RECONCILIATION: MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER - UNDERSTANDING RECONCILIATION
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We heard from a couple of respondents that the term “reconciliation” does not resonate with some Indigenous Nations, communities, and organizations. One person explained that this is because it is a term that does not belong to Indigenous people. One respondent also noted that as a concept, reconciliation is too vague to be useful in addressing the core issues impacting Indigenous Nations, communities, and organizations. These perspectives speak to the issue that reconciliation is a term adopted to address a process and addressing past harm – and so in order to ensure that reconciliation is not just considered or defined as a state in time or a singular issue, it means awareness and action toward progress. A few people commented that reconciliation is about building healthy communities. This includes creating a sense of belonging, as well as addressing issues within communities to support the well-being of the collective membership. The past harms caused to Indigenous peoples within Canada resulted in impacts on the health and economic well-being of Nations and communities. Indigenous communities have been going through healing to be able to help their people build healthy communities and gain economic success. A few respondents suggested that reconciliation needs to be supported with action. One person mentioned that this means addressing core issues that Indigenous Nations and communities face, as opposed to “saying all the nice words and developing little programs” (Indigenous Housing Provider). This perspective raises the issue that reconciliation is an action word and a meaningful process of commitment to addressing the core needs of Indigenous people arising from colonial forms of discrimination. A couple of respondents emphasized that reconciliation requires a focus on hiring Indigenous staff and organizations to lead the process of learning. This means that Indigenous people need to speak about Indigenous people and share their own stories. The sharing of stories by Indigenous people is one of the most important ways for BC Housing staff to learn day-to-day about what being Indigenous means and what their needs are. A respondent indicated that reconciliation includes addressing past discriminatory actions or policies implemented by the government that resulted in the loss of access to cultural resources for Indigenous Nations or communities to teach their own people. Sometimes it is assumed that Indigenous Nations, communities, and organizations have the resources to teach their citizens about cultural practices. This is often evidenced in the area of Indigenous languages where Nations lack the capacity and resources to teach their languages and cultures to their citizens. A couple of people emphasized that reconciliation is about recognizing and respecting the unique experiences of each Indigenous Nation, community, or organization. It means moving beyond the UNDRIP definition 58 of Indigenous peoples to include the experiences of the urban 58 Although an official definition of “Indigenous” has not been adopted by any UN-system body, the United Nations’ factsheet on Indigenous Peoples has developed an understanding of this term based on several factors, including “having a strong link to territories and surrounding natural resources.” (https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/5session_factsheet1.pdf) This understanding of reconciliation excludes the interests of the urban Indigenous population.
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