My journey towards Truth and Reconciliation…
Circle of Healing Hands for Truth and Reconciliation
My journey towards truth and reconciliation began when I started University. I was never aware of the effects of the mistreatment of First Nations people and their culture until I was immersed in classes that focused on the truth behind what really happened. I decided to focus my aesthetic representation of my journey toward truth and reconciliation by creating a circle of healing hands.
This circle of healing hands represents the strength of the community and the cycle of continuous rebirth. The purpose of this aesthetic piece was to engage my grade four field placement students of MacNeill Public School in learning about how they can be a part of the community in truth and reconciliation. Each student received a different color of paper and they were to trace out their hand. The hand represents self-identity as well as being able to reach out to others to offer support and healing. Inside the hand, they were instructed to write out words and phrases that represented their thoughts about Truth and Reconciliation. A majority of the children’s hands had their school’s motto “Own It, Fix It, Change It, Move On!” printed on them. I think this message stood out to most of the students and myself as it echoes much of the Truth and Reconciliation goals… Own the truth, fix past mistakes by changing behaviors and actions and move forward with acceptance.
When explaining this project to the students, my cooperating teacher Mrs. O and I went into detail on examples of truth and reconciliation. We asked the students what truth means to them and most students came up with being honest and not telling lies. We also asked what they think reconciliation means to them and most of the students did not understand so we used examples of fixing a broken promise, being nice to the people around you, accepting others, the representation of orange shirt day, etc. I also used the ‘Truth and Reconciliation: What is it?’ book to help explain the meaning of truth and reconciliation. Some of the students talked about how they felt when a promise gets broken from someone they know and what they do include others into their activity or game. Although the topic of Truth and Reconciliation can be complicated and overwhelming for this age group I believe that this activity provided an avenue for discussion and opportunity to ask questions, raising their awareness.