Reflecting on our Collective Journey towards Truth & Reconciliation

Please note: Traumatic events like those experienced by Indigenous Peoples within Canada have led to an overall loss of language, tradition, and culture for First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. The effects of these traumatic experiences continue to impact their health and well-being.

Please be mindful when navigating conversations surrounding these topics and recognize, acknowledge and understand that trauma can be present.

Understanding Colonialism and the Impacts of Historic Trauma on Indigenous Peoples?

In his role as Chief Medical Officer for the department of Indian Affairs, Dr. Peter Bryce noted in his 1906 report that "the Indian population of Canada has a mortality rate of more than double that of the whole population, and in some provinces more than triple (Hamilton, 2015, p. 3)"? He was of course speaking to the significant scope and magnitude of the health crisis facing the Indigenous population in Canada at the time. He was an ally and advocate beyond his times, in an era where overt racism, discrimination and systemic colonial structures were being unfairly imposed on Indigenous Peoples across Canada. I like to remember Dr. Bryce as a pioneer of Indigenous allyship for his advocacy and efforts in seeking to improve the living conditions and health for Indigenous Peoples in Canada. In 1907, he continued to push for better sanitary conditions within the Indian Residential School (IRS) system, when he submitted his Report on the Indian Schools of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. The report was never published and Bryce was largely shunned by his fellow bureaucrats and his recommendations were ignored. Indigenous children continued to die at alarming rates from poor conditions, lack of sanitation within the IRS system, tuberculosis and other diseases.??

Fast forward to 2023. It has been 27 years since the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) issued its final 4,000-page report with 440 recommendations. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission published its final report and its 94 Calls to Action, 8 years ago in 2015. The National Inquiry into Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls published its final report 4 years ago. In 2021, just two years ago, the federal government established September 30th as the National Day for Truth & Reconciliation to recognize the dark legacy of residential schools, missing children, their families and the survivors. In June of this year, the federal government released an ‘Action Plan’ aimed at implementing the United Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) with 131 initiatives (although it should be noted that many Indigenous leaders have called for more consultation due to non-commitment language). We are making progress and there is also so much more that needs to be done.?

We have been celebrating the dominion of Canada for 156 years now and I am proud to call myself both a Canadian, and an Albertan. I am also a proud Nehiyaw napew (Cree man) and citizen of the Sawridge First Nation, located on the southeastern shore of Lesser Slave Lake, Treaty 8 Territory; as much as it pains to say this today, I haven’t always been proud to call myself Cree, Indigenous, Aboriginal, Native, Indian, et al. having grown up in rural Alberta in the 80s, 90s and even into 2000. Racism, discrimination and negative stereotyping were often the factors that made it tough to share my identity. The hardships I faced as a young, straight, cis-gender Indigenous youth were small in comparison to other Indigenous youth with more diverse elements of intersectionality; they also seem small in comparison to what my late-father, aunties, uncles and other ancestors faced having firsthand experience of the Indian Residential School system. I was raised by both parents up until I was 12 when my father, Chief Water Twinn passed. My mother, who is part of the L’hirondelle Cree/Metis family northwest of Edmonton, was a successful lawyer who had the fortitude, perseverance and social capital to raise 4 young boys during this period of adversity for our family.??

There has been a tremendous amount of great work done by Indigenous and non-Indigenous allies alike committed to creating a better life for next generations of Indigenous youth. I acknowledge the impact of the great work that has been accomplished, and I must also recognize that we still have a ways to go. The current inter-generational impacts of colonialism manifested through the Indian Act, the Doctrine of Discovery and other racist & discriminatory legislation are very real to present day - September 30th, 2023 - not only here in Canada, but across the globe. Here are some key ways in which colonialism continues to have inter-generational impacts on Indigenous communities and peoples:

• In Canada, 53.8% of children in foster care are Indigenous, but account for only 7.7% of the child population according to Census 2021.
• There are still significant health discrepancies of Indigenous Peoples in Canada due to a variety of factors, including but not limited to: poverty, lack of employment opportunities, sustainable housing, food insecurity, culturally appropriate health care, systemic racism and social exclusion (Hahmann & Kumar, 2022 - source Census 2021).??
• The number of Indigenous Peoples in Alberta that are considered to be low income are double that of the non-Indigenous population in Alberta (Frew, 2022 - source Census 2021).
• There is double the number of Indigenous Peoples in Alberta living in unsuitable (overcrowded) housing compared to the non-Indigenous Albertan population, and it is even worse for Indigenous Peoples that live on-reserve (Frew, 2022 - source Census 2021).?
• CBC News recently highlighted in June, 2023 - 4 years after the release of the National Inquiry into Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls Final Report only 2 of the 231 released Calls to Justice have been met, and half of the recommendations haven’t been started.?
• More than one-quarter (26%) of Indigenous women experienced sexual violence by an adult during their childhood, compared with 9.2% of non-Indigenous women, 5.8% of Indigenous men and 2.8% of non-Indigenous men (Perrault, 2022).

The Challenges of Decolonization?

Decolonization is not only extremely complex, it also poses numerous challenges for Indigenous Peoples and their allies across Canada. Before we can unpack this, we need to understand? colonization. A quick Google search informs me that colonization is “the process or action of settling among and establishing control over the Indigenous Peoples of an area; the action of appropriating a place or domain for one’s own use.”?

Decolonization must then broadly mean to deconstruct the colonial systems, processes, etc. imposed on Indigenous Peoples, right? We can undoubtedly, over time, with dedicated financial, & human resources and a shared commitment (reference this at the end of this section) to deconstruct and rebuild systems to make them more inclusive and equitable for Indigenous Peoples. And with some of the incredibly committed Indigenous and non-Indigenous leaders that I have had the great honor and privilege to work with, I have no doubt that over time we will collectively do so. But that will take time, with dedicated resources & shared commitment of working together, as collective Treaty people. The challenge here is that we cannot simply deconstruct the inter-generational impacts of residential schools and other federal policies of oppression so easily.?

