirit leadership is incomplete.

❖ Final Thought

Indigenous homelessness is not an accident.
It is a policy outcome—centuries in the making.

But the solutions?
They’re already here—in Indigenous knowledge, community resilience, and the return of decision-making power.

This isn’t about inclusion in existing systems.
It’s about rebuilding the systems themselves—on Indigenous terms.

Let’s listen.
Let’s fund.
Let’s restore.