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.
“I think now though, it's using my voice to create safe spaces, to have tough conversations, but have this conversations in a respectful and safe way. So we can … hear that before you get to reconciliation, you need to hear this ugly truth, right?”
Warren Isbister-Bear, is the Truth & Reconciliation Coordinator, Strategy & Transformation Department, City of Saskatoon. Originally from the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation, Warren has been living and working in Saskatoon since 2001. As the Truth & Reconciliation Coordinator, Warren is responsible to lead the development of an internal Reconciliation strategy and policy framework aimed at enabling all City Departments to strengthen relationships and consultation activities with Indigenous Peoples and communities while providing strategic leadership and advice, based on extensive knowledge of the richness of diversity of Indigenous Peoples, to the City departments to support them in applying an inclusion lens to policies and programs.
In our conversation with Warren we talked about the personal and professional aspects of reconciliation. Warren talked about the impact of residential schools on his own life and challenged the listener to be strategic in making the workplace and work positions more accessible to Indigenous people.
Ben Borne and I invited Warren 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 his reflections.
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Additional resources to explore:
City of Saskatoon Indigenous Initiatives
What makes us healthy? Exploring the determinants of health in Saskatchewan
Gordon Tootoosis Nīkānīwin Theatre
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