Truth and Reconciliation Aesthetic Piece
My aesthetic response was created as a project for my ECS 100 class. We were able to create whatever we wanted to show our learnings about reconciliation. I chose to use a mirror with the question “whose job is it to teach students about our countries past and it’s affects on society?” I chose to do this to represent the fact that our society has a damaging outlook. We assume that it is not our personal problem, and that somebody else can work towards healing, and teach future generations about the sad history of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. It is everybody’s duty and we need to recognize that. The quote in the corner reads “around the world, people view the butterfly as representing endurance, change, hope and life.” The poster is covered in butterflies to represent Aboriginal people. I believe butterfly are a beautiful comparison because Aboriginal people have had to show a lot of resilience and adaptation in order to thrive in colonized North America. The mirror is surrounded by flowers, because my Indigenous studies professor Danette Starblanket, compared Indigenous people to flowers; she always says that they have roots here, and people have continuously tried to tear them down and “pick the flowers” however, they continuously bounce back because they are rooted here.
Truth and Reconciliation Essay (ECS 100)
Emily Logan- “The Education System and its Journey to Reconciliation”
Reconciliation is a term that has had the entire country scratching their heads for years. What is the true meaning of reconciliation, and how do we know if we are doing enough? Reconciliation, I have learned, has an infinite amount of meanings, and varies depending on the person, and what they personally need. Reconciliation to me, was always the thing that we as a society should be working towards; however the more knowledge that I have obtained, and the older I get the more that I realize that working towards reconciliation is not nearly enough, and should not be our end goal. Reconciliation to me is no longer an admirable word, but instead a word that the government uses to avoid having to face genuine issues facing Aboriginal communities, while still convincing the people of this country that meaningful progress is being made.
Setting a goal to have reconciliation is hard when looking at Euro-Canadians past and present relationship with Aboriginal peoples. The dictionary definition of reconcile is “to restore friendship or harmony,” which poses the question, how are we supposed to aim to have reconciliation when the relationship between these two groups has never been harmonious? To say that we should be teaching reconciliation in my eyes, is a goal that has good intent, however is glossing over the fact that the broken relationship goes much farther than trying to only mend the negative effects of Residential schools. Aboriginal people have been suffering for many generations because of many different problems that have arisen due to colonization, and countless attempts at assimilation; such as missing and murdered Indigenous women, villainizing and harmful portrayal in the media (such as the “Indian warrior”, or the “Indian princess”), lack of funding and resources for schools in Aboriginal communities, a lack of clean water on many reserves, the Sixties Scoop’s attempt to remove Aboriginal children from their families and place them in white families, and many other issues that the majority of people have never had to face. The relationship between Aboriginal people and Euro-Canadians has been a rocky one since contact, however the government only apologizes and recognizes the harm of residential schools, which is one of many harmful events in history. The government’s attempt at creating a peaceful relationship with Aboriginal people has been ingenuine, and the people behind these attempts are ignorant. The government’s idea of reconciliation is apologizing for residential schools and buying the forgiveness of survivors and the survivors families. The main thing that is lacking is an open opportunity for dialogue; the government has continuously told Aboriginal people what they will do to mend the hurt without listening to Aboriginal people’s needs. The lack of funding for schools on reserves, the fact that there are reserves in Canada without clean water, and the RCMP’s lack of attempt to protect Indigenous women prove that the government and the country as a whole has either not learned from the past, or else are choosing to ignore the issues that need dealt with. The education system closely replicates the government’s approach to reconciliation. The education system is more inclusive than it has ever been, however it lacks the opportunity for dialogue that is necessary. Education currently provides the opportunity for very structured dialogue that’s main goal is give each student a minimal understanding of the residential school system and not touch on the other issues; the lack of diversity in topics decreases the value and takeaway of the conversation. Even the most qualified teachers will often miss many points that should be brought up, whether it is because of being uneducated in that area, or the subjects being touchy, these issues are still being ignored. In elementary school I was never taught any of the issues past the residential school system and reconciliation; which are very important topics, however misses the opportunity to talk about the current struggles of Aboriginal people. I grew up with the impression that Aboriginal people were mostly impoverished, were involved in gangs, and often had drug or alcohol issues, without ever being educated about why these are harmful prejudices and assumptions to have. Although I never voiced these prejudices out loud, I still wish that somebody, throughout my 13 years of schooling had educated me about the reality of Aboriginal peoples. Teachers are missing amazing chances at dialogue, and because of that are not shutting down racist biases and stereotypes that students may have somewhere inside of them. Educators need to have the ability to discuss with students issues currently affecting Aboriginal people, and educate them on where these issues have arisen from and what we can do to help. Educators also need to focus on the positives just as much as the negatives; we need to talk about the struggles, but just as importantly, we need to celebrate Aboriginal successes. We need to create dialogue and talk about all of the progress that Aboriginal people have fought for; such as persistently resisting the government’s attempts to slowly remove their rights as Aboriginal peoples. Throughout history the Canadian government has made many attempts to abolish the Royal Proclamation, which Aboriginal people have denied because it needs to stay in place until it can be replaced by something better, and something that ensures that their rights are not lost. As individuals it’s hard to feel as though we have power, however as educators we have the power to either shut down or else enable stereotypes and misconceptions in students at a young age. We need to understand that power that we have and use it with discretion to make a positive impact.
In order for conversation to start in classrooms, teachers need to listen to students and try to answer questions honestly, as well as continue to learn as educators. The most common way to teach in Western culture is in a lecture style, however this is an inefficient way to go about any subject, especially Aboriginal history and culture. This style of teaching places the educator in a position of power, and can make students feel too intimidated to ask questions. We need to take different approaches to teaching in order for students to truly grasp these concepts. If we continue to lecture in the same style, it will be harder for students to really understand these complex conversations. In order for it to sink in, we need to look at education from a different approach, and go about it in a more personal approach. We need to avoid only telling students what we are talking about, but we need to allow them to experience it in whatever way necessary for that individual to understand; such as taking them to be a part of ceremonies, or have knowledge keepers speak to our classes. I believe one of the most important things is that if we teach students about reconciliation, we ourselves need to have a genuine passion towards working towards it. It is our job to get out into the real world and stand up for what is right by joining the fight for Aboriginal rights, joining protests, and shutting down stereotypes when we hear them; it is our job to be advocates for change, and encourage our students to see new perspectives. We need to not only talk about the ways that we can pursue “reconciliation” from the harms of residential schools, but to understand and teach that students that Aboriginal suffering is not a subject of the past. It is an ongoing issue that needs to be addressed and conversations about change need to begin.
There is a lot of work that needs to happen before we as a nation can begin healing from the events in the past, and work through our present issues. Before reconciliation can begin, we must first begin advocating for change on a federal level. As educators we need to educate the future generations about issues that face Aboriginal people today, the dark history of Canada, and the successes that Aboriginal people have fought for. When we build up Aboriginal people and communities, we will all benefit from their successes, Aboriginal cultures are a staple to Canadian identity and we need to allow them the opportunity to flourish and thrive without judgement. Before reconciliation, we need to focus on providing basic human needs to the people living on reserves, such as clean water, and an equal opportunity for a quality education. My journey to reconciliation has been a very eye opening experience; it showed me not that we are on our way to finding it, but that it is a concept that was created by the same people who have been oppressing Aboriginal peoples for generations. Reconciliation is the Canadian government saving face by making themselves look good, while still keeping Aboriginal people out of parliament, without providing adequate support services and keeping them under the rule of the Canadian government. Genuine reconciliation is something that I believe we can achieve someday, however before that we need to decolonize two of our biggest systems; the federal government and the education system. What we all need to keep in mind through our journey towards healing, is that Aboriginal people were our country’s first people, and if they are not thriving, then our nation is definitely not.
Resources
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reconcile
Frideres, James. 2016. First Nations People in Canada. Don Mills: Oxford University Press.
Starblanket, Gina and David Long. 2019. Visions of the Heart: Issues Involving Indigenous
Peoples in Canada. 5th ed. Don Mills: Oxford University Press.