Photo Essay Sydney Hadley August 19th, 2020 Reila Bird
For my final assignment I had chose to do a photo essay. My reasoning for doing a photo essay is because I feel photos can speak a thousand words and are a good way to get people to think about things and actually get them to pay attention. Majority of people only read and article or story if the photo that is attached is attracting or if they see a photo such as the ones I have they may be more into reading the article that is presented. With my essay I am hoping to shed some light on the Call’s to Action found in the “Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action”. By doing so I am hoping to start a change in the way we do things or how we think.. I also want to show that although we as individuals do have the power to change many things we also need to get the governments attention and get them to help get the changes started. The point of my essay is to also show that yes the government has made these promises to the Indigenous people of Canada but are they all being followed and are they actually succeeding at following them? To a certain degree some have been followed through or they are slowly being followed. However, there is still a lot of change that needs to be done and within my essay I have highlighted some of the Call to Action areas that have been or have not been and am outlining the importance of why they should be.
I chose this photo as one of my eight because it covers the area of Education in the Truth and Reconciliation Act of Canada. One of the calls to action is to help create more Educational experiences and opportunities for First Nations people. This can be found in the Truth and Reconciliation and is number 6-12 for the Calls to action. This helps to create an advantage for Indigenous and as well as Non-Indigenous to get more jobs and get rid of the job gap they face. The First Nations University does this as it is a safe place for First Nations people to go and learn in a space, they are comfortable. It also gives them the chance to study a degree in their own language or that included their own backgrounds. This is an important part of the call to action as it allows those to feel safe and welcome and not like an out cast. It is a good step in the right direction and hopefully more schools such as this can be opened to help make students feel comfortable and like they belong. This is something that also needs to be introduced to Elementary and High Schools especially on reserve land. This is a good example of a step in the right direction.
I chose this image as the bones of what appear to be a lodge outside the First Nations University fits in with the Call to actions as well. I find it fits with the Call to Action under Justice which is number 35. This action states “We call upon the federal government to eliminate barriers to the creation of additional Aboriginal healing lodges within the federal correctional system.” (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action) By the government implementing this it could create a world of change. The healing lodges could help those within the system feel more at home and possibly also help bring them back to a sense of belonging as well as potentially help correct their ways. I feel this should be done as some and many correctional facilities have churches or hold church services within and this could be a great way to target the Indigenous population and not just the Non-Indigenous people inside the system.
The call to action that talks about language is important as many Indigenous languages are being lost or have already been lost. That is why I felt this picture was important, these are all textbooks I have acquired from my Indigenous classes over my last two years at University. I feel these fall into place with this action as well as the call for action with Education. As it is important for students to learn the stories about the Indigenous people’s culture but also to offer classes in which the language is taught as many of them are dying languages. For example, Cree is a language that is starting to rarely be spoke or taught as we live in a society and country that is mainly English so many stop speaking their Native tounge. This cause the language to die out but in the Call to Action for Education it states
“10. We call on the federal government to draft new Aboriginal education legislation with the full participation and informed consent of Aboriginal peoples. The new legislation would include a commitment to sufficient funding and would incorporate the following principles: i. Providing sufficient funding to close identified educational achievement gaps within one generation. ii. Improving education attainment levels and success rates. iii. Developing culturally appropriate curricula. iv. Protecting the right to Aboriginal languages, including the teaching of Aboriginal languages as credit courses.” and in the Language area of the Call to Actions it states “16. We call upon post-secondary institutions to create university and college degree and diploma programs in Aboriginal languages.” (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action)
Both of these are important and have to a degree been implemented but could be implemented even more as I have personally never seen a class at the U of R offered in an Indigenous language. But this does not mean there can never be ones created.
The next photo for my photo essay is a bit hard to take in as this is the cemetery from the Residential School that used to be built outside of Regina which is along Pinky Road. I chose to use this photo as it speaks a thousand words and fits with quiet a few of the Calls to Action as many of them deal with Residential Schools. But the Call to Action that I am using this photo to represent the section of Missing Children and Burial Information. I chose this because in this section it states “73. We call upon the federal government to work with churches, Aboriginal communities, and former residential school students to establish and maintain an online registry of residential school cemeteries, including, where possible, plot maps showing the location of deceased residential school children.” (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action) This area outside of Regina is a good start to this as it has been preserved and when googled it shows up on the map as site that is to be preserved, some headstones can also be found here and have been preserved. This is a step in the right direction and shows that this Call to Action is to a certain degree being followed but there of course are more sites to be plotted as some children were not buried around the others so some graves have been lost.
I chose to take this picture and use it to signify the Treaties that were signed as it clearly shows that the University was sitting on what is Treaty 4 land. I feel it falls into the section Settlement Agreement Parties and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the calls to action and to support this is “iv. Support for the renewal or establishment of Treaty relationships based on principles of mutual recognition, mutual respect, and shared responsibility for maintaining those relationships into the future.” (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action) I feel by this banner being put up shows that there is still a recognition that this is their land and we sit on the area that is under Treaty 4. However, this can not always be shown and it is not always followed as in the past they have backed out of their agreements or went against them or just took the land without a care which has started rallies so this Call to Action does need some development.
The picture of the Legislative Building is used to represent the Call to Action under the section National Council for Reconciliation
“53. We call upon the Parliament of Canada, in consultation and collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, to enact legislation to establish a National Council for Reconciliation. The legislation would establish the council as an independent, national, oversight body with membership jointly appointed by the Government of Canada and national Aboriginal organizations, and consisting of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members.” (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action)
I felt this picture was fitting as many of the protests about Indigenous rights happen outside of the Legislative Building as it is a place of authority which can be used as a symbol for creating laws. By them protesting outside of the building as well it can raise awareness about the Indigenous problem and maybe it can allow them to listen and show that the Call to Actions need to be followed and honored.
This photo to me speaks very loudly and is emotional. As this is a grave site from the Residential School that used to be outside of Regina. This photo goes along with the other grave site photo I have. The Call to Action that fits this is still under the Missing Children and Burial Information but this is number
“75. We call upon the federal government to work with provincial, territorial, and municipal governments, churches, Aboriginal communities, former residential school students, and current landowners to develop and implement strategies and procedures for the ongoing identification, documentation, maintenance, commemoration, and protection of residential school cemeteries or other sites at which residential school children were buried. This is to include the provision of appropriate memorial ceremonies and commemorative markers to honor the deceased children.”(Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action)
This photo shows that a cemetery has been put into place for those who tragically lost their lives. Although not all of the children’s names are plotted as there are only 2 that have a proper head stone this goes to show this Call to Action need further development. Sadly, many of the children’s names may never be found or plotted as children went missing or those who were running the schools are no longer around, but by no means does that mean we should stop trying to find their names. Hopefully there can a proper grave stones and plaques for those who are not named now.
This photo is set to represent the Call to Action under Child-welfare that action being “2. We call upon the federal government, in collaboration with the provinces and territories, to prepare and publish annual reports on the number of Aboriginal children (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) who are in care, compared with non-Aboriginal children, as well as the reasons for apprehension, the total spending on preventive and care services by child-welfare agencies, and the effectiveness of various interventions”(Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action) this is a important Call to Action to follow as many children who are in the system are often not treated well and are put into abusive homes. By the government making it so that a Social Worker or whoever deemed fit to go in and make sure the child is all right and then compare their living to a Non-Indigenous child will help show the changes that need to be made within the system. This will also shine a light on whether or not the system is being fair or treating one child differently from the other due to their race. This Call to Action should be put into place and if it is needs to be enforced and if possible, let the public know and not to hide it. There is always room for change and I think when it comes to the safety of children it needs to be enforced.
In conclusion to my photo essay I am hoping to shed some light on what needs to be done in order to make sure the Calls to Action are followed. Although it might seem like we as individuals cannot do much to start change we are the one who can bring upon that start to change. By participating in things such as orange shirt day which makes your voices heard or even doing something such as a blog or like this a photo essay and letting the world see it. By also teaching Indigenous Studies through out all grades that would help make more people aware and possibly make less people feel uncomfortable about the situation that are talked about or that many have to face. If we all work together we can make a change and these call to actions can start to be heard and followed. It might not take a day to do but if we keep trying we can make a difference to many people lives and we can hopefully start to help them heal and change the world for the better. By not following these it shows that the government is over looking what they promised and that they do not care but something needs to change so they look and realize they need to follow up on their promises and start to care.
Work Cited
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action, http://trc.ca/assets/pdf/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf