What Can I Do?

• Read a book by a First Nation author. There are lots of picture books, graphic novels and novels that are available for all ages

• Visit the UBC Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Center https://irshdc.ubc.ca/

• Learn about the local First Nations and the territory we are on

• Find out where the Residential Schools existed in B.C. & the rest of Canada https://nctr.ca/records/view-your-records/archival-map/

• Look at a First Nation map to see the number of Nations that exist and their respective territories https://native-land.ca/

• Listen to different Land Acknowledgements and personalize your own

• Visit the beautiful Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre in Whistler https://slcc.ca/

• Visit the Museum of Anthropology at UBC

• Read the TRC Calls to Action https://nctr.ca/

Resources collated by Jo Chrona
Twitter: @luudisk
Website: https://luudisk.com/
"You Ask What You Can Do"

• Read the Truth and Reconciliation Reports. The reports are lengthy, so choose one and read one chapter.

• Read the Calls to Action http://www.trc.ca/about-us/trc-findings.html

• Increase understanding about the historical and contemporary effects of colonization in BC and elsewhere, and government to government and nation to nation relationships by exploring FNESC’s BC First Nations, Land, Title and Governance Teacher Resource Guide

• Educate yourself about local First Nations, Inuit and Metis

• Pressure political leaders to enact all TRC Calls to Action

• Read the British Columbia based resources focussing on Residential Schools. It does not matter if you teach in a related area of not. There is personal and professional learning in FNESC Residential Schools and Reconciliation Teacher Resources Guides and Education for Reconciliation Metis Professional Learning and also see They Came for the Children

• Help educate your family and friends about Canada’s true history

• Read more books written by First Nations, Inuit and Metis authors. Watch more films created by First Nations, Inuit, and Metis peoples

• Read the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and collaborate with colleagues to determine how you might change something you do to in response to the Declaration

• Learn about how racism toward Indigenous peoples shows itself in health care with In Plain Sight: Addressing Indigenous Specific Racism and Discrimination in B.C. Health Care

• Find and participate in an anti-racism workshop. Yes, racism is at the heart of this issue. Learn about the different ways that racism manifests itself

• Learn about how racism toward Indigenous learners shows itself in education with the Education of Aboriginal Students in the BC Public System

• Examine publicly available resources to help learn about residential schools such as the Project of Heart e-book by the BCTF

• Advocate for mandated Indigenous focussed courses to happen in every high school

• Read Thomas King’s The Inconvenient Indian to help understand the relationship between the desire for land, and governmental policies enacted to control Indigenous peoples in Canada and the USA

• Challenge people when you hear stereotypes about First Nations, Inuit, and Metis

• Read 21 Things You May Have Not Known About the Indian Act Bob Joseph to learn about the Indian Act and its impact on generations of Indigenous peoples in Canada

• Critically examine your work places to understand how racism might be embedded in structures, processes, or policies

• Take a free on-line course such as UBC’s Reconciliation Through Indigenous Education to help learn how Indigenous histories, perspectives, and worldviews can be made part of the work we do in various contexts

• Advocate for more First Nation, Inuit and Metis people in positions of decision-making in this country

• Avoid usurping Indigenous voice. Create and hold space for it.

• Avoid denying or minimalizing First Nation, Inuit and Metis peoples’ experiences of racism in this country. Pay attention when you see and hear it, whether it is overt as shown in the attacks on Mi’kmaq fishers in Nova Scotia, Joyce Echaquan’s death in Quebec, or the hand-cuffing of a grandfather and grand-daughter in British Columbia, or embedded in the daily experiences of First Nations, Inuit, and Metis peoples as we live daily in this country.

• Commit to continual learning to widen the scope of what you know or to deepen your understanding. Learn something. Reflect on it. Share it. Ask yourself, “what can I learn next?”.