Truth and Reconciliation Guide

"It's about the role that music, film, visual art, and Indigenous cultural practices play in and beyond Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Indian Residential Schools. The essays question the ways in which components of the reconciliation, such as apology and witnessing, have social and political effects for residential-schools survivors, intergenerational survivors, and settler publics."-- Provided by publisher.

"Implementation in Canada of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is a pivotal opportunity to explore the relationship between international law, Indigenous peoples' own laws and Canada's constitutional narratives. Two significant statements by the current Liberal government--the May 2016 address by Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at the United Nations and the September 2017 address to the United Nations by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau--have endorsed UNDRIP and committed Canada to implementing it as "a way forward" on the path to genuine nation-to-nation relationships with Indigenous peoples. In response, these essays engage with the legal, historical, political and practical aspects of UNDRIP implementation. Written by Indigenous legal scholars and policy leaders, and guided by the metaphor of braiding international, domestic and Indigenous laws into a strong, unified whole composed of distinct parts, the book makes visible the possibilities for reconciliation from different angles and under different lenses."-- Provided by publisher

When it comes to Aboriginal Peoples, sympathy and from outsiders is the new form of racism. It allows many of us to feel good about discounting their importance and the richness of their civilizations. Sympathy is a way to deny our shared reality. Our shared responsibility. Sympathy obscures the central importance of rights. If not sympathy, then what? In September 2013, in the Columbia River Basin, I listened to Kathryn Teneese, chair of the Ktunaxa Nation Council, explain that the first step is “recognition and acknowledgment.” Then we can work at our relationship “one step at a time – and gradually – find things we can do together.” In other words, “reconciliation” is not an event. It is not an apology, although an apology was necessary. And it is certainly not something so lacking in respect and dignity as sympathy. In any case, no solid relationship is possible so long as the Canadian government continues to rise in courtrooms and begin cases against the rights of Aboriginal nations by first arguing before the law that they do not exist as a people. This is our government. What could sympathy possibly mean if it is preceded by a denial of existence…. On the prairies there is an important piece of formal rhetoric: a question and an answer widely used in public meetings in order to remind everyone present of the reality in which they live.
“Who are the treaty people?” “We are the treaty people.”

"Artist Cole Pauls wanted to reclaim the Southern Tutchone language he had learned as a youth while performing in the traditional song and dance group the Dakwakada Dancers, based in Whitehorse (YT). So, he created a comic about two Earth Protectors saving the Earth from evil pioneers and cyborg sasquatches. But he also went to his elders and asked them to translate his comic into the two dialects of Southern Tutchone. The resulting work is an allegory of colonialization done in an accessible format, a whimsical young adult graphic novel which helps to revitalize the language. Pauls includes a making of postscript to give context to the project, and invites guest Indigenous Canadian artists to provide pin-ups of his characters (Gord Hill, Whess Harman, Blake Lepine, Teresa Vander Meer-Chasse)."-- Provided by publisher.

"From Where I Stand is a timely, forthright, and optimistic book for all Canadians. Drawn from speeches made over a ten-year period both at home and abroad, Jody Wilson-Raybould reveals why true reconciliation will occur only when Canada moves beyond denial, recognizes Indigenous Rights, and replaces the Indian Act. We have the solutions. Now is the time to end the legacy of colonialism and replace it with a future built on foundations of trust, cooperation, and Indigenous self-government."-- Provided by publisher.

"Through research and case studies, Indigenous and non-Indigenous food scholars and community practitioners explore the concepts, practices, and contemporary issues of various Indigenous food systems across Canada, including Anishinaabeg, Asatiwisipe, Cree, Métis, Migmag, and Tsartlip Nations. They also document community experiences and perspectives on these food systems, demonstrating how different Indigenous communities are leading the way to design and implement community-based initiatives in collaborative and cooperative spirit with other Indigenous communities, organizations, and non-Indigenous allies to improve health, well-being, and food security of current and future generations of Indigenous Peoples as well as other citizens of Canada. In particular, the chapters of this book highlight (a) the salient features of Indigenous food systems, (b) some of the barriers and challenges to Indigenous food systems, and (c) the potential solutions to address these barriers and reclaim cultural identity and resurgence, thereby achieving food security and food sovereignty."-- Provided by publisher.

