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Smudging to Indigenous Protocol - Our Top 10 Articles in 2017
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Bob Joseph January 12, 2016
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) released its final report in December 2015 - a massive 3700-page tome resulting from the six-year investigation by the TRC into the residential school system for Indigenous youth and the legacy of the system. Prior to the report, in June 2015, the TRC released 94 reconciliation recommendations, or calls-to-action (CTA), to address that legacy.
The 94 CTAs are recommendations that all levels of government, churches, public institutions and non-Aboriginal Canadians can undertake on the path to reconciliation. In this article we have responded to a frequently asked question “what can municipalities do for reconciliation” and have assembled the CTAs that apply to municipalities and local governments and listed them below with their CTA number:
76. We call upon the parties engaged in the work of documenting, maintaining, commemorating, and protecting residential school cemeteries to adopt strategies in accordance with the following principles:
i. The Aboriginal community most affected shall lead the development of such strategies.
ii. Information shall be sought from residential school Survivors and other Knowledge Keepers in the development of such strategies.
iii. Aboriginal protocols shall be respected before any potentially invasive technical inspection and investigation of a cemetery site.
And here are a couple of other examples of Indigenous reconciliation and municipalities. In late 2015, Victoria, BC, moved to repatriate the top of Beacon Hill Park, a famous lookout, to the local First Nations, who will build a traditional longhouse in its place. The new longhouse will be used to teach traditional carving techniques to youth from Esquimalt and Songhees Nations. It will also be a place to share the history and stories of the Lekwungen people with the public. The Cities of Regina and Saskatoon are both considering initiatives to work with local Aboriginal organizations on renaming streets with traditional names.
On a personal note, I have really enjoyed and appreciated every opportunity to share my knowledge and information with governments, corporations, schools, healthcare departments and individuals. It’s the reason I started this business and the blog - to make the world a better place for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Thanks for reading and keep on sharing.
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Photo: I Love First Peoples Sometimes it’s the simplest gestures that have the greatest impact. The Shoebox Campaign is one such example. If you...
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Although daily newspapers have covered Indigenous issues extensively, news organizations are being called upon to reach a higher standard. As Truth...