Cochranites and their indigenous neighbours can begin to heal the divisive pain of the past by moving forward together, agreed a group of people who gathered last week to discuss improving relations between the two communities.
Upwards of 150 people packed into the Frank Wills Memorial Hall last Friday night for the first Cochrane Ideas event of the 2017-18 season. The monthly topical discussion group brought together several prominent members of the area’s Indigenous community to speak about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
The commission was formed in 2008 to explore abuses that took place on residential schools against Aboriginals by non-indigenous officials.
In 2015, after lengthy research, investigation and interviews with hundreds of survivors, officials released 94 calls to action to revisit health, language, justice, education and child welfare policies for indigenous Canadians as a way to “redress the legacy of residential schools.”
While that specific topic was initially on the table for the panel, discussion veered into a broader retrospective of the relationships between Cochranites and Indigenous communities over the course of the more than three-hour presentation.
“You can’t have reconciliation without first getting to the truth,” said Thomas Snow, a cultural facilitator who grew up in Morley.
“When I think about truth and reconciliation, I kind of think, ‘What is truth, and what do we need to reconcile?’” added Cathy Arcega, adviser to the RCMP K Division Commanding Officer’s Aboriginal Advisory Committee. “Truth is what people experience … we need to be understanding, open, to (others’) truths.”
Stoney Nakoda Elder Tina Fox shared her memories of growing up in a residential school, where she recalled getting her braids cut off, having her traditional shoes taken away and being doused in kerosene oil to “kill lice” on the first day of classes.
“That was very terrifying. What we had been taught at home about the work of the Creator was considered evil,” Fox said, adding the acts were the first of many spiritual, verbal, sexual and physical abuses she and her friends endured as children.
Although the horrors of her past still haunt her today, Fox said she doesn’t want survivors like her to continue to hold on to bitterness.
“Now we have to mourn our losses and start some community healing. We cannot use what happened in the past as an excuse … to treat people badly,” she said.
When the floor opened up for questions, one audience member wondered how to bridge the lingering gap between resentment and reconciliation.
“How do you see that proceeding over time?” she asked. “How do you see our role … in being helpful?”
“We as Nakoda people do not trust … people much unless you have gotten to know them,” answered Tina Fox. “For us to have a real relationship is to … trust. We have a lot of do-gooders that come to our reserve. We have to build trust …to allow you to be our friend. Anyone new, I don’t trust.”
“You can’t fast forward a relationship. I can’t give you a shortcut to do that,” said Snow. “I think you’ve gotten an amazing view into our community … but we’re not just a panel that sits in front of you. We’re fathers … grandmothers, sons … we have lives.”
“What can we do to be more accepting?” added Preston Twoyoungmen, a community development specialist and Bow Valley Corridor project co-ordinator, putting out his own call to action for “acceptance on both sides.”
“The resilience of people is always amazing,” he said. “We’re all one – if we have a wonderful culture, let’s start seeing some benefits of that.”
Another audience member asked about the definition of “indigenization,” a buzzword that made its way into the vernacular of the conversation, and yet another wanted to understand more about the panel’s push for more “cultural education.”
At the end of the evening, panelists and attendees alike suggested a breaking of bread in a more social setting – like a community dinner – to encourage even more meaningful relationships.
“There’s a lot that needs to change,” Snow said, “but that doesn’t mean the change hasn’t started.”
“The Nakoda nation is maybe still somewhat of a mystery to many Cochrane people,” said moderator Andy Marshall.
“There has to be follow-up. We are full of good intentions.”