"We are all treaty people. This eagerly awaited sequel to the bestselling 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act offers practical tools that will help you respectfully avoid missteps in your business interactions and personal relationships with Indigenous Peoples. This book will teach you about: Aboriginal Rights and Title, and the treaty process the difference between hereditary and elected leadership, and why it matters the lasting impact of the Indian Act, including the barriers that Indigenous communities face which terms are preferable, and which should be avoided Indigenous Worldviews and cultural traditions the effect of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in Canada the truth behind common myths and stereotypes perpetuated about Indigenous Peoples since Confederation. In addition to being a hereditary chief, Bob Joseph is the President of Indigenous Corporate Training Inc., which offers programs in cultural competency. Here he offers an eight-part process that businesses and all levels of government can use to work more effectively with Indigenous Peoples, which benefits workplace culture as well as the bottom line. Embracing reconciliation on a daily basis in your work and personal life is the best way to undo the legacy of the Indian Act. By understanding and respecting cultural differences, you're taking a step toward full reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples."-- Provided by publisher.

"Helen Knott, a highly accomplished Indigenous woman, seems to have it all. But in her memoir, she offers a different perspective. In My Own Moccasins is an unflinching account of addiction, intergenerational trauma, and the wounds brought on by sexual violence. It is also the story of sisterhood, the power of ceremony, the love of family, and the possibility of redemption. With gripping moments of withdrawal, times of spiritual awareness, and historical insights going back to the signing of Treaty 8 by her great-great grandfather, Chief Bigfoot, her journey exposes the legacy of colonialism, while reclaiming her spirit."-- Provided by publisher

"In The Medicine of Peace, Jeffrey Ansloos explores the complex intersections of colonial violence, the current status of Indigenous youth in Canada in regards to violence and the possibilities of critical-Indigenous psychologies of nonviolence. Indigenous youth are disproportionately at risk for violent victimization and incarceration within the justice system. They are also marginalized and oppressed within our systems of academia, mental health and social work. By linking the contemporary experiences of Indigenous youth with broader contexts of intergenerational colonial violence in Canadian society and history, Ansloos highlights the colonial nature of current approaches to Indigenous youth care. Using a critical-Indigenous discourse to critique, deconstruct and de-legitimize the hegemony of Western social science, Ansloos advances an Indigenous peace psychology to promote the revitalization of Indigenous identity for these youth."-- Provided by publisher.

"Indigenous scholars have been gathering, speaking, and writing about Indigenous knowledge for decades. These knowledges are grounded in ancient traditions and very old pedagogies that have been woven with the tangled strings and chipped beads of colonial relations. Pathways for Remembering and Recognizing Indigenous Thought in Education is an exploration into some of the shared cross-cultural themes that inform and shape Indigenous thought and Indigenous educational philosophy. These philosophies generate tensions, challenges, and contradictions that can become very tangled and messy when considered within the context of current educational systems that reinforce colonial power relations. Sandra D. Styres shows how Indigenous thought can inform decolonizing approaches in education as well as the possibilities for truly transformative teaching practices. This book offers new pathways for remembering, conceptualizing and understanding these ancient knowledges and philosophies within a twenty-first century educational context."-- Provided by publisher.

This second release from the NCTR’s publication series Perceptions on Truth and Reconciliation is an exciting one. The essays in Pathways of Reconciliation address the themes of healing, truth and justice before reconciliation, Indigenous knowledge and practices of reconciliation, field-based research, the TRC framework, international dimensions, and measurement and evaluation. The essays also engage with different approaches to reconciliation (within a variety of reconciliation frameworks, either explicit or implicit) and illustrate the complexities of the reconciliation process itself. They canvass multiple and varied pathways of reconciliation, from Indigenous and non-Indigenous perspectives, reflecting a diversity of approaches to the mandate given to all Canadians by the TRC with its Calls to Action.

