Critical Review of the Truth & Reconciliation
Commission Calls to Action

Throughout my learning in the Masters of Education program at Thompson Rivers University there has been a strong emphasis on learning more about Indigenous ways of knowing, of working towards equity in our communities and educational institutions and learning how each of us can be part of Canada's process towards authentic Reconciliation. For me, this learning has been invaluable. As an immigrant to Canada and as a white settler-person, there is still so much I do not know or understand about the experiences of the First Peoples of this country I now call home. At the same time I arrived in Canada in 2008, The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established with a "mandate to listen to survivors, their families, communities and others affected by the residential school system and inform all Canadians about the residential school system and its legacy" (British Columbia, 2024) as part of the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement. In 2015 the TRC published a document with Calls to Action to "provide a path for government and Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities ... to create a joint vision of reconciliation" (British Columbia, 2024).

This post dissects a small portion of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Calls to Action. This detailed document lists 94 calls to action, addressed to the government of Canada and other groups within positions of power. Almost a decade later, some progress has been made, but there is still a long way to go in genuinely supporting the First Nations of this land. Here I share a snap-shot of two calls from this document and is acknowledged as just a small contribution towards increased understanding and empathy.

Background image: Gathering at Kamloops Residential School, 1937 (Ling, 2021).

Post images: (1) Sinixt people pictured in a sturgeon nosed canoe (Orlando, 2017). (2) TRC Chair Murray Sinclair (APTN News, 2015). (3) Sinixt Woman in traditional dress with canoe paddle (See Revelstoke, 2024). (4) First Nations Education Foundation logo (FNEF, 2024). (5) Image from Payette's musical Children of God (Cultch, 2024). (6) CBC News image "Every Child Matters". (CBC, 2024).

My Lens & Perspective

On immigrating to Canada in 2008 I went to my new local museum in Revelstoke and enquired about the First Nations groups who had historically resided in the area. I was incorrectly told there had been no First Nations communities in the area, and that there continued to be no presence, as it was explained to me, the land was truly Terra Nullius. I tried to comprehend what that meant to me as a settler person on this land. I was both an immigrant to Canada, and a first-generation immigrant to Australia as my parents had also migrated from Europe in the mid 1900s, other land also incorrectly deemed Terra Nullius. It was almost a decade later that it was acknowledged that four nations occupied the land that is known as Revelstoke. These Nations are the Sinixt, the Secwépemc, the Syilx, and the Ktunaxa. My perspective shifted again and I kept learning more. A big shift for our region occurred in 2017 when the Sinixt Nation were required to fight in Canadian and US courts to retract their previously extinct status (Orlando, 2017). It was a landmark win for their peoples, but a reminder of how troublesome and problematic this history is and how colonial mind-set continued to prevail with catastrophic results. I had also begun to question how as a home-owner in this region what my ethical obligations might be. How do I position myself as a community member who wishes to be part of the reconciliation process and still occupy (and buy) stolen land? What could I do to work towards more equity?

I read and analyzed the TRC Call to Action document through the lens of a white English-first-language immigrant. I am a parent to two Canadian born children, a theatre artist, an educator of 25 years and a neurodivergent scholar. Having left Australia in my early 20s to teach and travel, I want to do a better job in learning about the challenges the First Peoples of my new home country face and how I can be part of Reconciliation, largely through education and with a particular interest in how theatre can play a part in that process.

Calls to Action

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action includes 94 recommendations. Here are two that I dissect in closer detail:

57. We call upon federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments to provide education to public servants on the history of Aboriginal peoples, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal–Crown relations. This will require skills- based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.

63. We call upon the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada to maintain an annual commitment to Aboriginal education issues, including:

i. Developing and implementing Kindergarten to Grade Twelve curriculum and learning resources on Aboriginal peoples in Canadian history, and the history and legacy of residential schools.

ii. Sharing information and best practices on teaching curriculum related to residential schools and Aboriginal history.

iii. Building student capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy, and mutual respect.

iv. Identifying teacher-training needs relating to the above.

I selected these two calls as they appeal to my role as a parent and educator. As an educator working within homeschooling circles, I continue to see challenges unique to this community specifically resistance from some homeschooling families in acknowledging Reconciliation, the residential school system or seeing the importance of understanding and empathizing with inter-generational trauma. It is with hope that through my own further education I can find ways to incorporate teachings for the families I support.