When I first heard about the news that 169 unmarked graves were discovered at the former St. Bernard's Indian Residential school in March of 2022, I immediately thought of my father and his youngest sister whom I am very close with today. My father attended St. Bernard’s and my aunt attended another IRS nearby. The impacts and inter-generational impacts are very real and I am fortunate that I am healthy, have a strong support system - including a beautiful family, great friends, and have been afforded many opportunities that others have not had. I feel (and I am) both privileged and honored to have a meaningful employment opportunity to work with a company that is committed to understanding truth, while working towards advancing reconciliation & Indigenous inclusion. I feel fortunate to work with tremendous allies, team members and leaders working towards rebuilding trust, equity and inclusion with Indigenous Peoples - in other words, a true Treaty partner with Indigenous Peoples, organizations and nations. I am very grateful for the opportunity to create a better life for not only myself and family, but also future generations.??

I subscribe to the First Peoples Law Reports as part of my learning journey and Bruce McIvor posted a brilliant article last year on the Supreme Court of Canada and Justice Michelle O’Bonsawin, the first Indigenous Supreme Court justice. McIvor does a great job of highlighting the challenges of decolonization in Canada’s legal system by referencing the inequities within our current legal system. It is a really interesting article, his quote below resonated with me as a great executive summary:?

When they insist on fundamental change, they are often accused of being unrealistic. When they accept incremental change, small and initial success can become the ceiling and is often weaponized to silence the call for further action (McIvor, 2022).???

In my conversations with others that work in the Indigenous Relations, or the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) space, I have often heard similar feelings and opinions of McIvor’s perspective on the challenges of decolonizing our legal institutions. I know that I have experienced it and will continue to experience it - this is why a shared commitment between the institution, community and employee is so important.? ?

Our Shared Journey towards Truth & Reconciliation?

“Nothing about us without us. Collaboration is the way of the future.” - Dan George (Gilseyhu Clan of the Wet’suwet’en Nation)

I start off this section with this tenet from Chief Dan George of the Ts'il Kaz Koh First Nation in B.C. as we work together towards a shared journey of mutual respect, collaboration, trust and co-creation. Repairing the damaged relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples in Canada undoubtedly requires mutually respectful relationships as a starting point.?

As we collectively work towards redressing the dark legacy of the Indian Residential School system and other federal policies of assimilation within the Indian Act, we need to remind ourselves that truth is a fundamental aspect of the reconciliation process. One of the honorable Murray Sinclair’s most recognized & famous quotes, “Education is the key to reconciliation. Education got us into this mess and education will get us out of it.” This powerful and eloquent quote still resonates strongly with me today, 8 years after the Truth & Reconciliation Commission (TRC) chair stated in his much anticipated release of the TRC Calls to Action. If you have not read them yet, I would encourage you to do so.?

As we begin to understand truth and can all collectively work towards reconciliation - by rebuilding trust, broken relationships and promises with Indigenous Peoples. This is also one of the 10 Principles that the TRC outlined as a foundation for Canada to prosper in the twenty-first century, reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people

Principle 3 - Reconciliation is a process of healing of relationships that requires public truth sharing, apology, and commemoration that acknowledge and redress past harms (Principles of Truth & Reconciliation).?

This principle also highlights the importance of relationships. Reconciliation is about relationships, and rebuilding good relations with Indigenous Peoples. They are actions that will bring us closer to reconciliation and investing into truth is one of the actions. There are paths we can collectively and individually take towards reconcili-ACTION, with the objective being of establishing good relations with Indigenous Peoples. For me, it is about working together, as true partners, and as collective Treaty people.?

I recognize that much of Canada is not covered by Treaties between the Crown and Indigenous Nations, but the spirit & intent of Treaties from an Indigenous worldview was always about relationships - working together, sharing the resources and benefits of land, and ultimately prospering as a collective community. However, while this was happening Canada’s goal was aimed at creating federal policies to eliminate Indigenous nations, Aboriginal & Treaty rights, culture, and language through a process of federal assimilation. The TRC Final Reports highlights that “All Canadians, as Treaty people, share responsibility for establishing and maintaining mutually respectful relationships (TRC Final Report - What we Heard, 2015, P. 126).”

When I first started my MBA in Indigenous Business & Leadership several years ago at Simon Fraser University, one of the first questions from our first course asked our student cohort to reflect on, “Do you need to know where you are from, in order to understand where you need to go?”

Much of the culture and language has been lost due to the Indian Residential School system. My father was very connected to our traditional Nehiyaw culture and language, and I feel fortunate to have fond memories of him practicing our culture on a daily basis. He could have easily succumbed to the trauma sustained from his childhood residential school experience, but he preserved like many others through great adversity. I probably would not be sitting here today with a privileged opportunity on the 21st floor of ATB Place in downtown had my father not persevered through great adversity.??

It is important that we collectively understand that many Indigenous Peoples did not have the same opportunity and fortune that I did. I believe that reconciliation is about Indigenous and non-Indigenous people learning how to live together in a good way. This is critical for the future generations of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. The impact we are seeking is collective prosperity for all of our shared communities, including the next seven generations; let’s continue to work together, while properly resourcing both the inputs and activities so that we can create prosperous impacts and outcomes for our children. We can empower our children so they can understand who they are, and where they come from.?

“The road we travel is equal in importance to the destination we seek. There are no shortcuts. When it comes to truth and reconciliation we are forced to go the distance.”?

• Justice Murray Sinclair on Truth & Reconciliation?