The Test of Reconciliation

 If Truth and Reconciliation has changed how Canadians understand our own history, can we apply its teachings beyond our borders? 

The new Nakba exhibit has received a lot of criticism for displaying Palestinian stories. There are some that would like to see the exhibit taken down and replaced with another version of events. As I listened to Palestinian stories in the exhibit, I realized that we have heard these stories before. Their stories of intergenerational trauma as a result of colonization, cultural erasure, and loss of property is very similar to our own Canadian history to the Indigenous peoples of this land. Canada has spent the last decade asking its citizens to confront uncomfortable truths about our history and the treatment of Indigenous peoples. Truths like the residential school system, forced displacement, broken treaties, and ongoing systemic inequities. As a result of Truth and Reconciliation, we do know what colonialism and cultural erasure means and looks like, but have we actually learned what Truth and Reconciliation is, and can we recognize it in the suffering of others and apply its teachings beyond our borders? 

Deep learning is not measured by memorization but by transfer. When you can take the learning and knowledge given and apply it to new contexts then you know deeper learning has occurred. Drawing similarities between two different indigenous groups who have had their dignity and rights taken away is not a stretch here, nor is seeing that involving ministers to use their positions of power to take the exhibit down and efforts made to remove or rewrite historical narratives is rooted in power and control. However, it seems that as I read comments on posts, it seems like we have not learned anything, or an uglier truth, we just don’t care and all the work that has been accomplished with educating Canadians about Truth and Reconciliation has been for nothing. 

What we have learned about Truth and Reconciliation needs repeating. Reconciliation is not simply apologizing for the past. It is an ongoing process of listening to the truth, accountability, recognition of Indigenous rights, public education, and repairing relationships damaged by colonialism. It asks Canadians to confront difficult histories honestly and to build a better society where those histories are not denied or erased. Canadians live on Treaty Territory. We are Treaty People, which means if you call this land home, we have a collective responsibility regardless if you are an immigrant, your ancestors were settlers many years ago, or Indigenous, to uphold the Treaties, and respect the stories and the people telling them. It also means that we reject cultural erasure and colonization when we see it. No one has the right to be the author of anyone’s story. This is a universal truth, so why can’t we extend the same dignity to Palestinians regardless if it’s politically uncomfortable? 

According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) in 2015  it states: 

 “Canadians must do more than just talk about reconciliation; we must learn how to practise reconciliation in our everyday lives – within ourselves and our families, and in our communities, governments, places of worship, schools, and workplaces. To do so constructively, Canadians must remain committed to the ongoing work of establishing and maintaining respectful relationships.” 

Reconciliation is about restoring justice and dignity to those whose basic human rights were stripped. Because we live on Treaty Territory, we must look beyond our borders and see that global human rights and Indigenous struggles are interconnected and upholding accountability and restoring justice to other places in the world is an extension of the Treaty commitments and acknowledgment of the land we live on. Regardless if history is in another country to another group of people, it should not change how we listen to others and acknowledge their truth as a basic human right and treat them with dignity and respect. We must also recognize their humanity even if their history challenges our assumptions or makes us uncomfortable. We are all Treaty People. Regardless of your beliefs-religious or political, culture, or identity, this what reconciliation looks like. This is the Canadian way, and a value that should never change. 

Source: 

A public domain document published by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) in 2015. (n.d.). LTI Historical Society. What We’ve Learned:  Principles of Truth and Reconciliation. https://ltihistoricalsociety.org/