1. Access the resource (above) offering meaningful engagement opportunities.

2. Engage with a resource prior to National Truth and Reconciliation Day on September 30, 2024.

3. Reflect, document, and share your experience with others on this community board, by:

   1. Press the "+" [plus] button on this screen;

   2. Add a subject for your post;

   3. [Optional] Add a picture, video, audio file, link, etc.;

   4. Add a reflection into the body of the post (i.e., "What did you learn?" "Why is this learning important?" etc.);

   5. Press "Publish".

As a member of the CapU community, I could not be prouder and happier that I found this likeminded group of staff, students, and faculty, all committed to "Doing the work" to grow our own understanding, and then share back these learning opportunities with our greater community members. Together, we can do the work, and together, we can shape what reconciliation will look like at CapU.

Thank you.

Volunteer Member, CapU Truth & Reconciliation Working Group

But in the process of constructing this tower, I learned truths that revealed cracks and gaps in my foundation, and unsettled my linear approach. The limited information I had acquired as a child about Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island and the creation of the settler colony of Canada through settler textbooks and cultural anecdotes was utterly dissonant to the reality. For all that I had been taught in high school, colonization was a successful endeavour that took place long ago and is now too late to change. It was not until I was unsettled by the truth—that colonization is an ongoing process that has tried for centuries to exterminate Indigenous Peoples and cultures and failed time and again to overcome their resilience—that I realized I was part of the problem. My linear (or, in other words, colonial) approach to learning was trapping and preventing me from reconciling with and decolonizing myself, which in turn made external reconciliation and decolonization impossible. 

I am now on a journey to change not just what I know, but how I know it. Learning from and working with the incredible Dr. Justin Wilson and David Geary in INTS 345: Reconciliation in Action; reading Unsettling the Settler Within by Paulette Regan and All Our Relations by Tanya Talaga; conversing with Riley Bizzotto, Grace Kim, and Skel7áw̓s Naomi Narcisse; being part of this wonderful Truth and Reconciliation committee; and hearing the incredible accounts and works of Indigenous artists and scholars such as Dr. Kim TallBear, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, and Robin Wall Kimmerer, has opened my eyes to the circularity of learning and the importance of unsettling. As Justin taught me, meaningful learning is reflective and reflexive—it is an endless cycle of learning, doing, reflecting, relearning, and redoing that connects me to and grounds me in the world. 

I am no longer constructing a tower of knowledge, but nurturing a dynamic web of information, thoughts, and emotions. This circular, integrated approach grants me the flexibility to grow over time, both in new information that I learn and preconceived notions that I unlearn, and allows me to address colonization at one of its roots—myself. 

Thank you to everyone who has, is, and will travel on this journey with me; I appreciate you more than I can say.

Casper

Thank you to the T&R Working Group for this opportunity for reflection.

Sally Hart

I also want to share that we used the Raven Trust resource (that the Truth and Reconciliation Working Group shared—thank you!) at our monthly staff meeting to have some good discussion about land acknowledgements and, in particular, prioritizing becoming comfortable and confident enough to offer land acknowledgements that go beyond the "script" that you might find printed on meeting and agenda packages where the words can start to just become muscle memory and lose meaning. I think it's important that leaders (at both the CSU and the university) can speak these acknowledgements from the heart and without the aid of the written "script" (accessibility accommodations accounted for, of course). This created space for some really important conversations, and I'm grateful that your work prompted this.

Thank you!

Chris Girodat (from the CSU)

I think it's easy to want everyone to care because they really should and forget that not everyone has made it deep into the conversation yet. As frustrating as it is to not be further along, the truth behind reconciliation speaks for itself if we are patient enough to invite in those that are just starting their learning journey.

A simple thank you to those who have shared their stories or teachings never feels like enough.

Ann (CSU)

Over the last couple years, I have started to look into more stories and history of the Indigenous community, and am lucky that I get to continue that learning through my work at the CSU. This is my commitment to keep asking questions and listen to more lived experiences.

Dayna (CSU)

Before coming here, I had little knowledge of these histories, but it has become clear how important it is to recognize and acknowledge the truth. And since, I have learned about their cultures, way of life, the true history of lands, and tradition, and not just for academic grades or to fit in when doing the land acknowledgment at the beginning of a meeting or class, but because this is the first step towards reconciliation and healing.

Ashneet Kaur (CapU student & CSU staff)

However, it wasn't until I moved to BC, that I really started to think about the importance of land acknowledgments, and it was because I noticed that instead of saying that we were on "Treaty Six land" in Edmonton, we would name the specific nations of whose land we were on in BC. I learned there were no treaties made with First Nations in the area of BC I was now living.

This opened up my eyes in a whole new way to other atrocities committed by colonization. While the treaties were problematic, there wasn't even an attempt to negotiate with the people who had been living on these lands since time immemorial. I've started to think about what my personal treaty should be, and how I can reconcile with living on land I have no legal right to even be on.

Josh (from the CSU)

I was handed a piece of paper with some information about the First Nations, but it was only a surface-level introduction that barely scratched the surface of the ongoing struggles they face. As a parent, I can't help but empathize with the pain of losing loved ones, having their cultures destroyed, and being forcibly removed from their ancestral lands. It is a heartbreaking reality that continues to impact their lives to this day.

I am grateful for the opportunity to live on the lands of Stolo and Kwantlen first nations but I am also acutely aware that I am an illegal alien on land that rightfully belongs to the First Nations. I am committed to educating myself further on their history and experiences. It is my moral duty to be a part of the truth and reconciliation process and advocate for their rights to their ancestral lands.

Allan DJ

CSU - Technical Services

One of the most striking topics for me was the emphasis on culturally responsive methods, particularly in caring for Aboriginal children. The essay on Inunnguiniq, an Inuit child-rearing tradition, emphasized the necessity of tapping into cultural assets to help children develop resilience and emotional well-being.This approach to child development, founded on respect, community support, and traditional values, reaffirmed my belief that early childhood education should always respect and include cultural practices, particularly in varied contexts such as Canada.

Another major lesson was the emphasis on the health of early childhood educators (ECEs). The Quebec-wide survey of whether child care staff are anxious or joyful was eye-opening. It demonstrated that stress levels differ depending on the environment (home-based versus group centres) and years of experience, which has a direct impact on total job satisfaction.This serves as a reminder of how important it is to create supportive and nurturing settings for both children and instructors. It made me consider how circumstances at work in ECE settings can affect both the standard of care and the mental health of employees.The importance of temperament in early childhood settings and inclusive methods were also discussed in the text. The conversation about how teachers might reconsider the categorizations we typically give kids, such "easy" or "difficult," was especially enlightening. I discovered that, in order to ensure a "goodness of fit" between the child and their surroundings, it's critical to address each child's temperament from a strengths-based perspective.With this method, children can flourish according to their unique requirements in a more inclusive and respectful learning environment.

The memorial service for Dr. Clyde Hertzman also served to emphasize the significant influence early experiences have on long-term health and wellbeing. I was reminded by his studies of how important early childhood educators are in influencing favourable developmental outcomes.

In general, this Interaction issue reaffirmed important concepts like the value of cultural sensitivity, the support of educators' well-being, and the encouragement of inclusive, child-centered methods in early learning environments. It broadened my perspective of the opportunities and challenges associated with early childhood education in Canada, which I found to be both inspirational and educational.

Thank you

Khushpreet Kaur Tatla