Hello and Happy New Year!! First blog of 2025… my New Year’s resolutions will be to write better intros for my blog… but i’ll work on that later. Let’s get crackin
In BCFP 11, our learning journey began with the history and impacts of colonialism on indigenous peoples in Canada; with our first project focusing on the past and the harmful acts inflicted upon Indigenous cultures and communities by acts/events like the 60’s scoop, Indian act, and trials like Calder vs BC in 1973. Now that we have established a foundational understanding, we have shifted our focus to the critical question: How might we engage in meaningful reconciliation?
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Understanding Reconciliation:
Reconciliation represents the ongoing process of restoring and creating new relationships, acknowledging past harms and building a future founded on understanding and mutual respect between Indigenous and non-indigenous peoples in Canada. It was important to clarify at the start of the course for us to know the difference between what reconciliation is and what it is not. It is not a one-time act or a surface-level gesture. Reconciliation requires intentional commitment, listening and action. It requires hard work, having an open mind and acknowledging past wrongs. It is more than just acknowledging the land we work and live on.
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Exploring aspects of reconciliation:
There are many moving parts to reconciliation, each interconnected yet distinct to its focus. To explore these to a deeper level, our class was split up into 7 groups and each group dove into a different reconciliation effort and/or initiative occurring in Canada:
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Calls to Action
- Days of Recognition/national day for truth and reconciliation/national indigenous peoples day
- Federal and Provincial Land Acknowledgments and Agreements
- Language Revitalization Efforts
- Funding for Residential School Survivors/Repatriation of Indigenous Land
- Indigenous Cultural Revitalization Projects
- Indigenous-led Film, Media and Literature
My group, consisting of Logan, Tom, Jessie and myself, focused on Indigenous Cultural Revitalization Projects. These projects aim to reclaim and restore Indigenous traditions, languages and practices that were suppressed by colonial policies.
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Building Our Knowledge Base:
Before diving into our group work, we individually researched articles, media and other resources related to our topic. To further our understanding we discussed, and talked about what we were learning with each other and created a meggggaaa resource bank of all our notes. This process helped us create a firm understanding and a decent information bank of literature notes for each source, giving us a solid foundation to inspire our Winter Exhibition displays.
To best understand cultural revitalization, I first explored why it was essential. Acts like the Pass System, Indian Residential Schools, and other colonial policies worked to erase Indigenous cultures so the Euro-Canadian culture could dominate, influence and manipulate the Indigenous peoples, and this left deep scars on communities and caused extensive social emotional and identity damage.
What pushes cultural revitalization projects forward are organizations like the First Peoples’ Cultural Council which helps fund and support Indigenous artists and other initiatives. Projects like Blanketing the City, bring Indigenous art into urban spaces, showing the resilience of Indigenous art and its vital role in storytelling and education.
For reference here is my literature note doc:
https://s.craft.me/GdUgdc3C3E9QJu
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Winter Exhibition Experience:
Now that we all had a solid understanding of our topic, we used our collective knowledge to create a booth for our Winter Exhibition. The concept for our room was to have 7 booths, each devoted to one of the topics of reconciliation initiatives in Canada. I think we pulled it off in the end, but it took a lil problem solving to get there.
Due to the interconnectedness of the many aspects of cultural revitalization we had to make sure not to step on the toes of other groups, ex. Steering away from initiatives that focused on language revitalization. — The first roadblock we hit was having so many parts that we could cover. It ended up feeling like four different topics and four different booths. I was talking about restoring place names whilst Jessie was creating a timeline of some sort, everything was kind of all over the place. So after a bit of discussion, we switched gears to focus solely on the art aspect of cultural revitalization.
Highlighting these four areas:
- Indigenous murals – Highlighted by me!
- Song and dance – Highlighted by Tom
- Physical art – Highlighted by Jessie
- The cultural significance of cedar trees – Highlighted by Logan
This was our final layout:
To make our booth interactive we included a board where visitors could share what art means to them. This encouraged reflection on the value of art and its role in cultural preservation.
And honestly it worked better than I thought, some people even just went up to it when I was talking to other visitors and just wrote their thoughts.
Some exhibition flicks!
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My favourite part was learning and sharing the story of the mural on the sound wall called Ncheḿús which means “coming together”. Many visitors were excited to realize they recognized it from their daily lives, and they were eager to learn more about its meaning. Like them, I’ve driven past the mural many times without really stopping to consider its significance. — One common question I was asked was about the writing on some of the panels. There was a genuine curiosity about what was written and what it represented. Unfortunately, I had not read it myself at the time, but over winter break I took some time after to walk past, look at the art and read what the panels say. The words on the mural embody the interconnectedness of Indigneous culture, remind us of the sacred relationship between people, the land and the waters and remind us that it’s our job to acknowledge and honour the past.
Public art, like this mural, it’s not just decorative, it tells stories and creates connections allowing Indigneous voices to be heard. — For instance, the last panel of Ncheḿús holds special significance to the Coast Salish community. It features the fringes of woven blankets symbolizing the importance of nature, community, and Coast Salish weaving traditions. Angela George, one of the artists, explained that this detail makes the mural deeply personal to their community. It holds meanings that are sacred and specific to its creators. It honours traditions while making them visible and celebrated in shared spaces. Through this project, I gained a deeper appreciation for how public art can bridge communities, spark curiosity and invite meaningful engagement with Indigenous cultures.
To learn more you can watch this video and check out this website:
http://www.nvrc.ca/arts-culture/public-art/art-collection/nchemus
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Engaging in Meaningful Reconciliation
To engage in meaningful reconciliation, it’s important to understand, first, what it really means, as we need to have a common understanding of this term, but furthermore, what is your role and feeling around it. To me, reconciliation includes a willingness to learn and honour Indigenous voices. To acknowledge and apologize for the damage that has been done. It involves fostering a collective environment where we can thrive and work towards healing together. It means putting aside ones’ biases and taking in all perspectives to take a collective step forwards. It is not all about solving everything at once but consistently working to create a better future. I think a great way to educate oneself is going to in-person activities, and actively engaging in one’s learning whether that is in conversations, workshops, ceremonies, visiting art exhibitions and talking about what you are learning about with a friend. Whether it’s supporting Indigenous artists or participating in cultural events — Every action matters. Moving from passive to active actions/learning is important.