Truth and Reconciliation will forever be an ongoing process. Throughout my years of learning, I have discovered many important things. You will never know the truth without taking the time to educate yourself. With knowledge we have power. With the inner knowledge that you have, you can help change the world. Your journey towards reconciliation must start somewhere.
From a young age, I have been taught the importance of Truth and Reconciliation. Acknowledging that we are currently on Treaty 4 Territory, is an important aspect I have learnt. Understanding that these are the traditional lands that many Indigenous people lived on before us. Treaty 4 Territory is the homeland of the Métis, Cree, Ojibwe, Saulteaux, Dakota, Nakota and Lakota. Hearing this land acknowledgement every day in schools allowed me to reflect on the importance of that history. Residential schools were also brought to our attention in school. I was taught about the heartbreaking system that took many children away from their families. These schools were used to assimilate the children and take away their culture. They were forced to lose all their Indigenous cultures, in hopes they would forget it. The Regina Indian Industrial School was in Regina near my high school and was often a focus when learning about residential schools. The location of this school has now been turned into a burial site on Pinkie Road. The bodies of many children that attended this school are buried at this site. I have had the opportunity to take many trips to this site to pay my respects to all the lives lost there. This site is a reminder of the terrible events that went on, so close to where I live. In high school, we had the honour of having an Elder come speak to our class. Elder Mike would share his personal stories as a child growing up in Residential school and the lasting effects it has on him today. Hearing Elder Mike’s stories gave me the opportunity to reflect on his pain and suffering and think of ways to help our society. I also had the opportunity to learn about sweat lodges. This is an emotional experience of prayer and healing. It is amazing to be part of a cultural ceremony that celebrates life, healing, and giving thanks. The topic of Truth and Reconciliation was also covered in my school. We were taught the importance of learning to find out the truth. My teachers helped to educate us students, so we can help pass on our knowledge to others. Thankfully because of the knowledge I learnt in schools, I have been able to apply truth and reconciliation to my everyday life.
For my creative piece for this assignment, I decided to make a dreamcatcher. Dreamcatchers are all unique and special in their own ways. They are all different sizes, colours and patterns. I chose to make a dreamcatcher to demonstrates how each individual journey towards reconciliation is different. A dreamcatcher is used to capture the bad dreams, while allowing room for good dreams. This goes with my journey towards reconciliation because we cannot work on the future without knowing the past. This means that without the “bad” in the past, we wouldn’t be able to create the “good” that our society is working towards now. The dreams connect to my journey because just like a dreamcatcher, we are also making room for the good. A dreamcatcher is made around a hoop, which is an important factor in Indigenous culture. A hoop symbolizes the circle of life and how it is ongoing. For a sacred hoop there is no beginning or end, this relates with our own personal journeys to truth and reconciliation because there is no specific start of your journey and will never have an end.
The three colourful small beads on the strings of my dreamcatcher all represent a different step to my truth and reconciliation journey. The first gold beads represent the importance of acknowledging what we know. Our journeys must start somewhere and for each of us, they will start at different times and places. I am grateful that the important messages and hard topics were introduced to me at such a young age and that they continued to follow me through all my years of school. I am aware that there is still lots for me to learn and better educate myself on. I hope to one day help my students journey also begin at a young age to better their understanding. The second black bead represents what we experience. My experiences help me to have a better understanding of the past. Elder visits, the blanket exercise and smudging allowed me to witness the real and raw emotions that is part of this culture. Finally, the third silver bead represents what there still is to learn. This reminds us that our journey is never over and there is always more to learn. The story behind each of my beads is special because they are important to my truth and reconciliation journey.
Throughout this course, my knowledge has been expanded on many topics. This course allowed me to see and feel on a deeper level the pain and suffering behind many Indigenous people. The thing that connected most with me was learning about the 94 Calls to Action. Not only are these calls to action important in our everyday lives, but they are also important in schools. As educators, we learn ways to create a safe place for children to share their stories and seek truth. We saw that the simple actions can create the biggest difference in a class. Verbally acknowledging traditional territory, flying the flag and visually acknowledging truth, territory and people, are all ways to open a comfortable spot for all students. After looking more into the 94 calls to action, I have discovered that acts 62- 65 all deal with education for reconciliation. It was promising to see that most of these acts are in progress and have projects underway. This helps give me hope for a better future and I will continue to check on the updates of each call to action. Another part of ECS 101 that added to my journey was learning more about the Every Child Matters movement. Over 10,000 teachers joined with many Canadian youth to honour Residential School survivors and their families. As a future educator, I understand the importance of being a positive role model to my students. September 30th, 2021 was the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This day is used to pay our respects and honour the survivors and families of the residential school system. This day was created because of one of the 94 Calls to Action. Finding more information about Truth and Reconciliation Day has inspired me to help. This connects to my Truth and Reconciliation journey because it is symbolic of my third bead, because new initiatives are being explored to promote growth and learning. I am reminded that we are all treaty people, and we are all in this together.
As I continue my journey of Truth and Reconciliation, I look forward to working towards understanding the layers of the Truth and Reconciliation on a deeper level. My journey is no where near done, and I am grateful for all that I have learnt and everything that is still to come. I one day hope to affect the lives of many students and help them create a positive journey to Truth and Reconciliation.
