National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Content warning: This post includes mentions of genocide and the residential school system.

Today on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, our hearts go out to the survivors of residential schools, and we remember the children who did not make it home. We recognize the intergenerational impacts that these schools and the colonial policies that accompanied them have on Indigenous communities –  the reverberations of which continue to this day.

Also known as Orange Shirt Day, we wear orange as a symbol of how generations of Indigenous children had their cultures, families, and freedoms stripped from them. Orange Shirt Day was started by Northern Secwépemc author Phyllis Webstad, who was gifted a beautiful orange shirt by her grandmother and had it (along with all of her belongings) taken away on her first day of residential school at age 6. We sit with the powerful message of the orange shirt, of children loved and lost, of grief and a deep need for reckoning- Every Child Matters.

In order to look forward, centering and including Indigenous voices, world views, and experiences is important to the long and complex healing work that is part of working towards Truth & Reconciliation. Indigenous Peoples represent only 5% of the global population, but protect 80% of the remaining biodiversity that is so essential to our planet – especially as we face the unfolding, worsening impacts of climate change. Governments (and citizens) must look to Indigenous worldviews that see the land and waters as relatives to care for, not as resources for profit. In this place called ‘Canada’ colonized by the Crown, approximately 1% of the lands held are titled to Indigenous peoples. Crown lands and private lands make up the lions share of land ‘ownership’ that came with land enclosure through colonization.

We recognize how historically, agriculture has been used as a tool to control Indigenous Peoples, and that current laws and policies are still actively harming Indigenous land and food systems. We deeply understand as a farming organization, that the land doesn’t belong to us – we belong to the land. We are meant to be in relationship with the land, taking only what we need and giving back in return. We are deeply grateful to the Indigenous peoples who are stewarding the ecosystems we rely on, despite historical and ongoing genocidal violence and removal from the lands that have been cared for, for time immemorial. 

Let’s educate ourselves year-round on reconciliation, Indigenous histories, the legacies of colonization, and the ongoing struggle. Let’s show that we value Indigenous worldviews and rights to land and title. Let’s grow relationships and food systems that value Indigenous peoples and their cultures and ways of being. We encourage settlers to move beyond acknowledgement and into relationship. Each and every one of us has the power to learn, be in relation and act.

Here are a few ideas for actions to build relationships and advance reconciliation: 

• Consider where you can uplift Indigenous voices and leadership in your community and beyond
• Offer support as requested by Indigenous organizations and projects in the places you live, whether that is donations of money, volunteering, services, etc.
• Be public about your solidarity – share about your learnings and actions on social media (as you have clear cultural permission to do so)
• Sign up for kinSHIFT’s workshop, Elements of Truth: Before Reconciliation. If you are farming or provisioning food in B.C., reach out to community@youngagrarians.org for assistance with registration fees
• Attend a Truth and Reconciliation-themed event in your community
• Call or write letters to your elected representatives to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES & ORGANIZATIONS TO SUPPORT

• Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action
• kinSHIFT – An Indigenous-led initiative supporting settlers who are committed to building respectful relationships with Indigenous peoples and places. Their experiential, arts-based workshops and programs allow participants to learn, practice, ask questions, and make mistakes in a safer environment, all while building a foundation for engaging meaningfully with Indigenous peoples.
• IndigenEYEZ – Programming for Indigenous youth and for those who work with First Nations communities.
• Indian Residential School Survivors Society – Provides essential services to residential school survivors and families experiencing intergenerational trauma. Take action by donating to their organization.
• RAVEN – Raises legal defense funds for Indigenous Peoples. Support their work by donating here. They also offer an excellent course on Indigenous justice in Canada called Home on Native Land.
• Indigenous Climate Action – Indigenous Climate Action (ICA) is an Indigenous-led organization guided by a diverse group of Indigenous knowledge keepers, water protectors and land defenders from communities and regions across the country. You can support their work here.
• Settlers Take Action – Resources and action steps for settlers
• Indigenous Canada – A free online course from UAB highlighting national and local Indigenous-settler relations taught from an Indigenous perspective
• Beyond Land Acknowledgements (Downloadable Toolkit/Guide)
  • An online guide with actionable next steps for going beyond land acknowledgements.
  • A good starting point for research about who’s land you live on is Native Land (native-land.ca) or Whose Land: (www.whose.land)
• Miyo Mâmawi Atoskewin: Working together to Cultivate Soil Health on First Nations Lands (Video Recording)
  • First Nations hold millions of acres of agricultural lands across the Canadian Prairies, most of it farmed by non-Indigenous farmers. In collaboration with First Nations, Dr. Melissa Arcand is investigating soil health on agricultural lands and reframing notions of agricultural land capability from an Indigenous perspective.
• Audrey Logan – Indigenous Agriculture on the Prairies Before the Fur Trade (Video Recording)
  • Teachings by elder Audrey Logan (Dehydration Nations) on Indigenous agriculture, its history, and building community through food. The original recording was part of the education offered to participants in the Young Agrarians Apprenticeship Program.
• Indigenous Agriculture and Agri-Food: The Path Forward (Full-length Report)
  • Report by Farm Management Canada. “This report explores those needs across agricultural production, including aquaculture, Indigenous traditional and cultural harvesting, as well as those with on-farm processing and other related agriculture and agri-food activities.”