My Learning Journey Towards Reconciliation

Everyone has their own unique ways of learning, but when it comes to my personal learning journey towards reconciliation, it begins with an open mind and continues to develop as I dig deeper into new understandings. I figured that the best way to proceed with my learning would be to work from the past up until where we are in the present, being that this allowed me to generate a better understanding about why things happened the way they did. I decided to first think about what this course has taught me before I proceeded to do any research. I used what I was provided with and let this guide me to other sources as I continued to progress. A key message that stuck with me throughout my whole learning journey was “reconciliation is not an Aboriginal problem — it is a Canadian problem. It involves all of us” (Sinclair, 2015). My learning journey towards reconciliation involved gaining a better understanding of topics that I was already aware of, learning new information, and making connections to more general ideas to understand how we can do better. With a focus on gaining new knowledge about the history of Aboriginal people through my own unique learning journey, I was able to generate an understanding about the importance of truth and reconciliation within our current society so that we can step away from the grievances caused by the past.

A major part of my learning journey involved relearning concepts that I have previous knowledge on from the past, as well as furthering my understanding on what I already knew about Aboriginal people and their history. In any learning experience, it is always important to consider what you already know about the topic before you start, so I began by going through videos and readings that talk about background information regarding how we have come to where we are today. I chose to first take a look at where it all started, being colonization and Residential Schools, even though I already have a significant amount of knowledge on this topic. While researching, one thought that occurred to me was that a lot of my previous knowledge on the Residential School experience has come from secondary sources rather than from those who experienced the school’s first hand. In the Muffins for Granny documentary, Residential School survivors tell us what it was really like to attend these schools. A message that really spoke to me was when one of the Residential School survivors, Garnet Agneconeb, had said “even if you were there for one night, that was a long time” (Agneconeb, 2007, 29:00). Hearing the details behind this experience straight from a group of Aboriginal people who attended these schools showed me the truth and emotion brought about by this tragic event. Another important topic that I had knowledge on before pursuing my research was the impacts of trauma, but a term that I recently learned about through my learning was intergenerational trauma. This concept is a reason for multiple responses that affect the well-being of a person, such as suicide, alcohol abuse, and learning difficulties.

Throughout my journey towards reconciliation, there was a lot of new information that I came across that I have never even heard of before. During my research, I was introduced to a variety of new ways of viewing reconciliation, with one of the main ones being the process of learning and unlearning. This refers to our society being committed to unlearning the negative things such as racism, and learning more positive things such as ways of knowing and inclusion (Battiste, 2010). As I continued my learning journey, I came across the Witness Blanket, which I found to be a very creative way of honouring the Residential School survivors. The way that each different item acts as a witness, it tells a story and is a way of revealing the truth. A quote that I found to be very inspiring invites us all to be witnesses where “a witness watches, listens, and then remembers and retells what they learned” (Hayalkangamè, 2020). In my learning, something that utterly shocked me was the fact that the Residential School system was only recently recognized as being an event of national historic significance on September 3rd, 2020 (National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, 2020). Another site that caught my attention was the Legacy of Hope Foundation, which works with groups of people to increase the knowledge of the public on the history of the Residential School system and the impacts that Aboriginal people still experience today (Legacy of Hope Foundation, 2000). I was not aware of organizations such as this who dedicate their time to sharing their stories in order for people to get a better understanding of history.

Being that my learning process never ends, even after my research I was able to make connections and think more about the big picture. One of the crucial parts to my story of learning is concluding what I learned and then putting it all together to allow myself to fully process all of the new knowledge. A major realization that I had during my learning was that the voice of the Aboriginal people themselves is crucial in order for us to all understand history. After viewing videos that included the oral story of Residential School survivors and their personal experiences, I realized that it is so much more significant to hear it from them. Once I looked back at my learning journey, another important thing I realized was that reconciliation takes time and everyone must be willing to work together in order for it to be achieved. When it comes to today’s education system, my learning journey helped me understand why it is essential to use Indigenous knowing in order to benefit all students. This is a very important conclusion that my learning has led me to, being that this type of knowledge is not only a step towards reconciliation, but it honours our relationships with one another (Battiste, 2010).

A learning journey like this can be difficult, but for me, it entailed a lot of emotions and feelings that were the results of my new understandings. Through my learning journey towards reconciliation, I was able to produce a new understanding of certain aspects of Aboriginal history, which led to revelation of the importance behind reconciliation in today’s society. Before I began my learning journey, I only had general knowledge on the history of Aboriginal people. Now that I had the opportunity to do my own learning, I realized that this type of freedom allowed me to learn what I thought was important and I was able to learn all of this at my own pace. While thinking about my learning experience, I decided that a poem with a visual was the best way to present my journey. This type of aesthetic allows me to orally represent my emotions of revelation during this project while also sharing my major findings. Even though I still have more to learn, I am glad to have had the chance to go on my own learning journey towards reconciliation. This has provided me with a variety of new knowledge which I look forward to sharing with students once I become an educator myself.

Aesthetic Representation

For my aesthetic representation, I chose to write a poem and display a visual that ties into the theme of the poem. My poem begins by mentioning the unfortunate events that took place in the past, and as it goes on, I include my personal emotions and feelings that I experienced on my learning journey when finally, it ends by talking about what we can do to achieve reconciliation. I included ideas from different parts of the course as well, such as the idea of power and diversity, in order to display how my learning journey made me think differently about certain ideas. This poem revolves around the idea of a tree. The events of the past are represented by the roots, while the ideas of a better future are represented by the growing branches. I wrote this poem with the idea that the roots, being underground, can eventually become forgotten, just like the events that have happened in the past such as the Residential School system. Even though Aboriginal people have roots prior to the colonization and residential schools, a lot of the time they have become forgotten due to these events. The branches on the other hand continue to grow and even though they evolved from the roots, they slowly change and grow alongside one another. In my visual, I included negative words that link to the past history of Aboriginal people at the roots of the tree in dark and gloomy colours. At the top of the tree, I included more positive words in vibrant colours that represent a bright future ahead of us.

The Roots from the Past

It is the roots from the past, of our history long ago.

They make it hard to forget, all of the unfortunate events involving trauma.

There should be no child, forced into a life such as this.

Not in the past, nor in the future.

The thoughts and emotions, they come rushing to my mind.

I find it hard to imagine, all of the pain and evolving fear.

There are many ways of learning, which must value diversity.

These stories must be shared, so that they can receive their voices back.

A learning journey like this, has many ups and downs.

I sit and wonder, what it would be like to be in their position.

I think about my life, how I have never experienced anything like this.

The sadness deepens, as I realize the misuse of power.

We are not able to change the past, but we can change how it is viewed.

The real facts cannot be denied, being that we must show respect.

We can achieve reconciliation, but first we must start with the truth.

This comes from their voices, told from their point of view.

As we grow towards a better future, we must grow beyond the roots.

It requires us to unlearn and learn, in order to do better.

With the concept of time, these relationships can be mended.

We must all grow together, to ensure this never happens again.

By Brianna Kutas