Council recognizes the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
- Details
- Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00
- Written by editor
Dear friend,
Today marks the second National Day for Truth and Reconciliation —a day of observance of the atrocities committed by Canada against Indigenous people through the residential school system and the ongoing structural violence against Indigenous people in what is currently called Canada.
Since the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in 2021, more unmarked graves have been discovered at the sites of “schools” where Indigenous children were incarcerated. The trauma of the residential school system continues to echo in the lives of Indigenous people, and colonial governments continue to separate Indigenous children from their families and communities, be it through the foster care system, or the incarceration of their parents, or even through deaths directly caused by the structural, institutional, and interpersonal violence that is a simple fact of life under colonialism.
We urge all Council of Canadians to read and recommit to the 94 calls to action:
Today, we would like to highlight the analysis of one of our team members, Eagleclaw Thom, who shares with us the state of reconciliation through the lens of the ways in which Indigenous identity and community in Canada is still all too often dictated, determined, and framed by colonial institutions, frequently in ways that benefit settlers and the state and harm Indigenous people.
THE POPULATION BOOM OF THE SELF-IDENTIFIED INDIGENOUS AND OUR DWINDLING NATIONHOOD
StatsCan’s story about the “Indigenous population boom” is really the story of the need for Indigenous self-determination.
Relationships and action with Indigenous people and communities are represented in nearly all of our campaigns and political work. It reflects the need of Canada to put UNDRIP and its commitments to Indigenous title and sovereignty first and foremost, ahead of corporate interests. And it is also representative of the kind of social, environmental, and economic justice that we must commit to as activists and organizers: justice that respects and centres Indigenous knowledge, rights, title, and sovereignty.
The Council and its chapters have been building ever more important relationships with our allies and neighbours in the Ottawa valley, most recently to lend our support and amplify the voices of Algonquin Anishinaabe Elders and activists raising concern over radioactive waste. But today highlights the importance of extending our support and solidarity beyond a single–issue, to eradicating colonial mentalities from the work that we do so we can build relationships with Indigenous people and communities that are truthful and conciliatory in both name and practice.
That’s why we are also highlighting the needed work to strengthen relationships with the Algonquin nation.
Read More: In 2022, Truth and Reconciliation, means relationship and action.
In Solemn Solidarity,
Ravi Joshi and Robin Tress,
Co-Executive Directors
r71 | Add us to your address book
Copyright © 2022 Council of Canadians, All rights reserved.You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website, one of our campaigns, or at one of our events.
1-800-387-7177
Council of Canadians200-240 Bank StOttawa, ON K2P 1X4 Canada
r34.
