Beyond the Duty to Learn: Reflections on Non-Indigenous People’s Role for TRC Day

History of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

September 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a day to honour the children who never returned home from the residential school system in Canada, as well as the Survivors, their families and communities. It is a day of commemoration and reflection on the painful history and ongoing impacts of the 140 federally run residential schools in Canada that operated between 1867 and 1996. As one of the darkest and most horrific chapters in Canada’s history, the residential school system removed seven generations of Indigenous children from their homes and communities in a systematic and concerted effort to extinguish their culture, language and spirit.^[1]

The first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was held in 2021, six years after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (“TRC”) released its Final Report. The TRC ran from 2008 to 2015, collecting millions of documents, visiting more than 300 communities, and hearing testimony from thousands of Survivors, their families and witnesses.^[2] The strength and courage of Survivors who brought their experiences to light is documented in the TRC’s Final Report. As outlined below, the Final Report marks the start of a journey towards reconciliation, not its conclusion.

Reconciliation as a Call to Action: The Role of Non-Indigenous People

The term “reconciliation” has been widely used in recent years,^[3] but it can be a hollow buzzword when it is not backed by action. The TRC recognized that reconciliation requires not only an awareness of the past and an acknowledgement of the harm that has been inflicted, but also forward-looking atonement and action.^[4] For this reason, the TRC’s Final Report includes 94 Calls to Action that recognize the role of all Canadians in advancing reconciliation.^[5]

 All people in Canada, including newcomers, have a role in this relationship-building process. - Justice Murray Sinclair, Chair of the TRC

As this year marks the 10^th anniversary of the release of the TRC’s Final Report, we want to highlight the role of non-Indigenous people in advancing truth and reconciliation. This role includes the “duty to learn” and translating learning into action.

The Duty to Learn

The TRC recognized that reconciliation starts with a duty to learn:

Too many Canadians still do not know the history of Aboriginal peoples’ contributions to Canada, or understand that by virtue of the historical and modern Treaties negotiated by our government, we are all Treaty people. History plays an important role in reconciliation; to build for the future, Canadians must look to, and learn from, the past.^[6]

A number of the TRC’s Calls to Action focus on education as a starting point. For example, Call to Action #62 calls on all levels of government, in collaboration with Survivors, Indigenous Peoples and educators, to implement curricula and funding for education, and to integrate Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods in classrooms.^[7] Call to Action #63 urges the Council of Ministers of Education to develop and share best practices for teaching curricula related to residential schools and Indigenous history.^[8]

Too often, non-Indigenous people place a disproportionate burden on First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples to educate us as part of truth and reconciliation efforts. However, doing so does not uphold our role in the process of truth and reconciliation, particularly when there are countless resources available for non-Indigenous people to educate ourselves:

• Read the TRC’s Calls to Action, and revisit them regularly.^[9]
  
• Read the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which the TRC called “the framework” for reconciliation.^[10]
  
• Enroll in the University of Alberta’s online course, “Indigenous Canada.”^[11]
  
• Read the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.^[12]
  
• Read the Final Report and Reparations Framework for Missing and Disappeared Children and Unmarked Burials Associated with Indian Residential Schools.^[13]
  
• Engage in the educational programs offered by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, including the online modules.^[14]
  
• For those in the legal profession, read The Honourable Chief Justice Lance S.G. Finch’s article “The Duty to Learn: Taking Account of Indigenous Legal Orders in Practice.”^[15]

Taking Action

While the duty to learn is essential, it is only a starting point. As the TRC and others have recognized, true reconciliation requires turning knowledge into action:

…reconciliation is not a symbolic gesture or one-time event. It is an active, ongoing process that requires both systemic reform and personal commitment. - Kimberly Murray, Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools

The important work of reconciliation often stalls at the learning stage. As non-Indigenous people, we may hesitate to take action out of fear of making mistakes, doing the wrong thing or believing we are not the right person to act. But fear and discomfort are key accountability mechanisms, offering us the opportunity to examine whether we are acting in solidarity instead of saviourism, in genuine partnership rather than paternalism or tokenism. Proceeding with caution is crucial, but we cannot let fear keep us from proceeding at all.

There is no step-by-step guide to truth and reconciliation. Everyone’s personal commitment to reconciliation will be different, but the following examples might provide some places to start putting what we’ve learned into concrete actions:

• Make a plan to implement the Calls to Action in your work and the organizations you belong to. Start conversations or a study group with your friends and family. Consider how the principles of the TRC’s Calls to Action may apply to you, even if they were directed at other parties. For example, fundraise with people in your community and contribute time, skills or money to organizations like the Indian Residential School Survivors Society and other Indigenous-led initiatives that already exist.
• Subscribe to APTN News (launched in 1999 as the first national Indigenous broadcaster in the world)^[16] and other Indigenous-led media outlets.
• Pay attention to the commitments made by elected officials, including city council and school board members, to advance reconciliation. Write to them to hold them accountable for honouring those commitments.
• Engage the children in your life about Canada’s history and the role that all Canadians play in reconciliation. The Canadian Children’s Book Centre has a Truth and Reconciliation book list with recommended publications for all ages.^[17]
• Research the history of the land where you live, work and visit, and think critically about the role of respectful land and territorial acknowledgements and when they are appropriate.^[18] Attend events hosted by the Indigenous nations in your area, and find ways to support their artists, businesses and initiatives.
• Access and donate to Indigenous language platforms that publish resources like apps, articles, recordings, dictionaries, games, podcasts and videos.^[19] FirstVoices has several publicly available alphabets that can assist in the use of proper characters when typing Indigenous words.^[20] Find pronunciation guides and practice the proper pronunciation of Indigenous names, places, greetings and more.
• Buy from Indigenous-owned businesses and Indigenous artists. Be mindful of cultural heritage being appropriated or misappropriated for commercial use. Confirm that any commodification of cultural heritage is done by, with the consent of, and/or under the control of the originating community and its members.^[21]

The above examples are by no means prescriptive or comprehensive. Each of us must determine what actions will be part of our personal commitment to the process of reconciliation.

Conclusion

It might feel like you are not doing enough to advance reconciliation. The truth is, you probably aren’t. But that is part of the point – reconciliation is a relationship-building process, and none of us can make progress alone. The more people who start somewhere and do something, the further we will go – together.

Although it is a process, reconciliation is ongoing. There is no endpoint at which the work will be finished, and our personal commitment to reconciliation efforts must be continuous. As The Honourable Ian Binnie, former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, expressed:

The future is more important than the past. A canoeist who hopes to make progress faces forwards, not backwards.^[22]

We all need to look ahead and pick up a paddle.

[1] Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, “Canada’s Residential Schools: The History, Part 1 Origins to 1939” (2015), Vol 1, Part 1 at p vii, online: https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Volume_1_History_Part_1_English_Web.pdf (“TRC Final Report Vol 1”).