Call 57: Educating those in Positions of Power

George Ryga examines the disastrous ramifications of uneducated public servants in his 1967 play The Ecstasy of Rita Joe. The play recounts the story of a young First Nations woman who leaves her life on the reserve for the big city, only to experience racism, marginalization and eventually her own murder. There are incredibly problematic components to this play, largely that it was written by a non-Indigenous person, yet the play is "enduring in memory, performance, and literature...[and] remains a Canadian classic, and Rita Joe a symbol of both Indigenous peoples and of the impacts of colonial violence and biopolitics" (Hull, 2024, p.1). This play is still considered one of Canada's most important as it examines the "unsettling spectacle of the trial and murder of a native Canadian woman caught in a system of institutionalized colonial power that demands cultural assimilation from her but never grants her recognition as a human subject deserving the right to free expression or action" (Bhattacharya, 2019, p.37). The character of the Magistrate depicts an example of public servant in power who wields their power against First Nations people. The Magistrate's actions symbolize colonial predjudice, the marginalization of First Nations people by demanding cultural homogenization and also an expectation of how all women regardless of colour must live up to a white standard.

This play serves as an artistic depiction of the vital nature of how education of those in positions in power might have changed the life of a First Nations person. It's an excellent example of education is a vital step towards progress for First Nations people for more equity within our colonial structures, particularly schools and correctional facilities.

The Government of Canada have documented their progress so far related to this call, including establishing working groups and learning materials through the Canada School of Policy (Government of Canada, 2024). For success we require a strong, honest but also engaging curriculum, which is written by First Nations people and supported by educational institutions and its educators. As aligned with the phrasing of the call, we "require skills- based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism". There needs to be sufficient funding directed towards this work over long periods of time as this work will take time for results to be seen. Canadian children learning about First Nations history now will go to become parents, teachers, politicians and judges and this is where we will see the biggest shift.

Call 63: Teachable Curriculum

This Call to Action is something I am passionate about as I still see basic and shallow attempts in teaching Aboriginal education in schools. The call states there need to be an annual attempt and my hope is that this process is reassessed in order to continue working on powerful curriculum that engages children on a higher level. I believe theatre can become part of this, and on viewing Children of God (discussed next) as a powerful tool for Reconciliation. the story told in the play is shocking, awful, but powerfully true.

In addition to utilising arts to teach Aboriginal education, I believe there needs to be a stronger implementation in teaching teachers how to engage their students on these topics to ensure they are "building student capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy, and mutual respect". The Council of Ministers of Education Canada (CMEC) (2024) are the government group working on this call and have substantial information on their website pertaining to their progress in this area. In the CMEC's education plan for the years 2023-2027 the focus is for: "Equity, anti-racism, and allyship / Language, culture, and identity / Well-being in learning environments" (2022). Unfortunately, this document is brief and wordy and doesn't say much to those on the ground who are looking at incorporating recommendations into their lessons. On navigating the website, I struggled to find lesson plans, ideas for learning or similar for teachers. There are several symposiums suggested as ways to engage teachers, however, with limited resources, time and funds allocated for professional development and when teachers get to select professional development they attend, it is possible these symposiums will be only attended by those already working on improving their education plans for incorporating the IEP's focus. Documents and information should be easy to find and access for teachers, so they are not working harder than necessary given so many are already overworked.

Walking through an elementary school recently I noticed signs and posters created by the school community related to stopping racism, but do children know what this means or what it looks like if they witness it? My concern is that not enough is being done and not effectively in a meaningful way. Having witnessed this first hand, I don't believe enough is being done to engage the teacher to incorporate meaninful learning.

Reconcilitation in Action

I was fortunate to see Corey Payette's musical Children of God at the York Theatre in Vancouver, presented by The Cultch, in 2019. As it was the show's debut season, Payette attended the question-and-answer sessions at the end of some performances and I was glad to hear him speak. I was fascinated to learn first-hand that Payette had only learned of his Mattagami First Nation ancestry as a young adult. This new knowledge led him to reflect through song and performance.

