National Day for Truth and Reconcilliation

Tomorrow is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a new holiday introduced by government this year in the wake of the now thousands of Indigenous children who have been recovered from mass graves at residential 'school' sites. While we should all be wearing orange to symbolically show our support for Indigenous communities, in episode 9 we will be digging a little bit deeper. We'll be looking at two surveys, one discussing the public perception of Indigenous people held by Canadians, and one discussing the disproportional rates of violence against Indigenous women and girls. 

While discussions of truth and reconciliation seem to centre around actions that have been taken by the Canadian state in the past, the reality of our present is that public perception of Indigenous people remains biased, skewed, and informed primarily by media and educational institutions, rather than Indigenous people themselves. While we mourn each and every child that is recovered from residential 'school' sites, we should also be supporting the individuals alive today who are their siblings, parents, and friends. We should also be actively listening to and learning from survivors, and children of survivors. We should be paying attention to the national crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women. We should be pressing to get clean water on each and every reserve, in protecting the future of Indigenous children alive today. 

I personally believe that all publically expressed opinions, actions, and allyship, at the end of the day, is preformative. From the Canadian state implementing a new national holiday to your corporate job encouraging employees to wear orange. So, if all allyship is preformative, make sure you perform in the most genuinely impactful way possible.  Attend an Indigenous planned event this Truth and Reconciliation day, call out a racist coworker or family member, and be conscious about intention. 

Cheers,

Alexia

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