But how are people interpreting and working towards reconciliation?
Senator Murray Sinclair stated, "If you thought the truth was hard, reconciliation will be harder." This podcast is a forum to face the difficult, complicated, and messy nature of reconciliation. We have heard Indigenous leaders call settler people to step into this reconciliation journey.
Within this podcast we intend to deliberately place ourselves, those who come from a predominately settler background, in this space and identify where we can be challenged and encouraged to keep moving towards reconciliation.
Reconcile: Everyday Conversations is a project of Mennonite Central Committee Saskatchewan.
But how are people interpreting and working towards reconciliation?
Senator Murray Sinclair stated, "If you thought the truth was hard, reconciliation will be harder." This podcast is a forum to face the difficult, complicated, and messy nature of reconciliation. We have heard Indigenous leaders call settler people to step into this reconciliation journey.
Within this podcast we intend to deliberately place ourselves, those who come from a predominately settler background, in this space and identify where we can be challenged and encouraged to keep moving towards reconciliation.
Reconcile: Everyday Conversations is a project of Mennonite Central Committee Saskatchewan.
Annie Battiste is a proud Mi’kmaq woman and member of Potlotek First Nations. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Saskatchewan. Committed to social justice and reconciliation within Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in Saskatchewan, Annie currently works as a Reconciliation Consultant with the Office of the Treaty Commissioner and the University of Saskatchewan. As a frequent conference presenter and community educator, she is creating awareness on the important historical and social issues pertaining to Indigenous peoples, creating bridges in communities through deep reflection on the historical roots of Saskatchewan and its possibilities for new directions in empowerment of diverse groups and peoples in Saskatchewan and beyond.
In our conversation with Annie, she explains that the meaning of reconciliation shifts depending on where we find ourselves and that it is intricately connected to identity. As Annie said, “I think that reconciliation is the definition of the Canadian identity.” Annie also challenges us to think about what reconciliation looks like in the workplace. “I think it’s important for people to really learn about what reconciliation is because it’s going to become a professional competency very soon in the workplace…It’s important because it’s not going away, it’s going to get bigger, it’s going to get better, it’s going to become more beautiful, it’s going to flourish out, and it is on the onus of people to learn it.”
Ben Borne and I invited Annie to have a conversation around these five questions:
1. What is your personal understanding of reconciliation?
2. What experiences have led you to this understanding?
3. Why do you feel reconciliation is important?
4. Does forgiveness have a role in reconciliation? Why or why not?
5. How would you invite people into the reconciliation journey?
Then we recorded her reflections.
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Additional resources to explore:
Charter of Rights and Freedoms – Section 25
ayisiyiniwak: A Communications Guide
Mennonite Central Committee Saskatchewan
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Reconcile: Everyday Conversations is a project of Mennonite Central Committee Saskatchewan aimed at facilitating conversations among settler/non-Indigenous Canadians around our role in reconciliation. We thank Mennonite Church Saskatchewan for additional funding support.
Project Coordinator: Heather Peters
Co-host: Ben Borne
Recording and Editing: Matthew Hildebrandt
Music by Queen Queen Josephine