06/09/2017
150
Everyday Acts of Reconciliation
03
Seek knowledge that will facilitate change.
01
02
Listen to experiences of being Indigenous in Edmonton: https://soundcloud.com/risedm
03
Learn more about Indigenous history. Register for UAlberta’s MOOC: Indigenous Canada.
04
Visit the site of the Garneau Tree.
05
Support local Indigenous crafters and artisans.
06
Watch a documentary on the Charles Camsell Hospital: https://edmontonheritage.ca/initiatives/camsell/
07
Support local Indigenous theatre. Get involved with the Alberta Aboriginal Performing Arts.
Learn more about your 08
own identity. Check out the Alberta Genealogy Society for resources.
09
Listen to Indigenous music. A Tribe Called Red will rock your world!
10
Then have a conversation with a friend about it.
11
Learn the healing effects of smudging and the importance of sweetgrass.
12
Read the Executive Summary and the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
13
Learn an Indigenous language with the Athabasca Tribal Council app.
14
Support emerging Indigenous writers, editors, and publishers.
15
Appreciate Indigenous cultures, but don’t appropriate! Learn the difference.
16
Visit the former site of the Camsell Hospital in Inglewood.
17
Recognize, learn from, and celebrate strong Indigenous #yegwomen leaders in our community!
18
Read the plans for the Indigenous Art Park scheduled to open in 2018 - and visit once it is open.
19
Attend the Dreamspeakers Film Festival.
20
Buy and read Indigenous graphic novels.
Learn about 22
21
Read Zoe Todd’s blog posts and poetry: zoestodd.com
Intergenerational Trauma and how it is connected to Residential Schools.
23
Go to Fort Edmonton Park and learn from the costumed interpreters.
24
Attend an event at the Native Friendship Centre.
25
Learn the Red River Jig.
26
Include the “s� when discussing Indigenous Peoples.
27
Mark November 8 in your calendar as National Aboriginal Veterans Day and learn the significant role that Indigenous Peoples played in the First and Second World Wars.
28
Learn the original Indigenous names of local places.
29 Do a territorial acknowledgement at public events.
Drive on Maskekosihk Trail, learn what the name means and how to say it.
30
Talk to an Indigenous person with curiosity about their experience, and not with questioning their knowledge or experiences. Talk with a propensity to learn in conversation, instead of judging or stating your own opinions.
31 32
Attend a KAIROS Blanket Exercise.
33
Facilitate a Blanket Exercise.
34
Invite RISE to do a Blanket Exercise for your workplace.
35
Support and read Indigenous newspapers like Windspeaker or Alberta Native News.
36
Look up the meaning of Wâhkôtowin and find a way to incorporate it in your everyday life.
Learn about the Edmonton 37
Residential School and visit its former site - perhaps during the Poundmaker’s Lodge Pow-wow.
38
Visit the Yellowhead Tribal College or Blue Quills University.
39
Make plans to attend the Rubaboo Festival.
Attend a Round Dance to laugh, dance, and talk! Like the one that the Aboriginal Student Services Centre at the University of Alberta hosts every year. It’s a great way to remind oneself that the idea of reconciliation is connected with real people.
40
41
Learn about the Medicine Wheel.
42
Donate to an Indigenous organization, like Bent Arrow.
43
Identify yourself.
44
Learn the names of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
45
Attend a Pow-wow.
46
Justice for Cindy.
47
Volunteer for RISE.
Challenge your family to learn one Indigenous word per day.
48
49
Write your City Councillor and ask how they are implementing the Calls to Action in Edmonton.
50
Admire art by local Indigenous artists like Dawn Marie Marchand, Lana Whiskeyjack,Tashina Makokis, and Aaron Paquette.
51
Watch documentaries like Highway of Tears, We Were Children, and The Pass System.
52
Learn about the different pow-wow dances and regalia.
53
Suggest to your library that they use more appropriate language when describing the items in their catalogue.
Learn 54
how to tie a MĂŠtis Sash.
55 See something? Say
something! Don’t tolerate racism anywhere. #makeitawkward
56
Ensure that there is a room in your workplace or institution dedicated to Indigenous cultural, learning, and that there is a place available to smudge.
57
Always include two-spirited people when discussing LQBTQ+
58
Visit Oskisikow Way and learn what it commemorates.
59
Listen to Acimowin on CJSR.
60
Walk in the River Valley and learn which plants are important to Indigenous people.
61
Read special issues of New Trail and Birth Issues focussed on Indigenous experiences. Encourage other magazines to publish Indigenous experiences too!
62
Visit Amisko wacîw wâskahikan ihtâwin Park downtown and learn how to pronounce it.
Say Tansi to someone.
63
64
Try bannock at the Taste of Edmonton or anywhere else you see an opportunity.
65
Attend National Indigenous People’s Day events in our city.
66
Learn about cultural protocol.
Smile. 67
Be Happy. Share Love.
68
Visit the mosaic TsąTsąKe K’e at Rogers Place and learn about the artist, Alex Janvier.
69
Look for examples of Indigenous culture in the city and learn more about them.
70 Visit the Medicine Wheel
Garden behind the Edmonton Welcome Centre.
71
Volunteer for an Indigenous organization, program, or event to engage in conversation and build relationships with Indigenous Peoples.
72
Look up the University of Alberta’s Wâhkôtowin Project and find out whether you have land based initiatives in other institutions in the area.
73
Persuade Google Maps to make Indigenous Peoples more visible.
74
Learn about the Papaschase and the Michel Band.
75
Read about why Canada 150 isn’t something to celebrate for many Indigenous Peoples.
76
Learn about the Ben Calf Robe School and attend their Pow-wow in May.
77
Go to an Amiskwaciy History Series event (or watch one of their YouTube videos).
78
Buy books by Indigenous authors as new baby gifts. For example: We Sang You Home by Richard Van Camp.
79
Watch films by indigenous filmmakers. Start with Amanda Strong’s Four Faces of the Moon.
80
Go to Treaty 6 Recognition Day and MĂŠtis Day at City Hall.
81
Support Boyle Street Community Services.
82
Follow strong Indigenous voices on Twitter.
84 Engage
83
If you are Indigenous, speak out about your experiences.
others in reconciliation.
85
Correct misconceptions or judgemental behaviour.
86
Learn about the Treaty Land you reside upon.
87
Go on a River Valley Walk with Dwayne Donald.
88
Be active on social media about Indigenous topics.
89
Go to events put on by the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta.
90
Insist that there be an Indigenous voice present for important decisions.
91
Ask “Where are you from?” instead of “What are you?”
92
Talk about history.
93
Join the RISE book club.
94
Visit with an Elder.
95
Start a Free Library with books by Indigenous authors in your neighbourhood.
96
Participate in the Edmonton Sisters in Spirit: Stolen Sisters & Brothers Awareness Walk.
97
Listen to the MĂŠtis National Anthem.
Listen 98 to Inuit
throat singing.
99
Insist that the city include more Indigenous languages on our street signs.
100
Visit Grandin Station and think about the conversation between the two pieces of art.
Learn about Frank Oliver 101 and join the movement to change the name of the neighbourhood of Oliver.
102
Read a book by a local Indigenous author like Richard Van Camp, Marilyn Dumont, Chelsea Vowel, Norma Dunning, or Mini Aodla Freeman.
103
Look for opportunities to visit our neighbours at Enoch First Nation.
104
Write a letter asking the management of the Edmonton Eskimos to change the name.
105 Attend RISE events!
106
Support the Kohkum Teachings Story Project with a donation.
107
Learn how to bead.
108
Choose Indigenous businesses like Native Delights, Mother Earth Essentials, and the River Cree Casino.
109
Attend Reconciliation Week events throughout Edmonton in June.
110
Read the City of Edmonton’s Urban Aboriginal Accord and the Indigenous Edmonton Directory.
111
Pick saskatoon berries in the River Valley and learn what they are called in Cree.
112
Drive the Historic Victoria Trail.
113
Listen to the Oilers Song by the Logan Alexis Singers.
115
114
Host one of RISE’s traveling exhibits at your workplace or school.
When hosting a meeting with an Indigenous community include a formal thank you to show your appreciation for their participation.
116
When interacting with an Elder, ensure that you follow proper protocol and realize that this varies among Indigenous groups.
117 Watch the Residential School Survivor Stories.
Listen. 118
119
Learn about St. Albert’s MÊtis history.
120
Decolonize your research and incorporate Indigenous Research Methods.
121
Make art about reconciliation and submit it to the RISE Zine.
122
Look at your workplace demographics. Are Indigenous people represented?
Read the text of Treaty 6.
123
124
Attend the Reconciliation/Wâhkôtowin conference in September 2017.
125
Learn the significance of sage.
127
126
Appreciate the role of the oskâpêwis.
Renew your connection to the land.
128
Attend a workshop on historic trauma with REACH Edmonton.
129
Ask your work about Indigenous cultural training. If they don’t have this, ask that it be made available.
130 Talk about your family
history with your children and grandchildren.
131
If you are a retailer, consider co-branding with your local Indigenous community.
Support the City of Edmonton’s Indigenous Artist in Residence Program - write to city council with a letter of support, learn about the Indigenous Artist in Residence, and attend events.
132 133
Watch a film in the Reconciliation in Focus Series at Metro Cinema.
134
Listen to Conversational Cree on CFWE Radio 98.5 in Edmonton.
135
Learn the cultural significance behind the Inukshuk.
136
Start a blog recording your experiences completing actions on this list and engaging in reconciliation.
137
Participate in Métis Week celebrations with the Métis Nation of Alberta.
138
Read the Indian Act.
139
Read the report on the Royal Commission of Aboriginal Peoples.
140
Is there any public art by Indigenous artists in your area? If so, visit it and learn about the artists.
141
Read the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Our government has committed to implementing it.
142
Read In This Together: Fifteen True Stories of Real Reconciliation (2016) and write down your own “lightbulb” moment when you realized the harsh reality of colonization in Canada.
#138-142 are From “150 Acts of Reconciliation for the Last 150 Days of Canada’s 150” by Crystal Fraser and Sara Komarnisky, published on activehistory.ca on August 4, 2017 and reprinted here with permission.
143
Follow RISE on Facebook and Twitter, and sign up for our mailing list.
144
Expand upon the Wikipedia’s representations of Indigenous Peoples. Consider the List of Canadian Flags. Are all Indigenous nations represented?
145
Get a group of friends together to read and discuss the TRC report.
146
Attend the National Gathering of Elders.
147
Commit to reconciliation and invite others to join you.
148
Get another copy of this Zine to give to someone else.
149 Realize that access to
Indigenous Traditional Knowledge is not a right.
150 Take action.
RISE – Reconciliation in Solidarity Edmonton
This third Issue of the RISE Zine is released on September 6, 2017. It contains artwork and ideas for 150 “Everyday Acts of Reconciliation” to inspire people to take action towards reconciliation in the 150th year since Canadian confederation. Use #RISE150 to share the ways that you are taking action!
RISE - Reconciliation in Solidarity Edmonton is a group of citizens in the Edmonton region committed to supporting reconciliation in words & actions. risedm@telus.net www.risedmonton.ca www.twitter.com/RISEdmonton www.facebook.com/RISEdmonton
Events and organizations where zine pages were made: Aboriginal Day Live 2017 Ignite Change - John Humphrey Centre University of Alberta Libraries City Hall School RISE Reconciliation Week Events Students in History 360: The History of Indian Residential Schools in Canada Since Confederation at the University of Alberta
Special thanks to Tanya Ball, RISE Project Coordinator and the RISE Zine Committee for making this issue possible.
Thank you to our sponsor: