How are people deepening their personal engagement with truth and reconciliation?

1. Through their own reading (69.4%)
2. Personal conversations with friends/colleagues (62.5%)
3. The Wellness Almanac posts and stories (45.8%)
4. Reading the Truth and Reconciliation report (43.1%)
5. Attending events and exhibits at the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre (41.7%)
6. Movies, documentaries (36.1%)
7. Workplace sponsored training (34.7%)
8. Lil’wat Rodeo (33.3%)
9. Online courses (30.6%) (courses mentioned included Deyen’s Canadian History through the Eyes of Indigenous Women, Ancestral Medicine, UBC Massive Online Course (MOOC) Reconciliation through Indigenous Education, University of Alberta’s free Indigenous Canada course, Working Effectively with Indigenous People (York), Indigenous Peoples and law in Canada (York), reconciliation training through Kinshift, SFU, Cap U’s Ucwalmicwts course online during COVID, courses through Destination BC, several truth and reconciliation workshops through SLCC, Lil’wat and my workplace. Also, Indirectly via Youtube Channels: Yes Theory, Seek Discomfort and Discover Connection.
10. I read the Indian Act (27.8%)
11. I read the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women report (26.4%)
12. Canada Day parade (20.8%)
13. Signal Hill Orange Shirt Day flag raising (18.1%)
14. Chamber of Commerce lunch and learn with Chief Dean Nelson and Rosemary Stager (15.3%)
15. Free indigenous cultural awareness training offered at the SLCC (funded by WB Foundation), with Tanina Williams and Nahanee Creative (13.9%)
16. Signal Hill Pit Cook (12.5%)
17. Free books on reconciliation from the library (12.5%)
18. Sharing Circle with Tanina Williams through the library (11.1%)
19. Storytime with Tanina at Stay Wild for Orange Shirt Day (9.7%)
20. Chief Robert Joseph’s Namwayut presentation offered through the libraries (8.3%)
21. Pemberton Chamber sponsored Cultural Training day at Ts’zil (8.3%)

Other helpful resources for people’s learning included the unveiling of the canoe at the Ts’zil Learning Centre on National Indigenous Day, work I do in wellness retreats, conversations with my daughter on colonization as she undertook a degree in Gender Studies and Social Justice, spending time with family in Mt Currie, the awesome Ts’zil Learning Centre and gift shop.

The runs from residential schools, Bringing Spirits Home.

For those who self-identified as indigenous in the comments, some shared how much their parents have taught them, like “Parental guidance who have been trying to change and fight for the nation back in the 70’s”.

As I read through these responses, I felt heartened that so many people are educating themselves. But my optimism was tempered when I read the comment, “There’s not much direct acknowledgement around truth and reconciliation. There tends to be a lot of talk, but not a lot of action. The Indian Act still exists and Indians continue to live on reserve lands.”

I would venture to say that many settlers are making the effort to learn, and unlearn, and a lot of that work is self-motivated… not mandated… but if you’re still living under an oppressive regime like the Indian Act, it probably doesn’t seem like enough, like anything. And so perhaps we need to become louder allies, and lobby harder, for positive change.