A Brief Reflection on This Day of Truth & Reconciliation

I know we're all tired (already), but when we come together, we share our energy & strength, and we win.

Dear friends,

How it started...

We can always count on Rebecca to tell it like it is!

This morning, like most of you, I was absolutely horrified at the fascist spectacle coming out of the US. Terrified that, despite being the most idiotic, despised & ridiculed nincompoops, Pete & Don have no intention of stopping here. Each and every new move towards all-out fascism comes as a massive shock to our nervous systems. Watching that shitshow was not a great start to the day. My nerves were on full alert and I felt myself sinking into despair (pretty much a daily event for me these days).

How it went...

All those orange shirts in the distance are hundreds of members of our community joining in with the dancing at the 4th Annual South Island Powwow.

And then I walked over to the 4th Annual South Island Powwow where I joined thousands of others who had come together to celebrate Indigenous culture, support our Indigenous neighbours, reflect on how our colonial system has caused so much hurt, and see how we can work together to heal. Friends, there was an ocean of orange shirts there representing an ocean of willingness to face the hard truth of the harms done throughout our nation's history, and an ocean of willingness to work towards reconciliation. I know that we have so much further to go to heal the deep-seated racism and injustice here in Canada, but it is heartening, especially on a day like today, to see so many people ready to make the effort.

Thanks to Anne H. who captured this photo of her fellow cyclists riding for reconciliation.

When you look at these photos from today, you'll see that there are so many more of us than there are of them. Those of us who value care & compassion, kindness & generosity, inclusion & diversity, dignity & fairness, love & joy far outnumber those who are preaching violence & hatred & all manners of cruelty. When we come together, we can overpower this (as Rebecca Solnit calls it) 'stupid coup'. We have seen it over and over where they attempt to impose their hateful rules and regime but we've stood up en masse until they've backed down. They will keep trying to crush us with cruelty and we will keep fighting back.

I know we're all tired (already), but when we come together, we share our energy & strength, and we win. I hope that you are finding comfort & strength & joy in your community while we navigate these scary times.

With love and solidarity,

Jessica

p.s. This post from the amazing Shelagh Rogers is a helpful guide towards educating ourselves on the truths behind the residential 'school' system that caused so much harm.

Today on this fifth National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, I'm thinking about the Survivors and their families, and the children who never came home from residential school. I’m thinking about the hard, hard work that Survivors and their families have been doing, for generations now, including at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission gatherings where, as Murray Sinclair (Iban) has said, “Survivors would be asked to remember, in a short time, what many of them have spent a lifetime, trying to forget.” They shared their testimonies--often against enormous obstacles and now the scourge of denialism--to drive home the truth, to make this country acknowledge and understand what happened here, in Canada, to children, to families, to communities. And to never forget.

When I get asked "what should I be doing to understand?" My default is to say read a book because there are so many great books by Indigenous authors about truth and reconciliation: The Honorable Murray Sinclair (Iban)’s “Who We Are: Four Questions for a Life and a Nation. The TRC Summary Report: “Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future”, Niigaan Sinclair’s “Winnipek”, Michelle Good’s “Truth Telling” and “Five Little Indians”, Rose LeMay’s “Ally is a Verb”, Monique Gray Smith's “Speaking Our Truth”, "Indian Horse" by Richard-baa Wagamese, "When the Pine Needles Fall" by Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel, with Sean Carleton, katherena vermette’s Procession (being published today)... It’s a fool’s game to even begin to try to capture them all.

Watch a film. Go to a gallery featuring Indigenous artists. Support Indigenous businesses, restaurants, initiatives. Listen to Indigenous musicians. Follow Indigenous leaders on social media. Take a course. These are things you can do 365 days a year. Check out David Robertson’s very practical guide “52 Ways to Reconcile” for many more.

Today, though, check out "A Day to Listen" https://downiewenjack.ca/a-day-to-listen/ produced by the brilliant Kim Wheeler. APTN has a great day planned: https://www.aptntv.ca/ndtr/ that will include coverage of the national gathering on Parliament Hill beginning at 3 p.m ET. It's also live on CBC.

On this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we have the opportunity to engage respectfully with Survivors at gatherings and events in our communities. Generations to come will not have this opportunity.

Let us honour Survivors, and thank them for courage, their generosity, their resistance and resilience and their leadership...for all they have done, so that we, too, can stand for the truth.