Practicing Reconciliation in Our Everyday Lives

As an educator, I stand acutely aware that the space we call education is an extremely complex, multi-layered, multi-dimensional experience.

The word “education” itself varies in personal meaning, depending on who you are and where you come from.

In April 1997, Murray Sinclair was Associate Chief Judge of the Provincial Court of Manitoba.

As part of a presentation Justice Sinclair made to Elders, policy makers and academics in Aylmer, Quebec, he said:

“The most important thing that we as human beings have to come to grips with is who we are. That is the biggest question in life, ‘Who am I?’

The biggest question of life necessarily leads us to ask other questions, such as, ‘Where did I come from?’ and ‘Why am I here?’

And, probably the most important question is, ‘Where am I going? And, What’s going to happen to me after my life is over on this earth and I go to the next world? What happens to me over there?’

And, our Elders always tell us that those questions are very basic for every human being.”

In the speech, Sinclair knew that sharing part of himself in relation to the specific social context where he was speaking, created a foundation for understanding, not only within himself but also with those he was addressing. 

In 2009, Sinclair was named the Chief Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, alongside Commissioners Wilton Littlechild and Marie Wilson.

In 2015, the commission released the TRC’s final report, which included 94 Calls to Action.

The Calls to Action and the profoundly important work leading up to the TRC reminds all Canadians and peoples of Turtle Island that the last of the 139 government-run residential schools in Canada closed its doors in 1996.

Since the release of the report, Canadians have learned of the abuses, injustices and atrocities inflicted upon Indigenous children within those “schools.”

It’s been impossible to ignore as countless bodies of children are currently being uncovered on the grounds of former residential schools. As these horrific truths are being brought to light, the spirits of the little ones never forgotten by families and friends are being lifted and honoured.

Every child matters.

Who were these children? Who ARE these children?

As a result of violent, government-imposed policies of assimilation, the families, communities and nations of First Nations, Métis and Inuit people have been attacked and decimated, including our knowledge systems, educational systems and ways of knowing and being.

Canada’s education system itself played (and to a significant extent continues to play) a role.

Harmful and violent residues of these policies exist today.

Sadly, they still affect not only Indigenous peoples, families, communities and lands in many ways, but all of Canada is also affected in many negative ways. 

Educational and health institutions across Canada are now working towards reconciliation, and responding to the TRC’s Calls to Action.

For the work to be meaningful, responsible and respectful -- in other words, to be “in good-relations” with Indigenous peoples, their communities and nations -- non-Indigenous Canadians must do their own work in understanding where they have come from and what their stories are in relationship to where they are.

Through this understanding, we can see that reconciliation means supporting Indigenous-led initiatives, which nurture the ongoing restoration of Indigenous knowledge systems.

It also means supporting the restoration of languages and lands, and nurturing opportunities for land-based education in both urban and rural settings.

From where I come, education begins with respect.

Elder, residential school survivor and Order of Canada recipient Garnet Angeconeb has taught me that the word “respect,” when broken down into its two parts, “re” and “spect(acle),” means “to look again.”

Looking again requires us to acknowledge how we see the world.

First, we see through our own lenses (based on our lived experiences of who we are, and where we come from). Second, we must look again to consider the ways that someone else might be seeing.
 

The TRC final report says: “Together, Canadians must do more than just talk about reconciliation; we must learn how to practise reconciliation in our everyday lives - within ourselves and our families, and in our communities, governments, places of worship, schools, and workplaces. To do so constructively, Canadians must remain committed to the ongoing work of establishing and maintaining respectful relationships.”

I ask you to actively and continuously learn about who you are in relationship to where you are and to consider how this is relevant to this year’s theme for Indigenous Education Week.
 

Nadia McLaren

Indigenous Educator, Office of Indigenous Health, Temerty Faculty of Medicine
Manager, Indigenous Health Education, Centre for Wise Practices, Women’s College Hospital

Additional Resources

The following resources are available to the U of T community:

• Indigenous Education Week events
• Dr. Marguerite (Peggy) Hill Memorial Lecture on Indigenous Health