Manitobans for Healing and Reconciliation

In recognition of Canada’s National Day of Healing & Reconciliation and Australia’s National Sorry Day

5:30 am Sunrise Pipe Ceremony and Lighting of Sacred Fire

10:30 – 12:00 pm Welcoming Ceremonies
• Honour Song – Strong Singing Turtle Women
• Welcome Manitoba Lance Runners Youth – MBHR
• First Nations Remarks
• Greetings from Community Leaders

12:00 – 1:00 pm Community Lunch

1:00 – 5:00 pm Under a Listening Tent: Thoughts on Healing and Reconciliation
• Keynote Presentation: Justice Sinclair Presenter
• Presenter
• Open Microphone
• Church Remarks
• Song

5:00 – 6:00 pm Closing Ceremony
• Prayer – Elder Jessie Howell
• Round Dance

Elders, Indian Residential School – Resolution Health Support Workers, and Pastoral and Spiritual Care support will be identified and available throughout the event. You are invited to bring your medicine bundles for prayers and smudging

Contact: Albert McLeod T: 204-783-6424
Ko’ona Cochrane T: 204-582-0130 TF: 1-866-320-2763
E: healingmb@hotmail.com

Sponsored by MBHR and Ka Ni Kanichihk Inc.

If you look up “St. Eugene Golf Resort and Casino” on Tripadvisor.com you get some fantastic reviews:

what an amazing opportunity that the First Nations Band has seized! Well done, and be proud of what your band has accomplished!
Guests will be treated to superb rooms, very well maintained. Our room had a fireplace, very spacious, large bathroom, mini fridge, in room safe, and large closet.

Michael Kluckner has written about this Ex-Residential School on his “Disappearing BC” website

I first visited the old school at St. Eugene’s Mission on the St. Mary’s Reserve near Cranbrook in 1995 and was struck by the beauty of the massive old building and its dramatic siting with the Rocky Mountains in the distance. The other notable building on the reservation is the St. Eugene’s Church, one of two (the other being at Moyie) built with the proceeds of a galena mine discovered by a Kootenay Indian named Pierre, assisted by the resident missionary of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Father Coccola. The church was completed in 1897.

This is an unusual residential school for the period in that it didn’t use standard plans developed by Indian Affairs departmental architect Robert M. Ogilvie. Instead, a private Ottawa architect, Allan Keefer, designed it. (Source: Dana J. Johnson, Indian Affairs 1887-1962 in Building the West: the Early Architects of British Columbia, ed. Donald Luxton, 2003)

My understanding at the time was that the Ktunaxa First Nation wanted to preserve it and use it as a cultural interpretation centre in the middle of a golf course and resort: one quote I recall was from a local woman who said that “it was here where they attempted to take away my culture, so it is fitting that it is here I should get it back,” or words to that effect.

The building is now rehabilitated and incorporated into the St. Eugene Golf Resort and Casino. There is a “backgrounder” on the economic viability of the process on the Government of Canada website.

(Tom Annandale of Toby, Russell, Buckwell and Partners, the project team that worked to incorporate this building into the golf course development, gave me regular updates on the project.)

The tipi’s on the course are a nice touch, but it seemed to some customers that the place was still missing another touch of it’s heritage:

Breakfast was okay, a little disappointing compared to the dinner experience. It would have been nice to have some First Nations specialties on the menu – bison sausage, or bannok?

By definition:

1. To excuse for a fault or an offense; pardon.
2. To renounce anger or resentment against.
3. To absolve from payment of (a debt, for example).

How about this week we get inspiration from some quotes?

and to finish it off, the ingenious Oscar Wilde said this:

So, how do you all view “Forgiveness”, and when was the last time you asked for it, or gave it!

