Figuring out the next steps
First in Visionary Conversation series opens discussion on TRC’s calls to action
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This article was published 25/09/2016 (2767 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A year after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued its 94 calls to action, communities in Winnipeg are beginning to discuss what reconciliation might look like in application.
The University of Manitoba hosted the first event in its Visionary Conversation series on Sept. 21. The subject of the 90-minute community dialogue, “Reconciliation: What needs to happen next?” attracted a crowd of over 100 people to the Robert Schultz Theatre on the Fort Garry campus.
Educational overhaul with an emphasis on Indigenous knowledge; Indigenous self-determination; land reclamation and restitution; empowering youth; and Indigenous leadership were just a few of the actions suggested by members of the audience and Indigenous panellists Nahanni Fontaine, Tina Keeper, Lenard Monkman, and Ry Moran, in the pursuit of reconciliation.
“One of the big pieces we have to figure out as a country is what does a reconciliation infrastructure actually look like,” Moran, director of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, said. “What systems need to be put in place, what are the institutions we need to create, what is the plan we need to make, what is the information we need to have in order to ensure reconciliation actually can occur?”
“There are no guarantees with reconciliation. We are still in a state of crisis,” he added. “We as a collective mainstream Canadian society really need to come to terms with what this history means.”
Keeper, a former Member of Parliament in Churchill and the president of Kistikan Pictures, said traditional Indigenous knowledge needs to hold more significance among the general population and be employed in meaningful ways every day.
“I think that there’s been very little recognition of Indigenous peoples’ knowledge and practices beyond what has often been in the manner of a curio or a token culture ideology almost,” Keeper said. “The truth is we have been through an extraordinary cultural genocide and we have endured through many generations a massive amount of historic trauma.”
Keeper also noted that Indigenous youth need to be empowered and prepared to face colonial, racist attitudes in contemporary society but also understand that it’s not malicious in nature.
“I think we need to recognize that there is a dynamic at play that keeps this energy of historic trauma in perpetual motion.”
Monkman, an associate producer with CBC Indigenous and co-founder of Red Rising Magazine, said while reconciliation may look different for many people, land restitution and significant change to the education system are two steps in the right direction.
“People are going into professions where they will be working with Indigenous people, that have absolutely no clue on the history and what Canada’s past actually looks like. It’s a dark history,” he said.
Monkman also advocated for younger generations of Indigenous people to find confidence to embrace their culture and language.
“Why do we see the things we see in our communities today: where we have violence, we’re overrepresented in the incarceration rates, we’re overrepresented in the child welfare rates, our people are killing themselves,” Monkman said. “We change that by instilling confidence in the next generation… but we won’t have real confidence until our people are able to pick up their drums and sing their songs, or have the confidence to speak their language on the bus.”
Permeating much of the discussion was the need for all communities to accept the “uncomfortable” truths of colonization, residential schools, and the intergenerational impact.
Fontaine, the NDP MLA for St. Johns, told the story of a young girl who was sexually assaulted by her grandfather, and the community, in its trauma, stood by the assailant.
“There’s a discussion that we don’t necessarily have in our community and we don’t have that conversation because in some respects we don’t want to further shame and repress and oppress our people,” Fontaine, said. “For me reconciliation is also about that individual reconciliation within myself, reconciliation within our relationships, within our families, and within our communities.
“For me, reconciliation is about us being ever so courageously truthful and acknowledging what’s going on in our communities without shame and blaming,” she said.
For more information about the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation or the Calls to Action go to nctr.ca