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In 2021 September 30th was established as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. All over Canada there are gatherings and activities to commemorate and learn more about the history and legacy of the residential school system most of these feature Indigenous speakers and performers. The City of North Vancouver has a number of events and West Vancouver will be raising a flag designed by survivors.

This week I was surprised to see musician Jerilynn Snuxaltwa Webster, also known at JB the First Lady, announce that she had cancelled or declined all TRC shows and speaking engagements. But her reasons made me think. Jerilynn said, “I want to hear from Canadians what they are doing to reconcile with Indigenous people. Truth and Reconciliation Day is for Canadians, Governments, Schools, Policing, Ministry of Child and Family Development, Health Care Systems, Indian Affairs need to tell us the truth about how many of the TRC 96 recommendations they have achieved.”

I think it is a good idea for non-Indigenous people to talk about what we are doing to further the work of reconciliation and to follow the Truth Commission’s Calls to Action. As members of a church that is a signatory to the settlement agreement we have agreed to:

  • #48 to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a framework for reconciliation.
  • #49 repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery and terra nullius and other concepts used to justify European sovereignty over Indigenous lands and peoples
  • #59 develop ongoing education strategies to ensure that congregations learn about our church’s role in colonization, the history and legacy of residential schools, and why apologies to former residential school students, families and communities were necessary
  • #60 teach all student clergy, and all clergy and staff to respect Indigenous spirituality in its own right, the role the church in residential schools, religious conflict in Aboriginal families and communities, and the responsibility that churches have to mitigate such conflicts and prevent spiritual violence
  • #61 establish permanent funding for Aboriginal projects for reconciliation, cultural revitalization, and spirituality

I know many of you are involved in different initiatives, learning and relationship-building. At the same time, it seems that we have not come very far with some of the agreements we have made collectively. Sometimes it can be hard to know where to start. If some of this information is new or you could use a refresher, one place to begin is by clicking on some of the links above to learn more. What are you doing to bring about reconciliation, what could we do together?

Image description: The quilt panel accompanying this article was sewn by local Anglican artist Sandra Vander Schaaf at the invitation of her friend and teacher Arlene Roberts (Nisga’a), for the EVERY CHILD MATTERS Healing & Awareness Quilt created by the Indian Residential School Survivors Society as a personal commitment to ongoing prayer and action.