This stunning and tragic musical explores the story of an Oji-Cree family impacted by the Residential System in Northern Ontario. On a personal level I was able to see the story of a family that was tragically impacted by the inter-generational trauma caused by the Residential School System. Kisida et al (2020) argue for the use of theatre to teach history, yet there is still very research on this topic. They studied randomly selected schools in the USA confirmed "students demonstrate increases in historical content knowledge, enthusiasm for learning about history, historical empathy, and interest in the performing arts as a result of this program" (p.1). In attending Children of God I experienced what I describe as Reconciliation in Action. The conclusion of the play ended with a participatory call-and-response traditional song by the performers. Unprovoked, the audience spontaneously stood up to sing and held hands. I had attended the performance alone and found myself holding hands with two strangers. It was one of the most electrifying theatrical experiences of my life and felt largely related to the heightened emotional state the performance put the audience in related to the tragic consequences of the Residential School system within Canada. We all stood to move from a metaphorical ‘taking a stand’, to physicalizing that process.

On a lesser level, I have also used drama in the classroom to teach challenging and emotional topics such as the Holocaust to junior secondary students. I observed an investment from the students and an increased appreciation of the topics.

But, what can I do?

I want to keep learning on what I can do to support Reconciliation in my community. I want to continue looking towards theatre education to help bridge the gap to create a meaningful connection for students and teachers. I believe all teachers and students should see Children of God in their own community and have a chance to talk to the performers regarding to what it felt like to play those roles knowing their families and ancestors suffered through the Residential School System they recreate on the stage. Children of God is particularly a good fit as the story flows in a colonial theatre style that will make sense and connect with a non-Indigenous audience. a

I am so grateful for the lessons I have had during this Master of Education program and hope to continue learning how I can make a difference as an educator. I specifically want to learn more in how I can incorporate more fluidly Indigenous ways of knowing and learning into my own teaching at TRU and beyond.

References

Anglican Church of Canada. (2008, July 24). Historical Sketch for Anglican Residential Schools. https://www.anglican.ca/tr/schools/

APTN News. (2015, December 2). TRC to release final report Dec. 15. https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/trc-to-release-final-report-dec-15/

Bhattacharya, S. (2019). Staging the Human in George Ryga’s The Ecstasy of Rita Joe. Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, 11(1).

British Columbia. (2024, September 17). Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action. Government of BC. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/indigenous-people/new-relationship/truth-and-reconciliation-commission-calls-to-action#

Council of Ministers of Education Canada. (2022). CMEC Indigenous Education Plan (IEP) 2023–27. https://www.cmec.ca/docs/Aboriginal/CMEC_Indigenous_Education_Plan_2023-27_EN.pdf

Council of Ministers of Education Canada. (2024). Indigenous Education. https://www.cmec.ca/53/Indigenous_Education.html

CBC. (2024, October 17). How a resolution at the B.C. Law Society became a debate about residential school denialism. https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/bc-law-society-residential-schools-1.7353999

Cultch. https://thecultch.com/event/children-of-god/

First Nations Education Foundation. https://www.fnef.ca/

Government of Canada. (2024, April). Professional development and training for public servants. Government of Canada. https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1524504124015/1557514077713

Hull, A. (2024). Re-Reading The Ecstasy of Rita Joe: Ventriloquism and Indigenous Representation on the World Stage. Liminalities, 20(1/2), 1-23.

Kisida, B., Goodwin, L., & Bowen, D. H. (2020). Teaching history through theater: The effects of arts integration on students’ knowledge and attitudes. AERA Open, 6(1), 2332858420902712.

Ling, Justin. (2021, June 5). ‘He was just a child’: dead of Indigenous residential schools haunt Canada. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/05/canada-indigenous-residential-schools-first-nations-children

National Speakers Bureau. (2024). Truth and Reconciliation Commission. https://www.nsb.com/blog/truth-and-reconciliation/

Orlando, Aaron. (2017, March 31). Sinixt struggle to reverse ‘extinct’ status earns key court win. Revelstoke Mountaineer. https://revelstokemountaineer.com/sinixt-struggle-to-reverse-extinct-status-earns-key-court-win/

Revelstoke Museum and Archives. (2024). Sinixt First Nation. Revelstoke Museum and Archives. https://www.revelstokemuseum.ca/for-educators/2019/10/27/sinixt-first-nation

Ryga, George.(2012). The Ecstasy of Rita Joe. In J. Wasserman (Ed.), Modern Canadian Plays (pp 27-57). Talon Books.

See Revelstoke. (2024). First Peoples. City of Revelstoke. https://seerevelstoke.com/discover/revelstokes-first-peoples

Critical Review of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action