Why We Should Read

If you have wondered ‘What can I do to support Reconciliation?’ Jody Wilson-Raybould offers this book in which she outlines three necessary interlinked approaches – learn, understand, and act – and provides guidelines for comprehending key issues. A member of the We Wai Kai Nation, and former federal justice minister, JWR offers ways that everyday people can actively support this potent time of transition and transformation in Canada.

JWR links social and economic disparities with recognition of Indigenous rights and emphasizes their indivisibility – that efforts to address the former fail largely due to lack of the latter. She says: “… true reconciliation is unlikely to occur until the critical mass of Indigenous Peoples are selfgoverning,” that is “in charge of the well-being of [their] citizens under their own laws, traditions, and approaches.”

She says that one way to tell if an action is related to true reconciliation is if it takes courage, and if it encourages others to take similar action. True reconciliation will take “courage to reject the status quo… By necessity, this also requires being uncomfortable, and choosing to push and lead, and continuing to take actions in ways one might not have before.”

Part of true reconciliation is making the invisible visible. Many may be surprised to discover that characteristics of what is thought of as uniquely “Canadian” are from Indigenous worldviews – the values of egalitarianism; balance between individuals and groups; and society as an ongoing negotiation. That the values for which Canada is universally praised come from the very people it excludes seems particularly tragic.

“More than anything, the legacy of colonialism is about two things: lack of acceptance and lack of care.” Canadians can educate themselves on how to offer true acceptance and thus be able to put their care into effective, respectful action.

The Warmland Book & Film Collective – a response to the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada – next meets online March 8th to discuss the film The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open directed by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn (available on CBC Gem). Email WarmlandBFC@gmail.com for zoom link.

Submitted by David & Ranji, on behalf of the WBFC