Truth & Reconciliation and Autumn Shooters

In Canada, our national day for Truth and Reconciliation is September 30, also known as Orange Shirt Day. It is a day that honours residential school survivors, and a day for us to remember all the children that didn’t come home from the residential schools. During the entire week of Truth and Reconciliation, there are free online websites to further educate yourself and schools teach children Canada‘s past, in hopes of moving forward with knowledge and empathy. It is a federal statutory holiday and communities come together holding local events and ceremonies organized by the National Centre of Truth and Reconciliation.

Reconciliation is ongoing. Understanding treaties is the first step to furthering reconciliation. I live on the unceded territory of the Okanagan Syilx First Nation People. What does that mean? Growing up in Manitoba, I was raised, not by my parents, but by society around me, to think that, we gave the Indigenous people, so much. As I got older and viewed what was happening in my country firsthand, I saw that what I had been told, was not true. At all. It was right around Canada‘s 150th birthday when I REALLY got the ick. As someone who considers herself a very loyal Canadian, I felt guilty celebrating our Nation’s 150th birthday. I live near the Kamloops residential school that 4 years after Canada’s 150, found at least 204 unmarked graves on the school property. More have been found since. I began reading. I began learning more about my country and its relationship with our First Nations people and the treaties that were made before the BNA Act and those that have been made since. This book is a new book that teaches us old things, like the history of our country and the legal contracts that were made and that we still live by today. I hope everyone uses their day off to learn and to reflect on the word Reconciliation and what it means to them.

Talk Treaty to Me by Crystal Gail Fraser 🇨🇦 A book with “Me” or “You” in the title. There are a lot of things about my country that I know because, I am Canadian. I know the rules, the law, the “Canadian way”, but I don’t necessarily know why. That’s why I wanted to read this book. So that I could understand better these truths that I know as I continue my journey of reconciliation. Reconciliation is always happening. It’s ongoing. I always knew that there was First Nations land and Crown land, but I didn’t understand the treaties or the language making it so. I also live on the unceded territory of the Okanagan and Syilx people, and while I say that, now, I can truly understand what unceded and ceded territory means in the historical sense and in how I move through our world in the present day. Seeing the timeline of treaties allows me to see for example after the Robinson treaties were signed, and the First Nations fought to retain at least some of their rights, it became law that First Nations weren’t allowed to use lawyers. I also believe people would be surprised hearing about modern treaties as most people talk about them like they are a thing in the past. This is another example of how reconciliation needs much more work to become a true reality. I feel like a lot of what I read, I knew a bit about, but I am grateful for the extended knowledge I now have from reading this book and what I didn’t know, I now do and plan on furthering my reading. I had never heard of Frank Calder before but he sounds like someone I would like to learn more about. Also, I have a new understanding about aspects of Indigenous gender and sexuality that I didn’t before reading this. I liked reading more about Indigenous history that I knew a little bit about Theresa Spence and Idle No More but was happy to read further about them. I found the information about the Jay Treaty to be very interesting. The term time immemorial is used often in this book and it is a term that should be used more in regular conversation about these topics. Treaties in general are misrepresented in modern media and perception as this book has shown me that they are meant to create relationships of mutual respect in order to live in a peaceful coexistence. Reconciliation can progress once everyone recognizes this truth. I’ve read “21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act” and next I will be reading “150 Acts of Reconciliation”. In the conclusion, the authors admit that they gave us a lot of information. To be honest, it actually was a bit overwhelming. This is not a book that you can read lightly and it took me a while to read it and understand what I was reading but I’m very happy that there is such a concise and comprehensive book out there to reference in the future.