Journey to Reconciliation
My idea for my journey to reconciliation project came to me in one of the toughest times of my life. Sometimes when I’m upset, I want to bottle up all the pain I am feeling or bottle my tears. In the middle of the night, I woke up and realized that I am not the only one who feels this way. I realized this feeling would represent the Indigenous perspective after colonization. I wanted to make a jar of hurt that would show how they feel. I wasn’t sure how I was going to achieve this. At first, I thought I would draw the jar and have the words written inside, but I wanted to make the jar physically. It took me a long time to figure out how to achieve the look I had pictured in my head. I purposefully chose a glass jar; I wanted it to be made out of a material that breaks. I tried to convey the feeling that it might crack like a person would breakdown. I ended up using the plastic from a clear disposable cup and taping teardrops with words and phrases of hurt onto it. The water in the jar represents the tears, while the teardrops with words are a microscopic view of the hurt behind the tears.
I wanted to honour the learning I did in high school social studies classes. I felt it was important to honour what I had previously learned, as it was something that not everybody had learned in high school. What we learned was far from the big picture, but it helped me to have the building blocks to challenge racism and racist thoughts. Throughout ECS, I have learned to challenge these thoughts further as I realize the hurt the First Nations community has been through. Reflecting on my privilege helps me to realize my point of view on issues is much different than those who do not have the same privileges that I do. This realization will help me as I now have a better perspective on reconciliation.
If you are interested in reading my full Journey to Reconciliation paper you can find it here.
Resources
Merculieff, L. (2011, November 9). Retrieved November 5, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6cmKeRV3Z0.
Canadian Teachers Federation. (2016). Truth and reconciliation: what is it about? Ottawa.