Canada is on Indigenous lands. Another name used for Canada and the United States is Turtle Island, based on creation myths. International borders were established by non-Indigenous settlers. Indigenous peoples have been on the land for thousands of years, pre-dating colonial explorers in collaborative land use, establishing communities, governance structures, education, spiritual practices, and exchange of goods.
Colonial explorers and settlers forcibly changed the relationships of Indigenous peoples to the lands, to each other, to their cultures, and to the past and future. To address the ongoing harms these changes have brought to Indigenous, Inuit, and Métis peoples, and to celebrate their rich histories, strength, and cultures, we can all take part in reconciliation: building better relationships.
As organizations working with Indigenous and Métis peoples, learning about history and the present is important. There are many ways that we can learn and take action together. This post offers a few options to explore.
Where are you?
Land is central to being in Indigenous, Inuit, and Métis peoples in Canada. The Indigenous Connections series from Parks Canada offers short videos so you can “learn about the unique cultures, traditions and experiences of First Nations, Inuit and Métis.”
The interactive First Peoples’ Map of BC can be sorted by languages spoken across the region; artists honouring traditions and growing with contemporary explorations; and Indigenous cultural heritage sites.
Native Land offers the opportunity to search territories, languages, and treaties beyond Turtle Island. The site states “Our mission is to uplift Indigenous ways of knowing and build understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples – through tools like our interactive map, Teacher’s Guide, and Land & Waters Acknowledgement Guide.”
A territorial acknowledgement has become part of events; knowing where we are gathering and whose land it is. In the Transformative Territory Acknowledgement Guide, Len Pierre takes us into why this is important, and how to go beyond simple statements.
Contextualizing disconnection from the land
There is learning we can take part in to understand the processes of colonization on Indigenous peoples and their traditional ways of connecting to land and each other. Together we can work to support the strength in these connections.
Indigenous Canada: The University of Alberta’s Faculty of Native Studies offers a free online course “[f]rom an Indigenous perspective and explores complex experiences Indigenous peoples face today from a historical and critical perspective highlighting national and local Indigenous-settler relations.” If you wish, you can receive a certificate of completion for a fee.
The San’yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Training program introduces history and building cultural safety into community, hospital, and clinical health-based services.
Two-Spirit Reconciliation presents the history of Two-Spirit peoples, their unique roles within communities, and their resistance to colonial erasure.
Ending on joy: if you want to get your hands into the earth for change, check out PEPAKEṈ HÁUTW, a Victoria, BC based non-profit that works to share “the importance of native ecosystems and the network of embedded relations.” You can support their work through volunteering at land restoration events.
Questions? Contact Janet Madsen, Capacity Building and Digital Communications Coordinator: [email protected]