A reflection on land, legacy, and reconciliation

As the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation draws near, I've been reflecting on my upbringing in Canada and the ongoing journey of my personal reconciliation.

I grew up on the rich plains of the prairies, where the Oldman and Bow Rivers join to form the South Saskatchewan. I loved being a farm girl. My sister and I spent a lot of time outside, exploring and playing. We learned a lot about the different animals and plants, both the ones we farmed and those native to the area where we lived. We were taught that if you pay attention, you can see how everything works together to create life. Some of my favorite memories are picking wild berries with my family, bouncing through the rough pastures to visit my cows, or spending hours at that beautiful river enjoying the quiet.

I remember learning about Canada in school, and when Europeans first came to farm the land. This is where I was told that this was my family—all narratives told me that the European settlers were the first to live on the prairies. I was taught that families like mine ‘took that unused prairie land’ and made it into something productive. This was celebrated as an achievement. However, this greatly overlooked the fact that Indigenous peoples had been the original caretakers of the land for generations prior to European colonization profoundly disrupting their way of life on the Canadian prairies, altering their communities, way of life, and relationships with the land. Building my understanding of these impacts is part of ongoing work in my personal reconciliation journey.

At my school, everyone looked the same, talked the same, ate the same food, and enjoyed the same activities. One of these activities was sports, specifically basketball. Our gym teacher had arranged an exhibition game for our junior high basketball team outside of our regular league. I remember the excitement we all felt when we poured into the gym and saw rows of Gatorade laid out beneath the benches—not realizing that this wasn’t something special they had arranged for us because of the exhibition game. For most of us, this was our first time visiting an Indigenous community, and we didn’t understand that they, like many Indigenous communities, didn’t have access to clean drinking water.

The truth is, for much of my life, I was largely na?ve to the systemic injustices faced by Indigenous people in Canada—things like systemic poverty, racism, and the generational impacts of colonization. I had been unaware of the trauma caused by residential schools, and it wasn’t until the discovery of the 215 unmarked graves in Kamloops in May 2021 that my real education began. It opened my eyes to a reality that was very different from what I had been taught in school or what had been portrayed in the media.

When I reflect on everything, it’s overwhelming, and I wonder: Where do I begin? How do I carry this? Do I carry this? I think that’s probably how a lot of people feel. In a conversation about reconciliation, it was compared to friendship, which helped me better understand its active nature. Friendship is something you work on continuously. You don’t just show up on days of significance or for milestones. Friendships aren’t for personal gains. Like a friendship, I am building my personal reconciliation in ways that resonate with me, based on where I’m at.

To quote Senator Murray Sinclair, the former Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, "Reconciliation at its heart is simple: I want to be your friend, and I want you to want to be my friend."

So, my friends, no matter where you are on your journey of reconciliation, join me in exploring different ways to listen, learn, and act. Advance your own truth and reconciliation journeys in ways that feel true to who you are. Like any true friendship, reconciliation isn’t just about acknowledging important days or milestones—it’s about taking steps every day to grow and deepen that relationship.

Please take the time to acknowledge the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30. It’s important, but also find ways to continue your learning and actions throughout the year. Start small, like reading Indigenous authors, attending community events, or supporting Indigenous businesses. Every step, no matter how small, contributes to building that relationship.

Now, I’d like to acknowledge, with gratitude, mutual respect, and friendship, the ancestral home, culture, and oral teachings of Treaty 6, 7, and 8 of Alberta, and also Treaty 4 and 10. I acknowledge the ancestral territory of the Cree, Dene, Blackfoot, Stoney Nakoda, Saulteaux, Métis, and Inuit Nations. We honour the original caretakers of the land, who remind us of the ongoing histories that preceded us. We recognize our shared responsibilities moving forward, to bring everyone together on this journey of truth and reconciliation. Acknowledging the land is an act of reconciliation that honours the authentic history of Turtle Island and the original people of this territory.