Oxford University Australia and New Zealand Society

I believe that in the next 20 years we can see the condition of Aboriginal Australia transformed. And many here today may play a part in that. There is momentum now for this, and we need to take advantage of that.
It is no easy task. Our forebears used overwhelming power to push Aboriginal people into the mud, and we have kept our boots on their throats for 200 years. What happens as we remove the boot? Some come up cautiously, others angrily. Some forgive. Some want revenge. There is much misunderstanding. Mediators are needed – people who can understand both sides.
That, to me, is an important role for the Stolen Generations. If Australia can work through this phase creatively, its life will be enriched by Aboriginal perspectives, its economy, environment and agriculture will benefit, its relations with its Pacific neighbours will find a new warmth, and Australians will be able to claim with justice that we have a multicultural society.

This is vital for Australia. The Aboriginal population is growing steadily, and Aboriginal people form a high proportion of the population in many inland regions. Take the water catchment area of the Darling River for instance. A majority of the population in that catchment is Aboriginal. They will be the people who determine whether the Darling runs with good water or is polluted with salt. If they feel part of the Australian community, they will do all they can to keep the water pure for the people downstream. If they don’t, they won’t care. (more…)

from: CBC NEWS

Nova Scotia has apologized and granted a pardon to Viola Desmond, a black woman who was convicted for sitting in a whites-only section of a movie theatre in 1946.

“Today is meant to right a 65-year-old wrong,” Justice Minister Ross Landry said Thursday in a ceremony at Province House.

Premier Darrell Dexter apologized to Desmond’s family and to all black Nova Scotians for the institutional racism of the past. (more…)

By definition:

1. an act of confronting.
2. the state of being confronted.
3. a meeting of persons face to face.
4. an open conflict of opposing ideas, forces, etc.
5. a bringing together of ideas, themes, etc., for comparison.
6. Psychology. a technique used in group therapy, as in encounter groups, in which one is forced to recognize one’s shortcomings and their possible consequences.

The latin roots of the word is quite self-descriptive. Con means “with”, front is simply the predominant “front”, face to face in this case. And interesting enough, ending with ation, which takes a noun into a verb, or in other words, an idea into an action. It’s the act of going face to face with your aggravant.

With such a simple latin root, the term Confrontation is usually confused with a negative “Conflict”, while one is really the cause and the other the effect. I would rather see confrontation as one possible solution to any conflict. It could be looked upon as the moment of truth, when you stand up to something/someone that is causing an aggravation.

Often, healing will start with confronting your self. There are many types of confrontations, ranging from a face to face meeting with your assailant, to a self-disclosure through symbolic confrontation; maybe writing a letter to yourself or speaking with someone about yourself.

Do you remember the last time you confronted someone? Did you get your point across, or did they get their point across and you learned something new? How about yourself? Why did you need to confront your own ideals?

By definition:

1. Firm reliance on the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing.
2. Custody; care.
3. Something committed into the care of another; charge.
4.
a. The condition and resulting obligation of having confidence placed in one: violated a public trust.
b. One in which confidence is placed.
5. Reliance on something in the future; hope.

What a strong word to start with! This single word is much needed in any and all two-way conversations. If there is no trust, then the whole conversation is null. Everyone is talking and promising and hugging and laughing, but once they leave the conversation, they go back to feeling the same way they did before. Nothing changes without trust. Would I be wrong if I said that distrust begets more distrust? Trust is hard to gain, and even then it dangles from a very thin line. This connection only gets stronger with actions, not words.

The government may apologize all they want with words, but it’s their actions that count. So I open the forum to debate: do you trust their words? How healthy is the “trust” between your community and your government?

