National Day for Truth and Reconciliation 2023: Restoring the Balance
On the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we ask Canadians to take the time to learn, reflect, and act upon the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (TRC) Calls to Action.
These recommendations represent a collective effort to bring about healing and justice for the historical and continuing harms experienced by Indigenous Nations, Peoples, and families. It is our shared responsibility to breathe life into these Calls to Action in our daily lives, as they represent the pathway towards a more equitable society.
Part of the Canadian mythology is the national narrative of being a fair and just society. This story has been used to legitimize the settler-state at home and abroad. However, this reputation ignores a fundamental principle, which is: "Don't take something that doesn't belong to you." Canada was built on violence perpetuated behind the veil of terra nullius, the false notion that this land was empty and free for the taking. This violence continues to be expressed in overt and covert ways.
In truth, these lands were never surrendered or ceded. Nations who signed Treaties did not give away their homelands. Instead, these Treaties are social contracts that recognize our shared relationships and responsibilities with each other and with the lands.
September 30th serves as a crucial reminder for all Canadians to engage in deep reflection, to learn, and to challenge our assumptions about the nation’s past and present. It is also a time to imagine a future where we share a just and reciprocal relationship with one another.
In these pressing times, with climate change and biodiversity loss threatening the very essence of life on this planet, we ask ourselves: How do we create balance?
We must recognize that it is not a crisis that science alone can fix. As Eli Enns, Co-Founder, President and CEO of IISAAK OLAM Foundation, reminds us, this is a spiritual problem that requires the restoration of the social contract between ourselves and the land. This is echoed by Valérie Courtois, Executive Director of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative, who states, “reconciliation must be rooted in the land.”
This is why we are working with our partners to support Indigenous conservation leadership, including Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs), and to transform the conservation sector in the spirit of reconciliation.
Indigenous-led conservation and IPCAs present a modern solution to creating the balance we are seeking among ourselves and our environment. Thanks to the incredible leadership of Indigenous governments from coast-to-coast-to-coast, there are now more than 60 declared or emerging IPCAs.To support this great work, we call on federal, territorial, and provincial governments to correct past wrongs, remove hurdles, and advance Indigenous connections to the land.
When Indigenous Peoples carry out their responsibilities to lands and waters, through the respect and recognition of treaty and Aboriginal rights and title, they are revitalizing everything that was almost lost through a system of assimilation, oppression, and violence. By embracing the principles of peace and friendship and respecting the lands and waters that sustain us, we can forge a just and harmonious society for all.
Together, we can continue this journey of reconciliation. Together, we can shape a healthy and vibrant future for the next seven generations.
– The Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership Leadership Circle
Resources:
Canada’s Indian Residential School Survivors and Family Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day at
1-866-925-4419
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation: Information about Reconciliation Week: https://nctr.ca/education/coming-soon-truth-and-reconciliation-week-2023/
Honour to Senator Murray Sinclair, a short film by Alanis Obomsawin: https://www.nfb.ca/film/honour-to-senator-murray-sinclair/
Learn more about how you can support the Indigenous conservation leadership movement: https://conservation-reconciliation.ca/support-the-movement