Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Participation in a Local Truth and Reconciliation Event: Implications for Relationship-Building

• In Event: 28.021 - alterNative Perspectives: Indigenous and Settler Relational Borders

Abstract

The recent conclusion of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has brought Indigenous/settler relationships to the forefront of Canadian society in ways not seen before. This project investigates how Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators retrospectively understand and make meaning of reconciliation after organizing and/or participating in a TRC-inspired event held locally in southern Ontario. Informed by decolonizing theory and Critical Race Theory, the conversational interviews of this narrative research project revealed that reconciliation is understood as an action which is achievable if Indigenous and non-Indigenous people work together, starting with awareness of Indigenous experiences. Participants suggested that efforts towards reconciliation can be full of conflict, as evidenced by their own personal stories, but that reconciliation requires significant individual effort.

Author

• Kaitlyn Watson, The University of Western Ontario