"In this book Arthur Manuel and Grand Chief Ronald Derrickson challenge virtually everything that non-Indigenous Canadians believe about their relationship with Indigenous Peoples and the steps that are needed to place this relationship on a healthy and honourable footing. Manuel and Derrickson show how governments are attempting to reconcile with Indigenous Peoples without touching the basic colonial structures that dominate and distort the relationship. They review the current state of land claims. They tackle the persistence of racism among non-Indigenous people and institutions. They celebrate Indigenous Rights Movements while decrying the role of government-funded organizations like the Assembly of First Nations. They document the federal government's disregard for the substance of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples while claiming to implement it. These circumstances amount to what they see as a false reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. Instead, Manuel and Derrickson offer an illuminating vision of what Canada and Canadians need for true reconciliation. In this book, which Arthur Manuel and Ron Derrickson completed in the months before Manuel's death in January 2017, readers will recognize their profound understanding of the country, of its past, present, and potential future. Expressed with quiet but firm resolve, humour, and piercing intellect The Reconciliation Manifesto will appeal to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who are open and willing to look at the real problems and find real solutions."-- Provided by publisher.

Resurgence and Reconciliation is multi-disciplinary, blending law, political science, political economy, women's studies, ecology, history, anthropology, sustainability, and climate change. Its dialogic approach strives to put these fields in conversation and draw out the connections and tensions between them. By using "earth-teachings" to inform social practices, the editors and contributors offer a rich, innovative, and holistic way forward in response to the world's most profound natural and social challenges. This timely volume shows how the complexities and interconnections of resurgence and reconciliation and the living earth are often overlooked in contemporary discourse and debate."-- Provided by publisher.

"What does it mean to be a white settler on land taken from peoples who have lived there since time immemorial? In the context of reconciliation and Indigenous resurgence, Unsettling Spirit provides a personal perspective on decolonization, informed by Indigenous traditions and lifeways, and the need to examine one's complicity with colonial structures. Applying autoethnography grounded in Indigenous and feminist methodologies, Denise Nadeau weaves together stories and reflections on how to live with integrity on stolen and occupied land. The author chronicles her early and brief experience of "Native mission" in the late 1980s and early 1990s in northern Canada and Chiapas, Mexico, and the gradual recognition that she had internalized colonialist concepts of the "good Christian" and the Great White Helper. Drawing on somatic psychotherapy, Nadeau addresses contemporary manifestations of helping and the politics of trauma. She uncovers her ancestors' settler background and the responsibilities that come with facing this history. Caught between two traditions--born and raised Catholic but challenged by Indigenous ways of life--the author traces her engagement with Indigenous values and how relationships inform her ongoing journey.

"Indigenous communities have been organizing against violence since newcomers first arrived, but the cases of missing and murdered women have only recently garnered broad public attention. Violence Against Indigenous Women joins the conversation by analyzing the socially interventionist work of Indigenous women poets, playwrights, filmmakers, and fiction-writers. Organized as a series of case studies that pair literary interventions with recent sites of activism and policy-critique, the book puts literature in dialogue with anti-violence debate to illuminate new pathways toward action."-- From publisher's website.
"With the advent of provincial and national inquiries into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, a larger public conversation is now underway. Indigenous women's literature is a critical site of knowledge-making and critique. Violence Against Indigenous Women provides a foundation for reading this literature in the context of Indigenous feminist scholarship and activism and the ongoing intellectual history of Indigenous women's resistance."-- From publisher's website.

"This is the story of a determined Ojibwe Grandmother (Nokomis) Josephine Mandamin and her great love for Nibi (Water). Nokomis walks to raise awareness of our need to protect Nibi for future generations, and for all life on the planet. She, along with other women, men, and youth, have walked around all of the Great Lakes from the four salt waters - or oceans - all the way to Lake Superior. The water walks are full of challenges, and by her example Josephine inspires and challenges us all to take up our responsibility to protect our water and our planet for all generations. Her story is a wonderful way to talk with children about the efforts that the Ojibwe and many other Indigenous peoples give to the protection of water - the giver of life."-- Provided by publisher.