Hosted by the Blue Quills First Nations College, Tribal Chiefs Ventures Inc, and Saddle Lake Cree Nation

January 8, 2010, Blue Quills College, St. Paul, Alberta

The agenda includes :

“Introduction of Dignitaries” – 9:00 – 9:45am:

Chief Eddy Makokis (Saddle Lake Cree Nation and Grand Chief, Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations),
Chief James Jackson (Whitefish Lake First Nation, Chairman of Tribal Chiefs Ventures Inc.),
Chief Al Lameman (Beaver Lake Cree Nation),
Chief Walter Janvier (Cold Lake First Nation),
Chief Clifford Stanley (Frog Lake First Nation),
Chief Morris Monias (Heart Lake First Nation),
Chief Ernest Gadwa (Kehewin Cree Nation),
Dr.Leona Makokis (President – Blue Quills First Nations College),
Gerald Cunninghamn (President Metis Settlements General Council),
Audrey Poitras (President Metis Nation of Alberta),
Glenn Anderson (Mayor of St.Paul),
George Arcand Jr. (Regional Director General Alberta Region, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada),
Herman Wierenga (Regional Director – General, Health Canada),
Various Church Representatives (to be confirmed),
Truth and Reconciliation Commissioners: the Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair, Chief Wilton Littlechild, Marie Wilson.

“TRC Commissioners and Dignitaries” – 10:00 – 12:00am

“Tour by TRC, Drive to Blue Quills First Nation College, Former Indian Residential School” – 3:00 – 5:00pm

“Memorial Feast + Round Dance” – 5:30 – 7:00pm

– Bring photos of deceased former students for the honor ceremony

“Memorial Ceremony, MC Eric Tootoosis, Poundmaker Cree Nation, Sask., Keynote Speakers – TRC Comissioners” – 10:00pm

Lunch, Giveaway, Closing – Midnight

taken from: Globe and Mail

“As a nation, we have to understand we’re living together, paddling together.”

At the end of this month, B.C.’s first aboriginal lieutenant-governor, Steven Point, expects to complete his river canoe, made from a large piece of roughed-out cedar he found not far from his official residence in Victoria.

“Somebody started this, and I’m finishing it,” said Mr. Point, a former chief of the Skowkale First Nation in Chilliwack the Fraser Valley and provincial court judge who became lieutenant-governor in 2007.

(more…)

Here is some information about the new Commemoration funding for the Interagency Committee members to give you a chance to think about this and/or discuss with others before coming to the meeting, where you can ask questions to INAC and TRC representatives.

This is an excerpt from the INAC website – the full information is at: http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ai/rqpi/rcomm/index-eng.asp. The criteria and guidelines aren’t available yet, but there’s enough to start talking about it:

COMMEMORATION INITIATIVE OBJECTIVES:

The main objectives of the Commemoration Initiative are to:

Assist in honoring and validating the healing and reconciliation of former students and their families by acknowledging their experiences;
Provide supports in an effort to improve relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people;
Provide an opportunity for former students and their families to support one another and to recognize/celebrate their strengths, courage, resiliency and achievements;
Promote Aboriginal languages, cultures, traditional values and spiritual beliefs;
Ensure the legacy of IRS, former students and their families’ experiences and needs are affirmed; and, Memorialize the Residential School experience in a tangible and permanent way.

Former students of Residential Schools are eligible for commemoration funding, as well as organizations that act on behalf of former Residential School students to develop and deliver commemoration activities.

APPLICATION INFORMATION:

Commemoration Initiatives will begin after the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has been established and the Indian Residential Schools Survivor Committee has been appointed. The TRC is working in partnership with INAC to develop criteria and guidelines for the Commemoration Initiative.

Once the process is in place, proposals can be submitted by: survivors, their families, communities, groups and organizations acting on behalf of former students.

The TRC will receive proposals, complete evaluations and make funding recommendations to INAC.”

In the interim, communities can prepare for the launch of Commemoration by:

• Holding community discussions to identify potential commemorative projects.
• Ensuring that all Commemoration Initiative proposals have a lasting and permanent component.
• Creating partnerships and networking with other communities and organizations as it will be necessary that proposals have regional linkages.

For more information on eligibility criteria for submitting Commemoration proposals, see Schedule J of the Settlement Agreement. (http://www.residentialschoolsettlement.ca/settlement.html)