Attending Pam’s speech this semester was definitely my biggest highlight. I was a little nervous to attend because I had never been to a large seminar presentation in the auditorium before. I am very glad that this course offered me the opportunity to attend the speech because I would not have heard about it or attended it otherwise. The attendance at Pam’s talk was amazing to see. I believe this may have lots to do with the recent events of the Boushie case being announced days prior. The community really needed to come listen to an ally and to be reminded of the process we must all go through on our journey’s towards reconciliation.
Pam offered a safe place to challenge the discourses and the structured racism being so bluntly evident in our local communities. She allowed those who were hurting, ignored, silenced, frustrated, angry, or confused to come and hopefully find some hope, motivation, and encouragement to strive for a better future. We all needed a little motivation, to hear someone speak the truths so that we can focus on our own. We needed to be in a safe and welcoming space to try and heal from current events, although that process was only just beginning.
Listening to Pam’s speech really opened my eyes to the pain and frustration that is felt by so many in the First Nations community, but also to the allies who are also hurting before we are striving for change and hope for the future. This night also really allowed myself to engage with my own miskasowin journey. I feel as though being amongst all those people working towards truth and reconciliation gave myself a sense of origin and belonging. It set me on my path as to why I want to become an educator. It reminded me of the importance of being an ally and advocate for those who have been oppressed and silenced not only in our Canadian history, but still in our society today.
This realization also began my relation to discovering miyo-wicetowin as part of my journey because being together with all those people in the auditorium reminded me of how important it is to get along well with others and have good relations to expand your circle. I think this is a large part of what was forgotten after the treaties were signed. The white settlers lost their humanity in the sense that they stopped caring about their relations with others and they closed off their circle to discriminate against anyone who was not living or portraying a life similar to the settlers. I need to remember to practice miyo-wicetowin in my own personal journey and to continue to expand my circle and be accepting of all those around me.
I hope that I can one day listen to Pam again, and hopefully that speech will happen in a context and situation where we have developed further in our journey’s together.