Facebook Mishel Assiniboine received a hateful letter that said she and her family are not welcome in their Leduc, Alta. community because they're Indigenous.

When Mishel Assiniboine first read a hateful, threatening letter left on her doorstep, fear made her hesitate about speaking out. Assiniboine's five-year-old son found the typed message on Tuesday, stuffed into the railing on her front porch in Leduc, Alta. He innocently thought it was a clue in a game he often plays with his two siblings. "We do not like your kind around here," said the letter, signed by "Your friendly neighbours." "We see in your house and you portray an Indian lifestyle. This is not accepted here."

Assiniboine has lived in her neighbourhood in Leduc, which is just south of Edmonton, for 20 years. The letter reflected the racism she and her family, who are Indigenous, have experienced for generations, she told HuffPost Canada in an interview. After she took the letter from her son, Assiniboine said she read it over and over again. She thought of the times her home had been vandalized, when "Go back to the rez" was spray-painted on her garage door, and when she found urine on her car's door handle and the tires slashed. She thought of her mother who survived a residential school. "My mother has experienced a lot of racism and she never says anything because she's afraid to and I thought, 'You know what? I'm not going to be afraid.' I'm going to put this out there and make people aware this stuff is happening," said Assiniboine, who is a member of Long Plain First Nation in Manitoba. Assiniboine shared the letter with family and friends, and local media, but said she wasn't sure how people would react. So far, the thousands of people who've read her story have only been supportive. "The whole community of Leduc is rallying behind me. People are saying, this is disgusting this letter showed up in Leduc," Assiniboine said. Watch: Alberta portrait project challenges stereotypes. Story continues below.