Features

 

 

What is Reconciliation?

Native News with Dave Seaweed

By Dave Seaweed

Hi. gang, I’m back. First I would like to thank, nay,
applaud Nikalas’ story about the Lieutenant Governor’s
visit to Douglas College in last week’s issue. What I
intend to do this week is briefly expand on the meaning
of “Reconciliation” as it applies to Aboriginal People.

Douglas College is currently hosting a speaker
series called “Reconciliation: The Experience of BC
Peoples.” The purpose of this series is to shed light
upon the topic of reconciliation between the Aboriginal
people of British Columbia and the province’s other
citizens. This series is aimed at helping the general
college community to become aware and involved in
the dialogue on this topic.

The series was the brainchild of my Dean, Ted
James, and a Douglas Anthropology Instructor, Tad
Mcllwraith. These men have also put together a
proposal for government funding, but I shall explain
this more in a later issue. For now, let’s just stick to
the topic of reconciliation, and what it means to staff,
students, and the broader public.

In the context of Native relations, reconciliation
has several dimensions:

Looking at the Past

Reconciliation is about recognizing the terrible
injustices that have been inflicted on Aboriginal
people in the past. These include the displacement
of Aboriginal people from their ancestral lands,
making potlatches and other cultural expressions
illegal and punishing those who practiced them,
removing Aboriginal children from their families and
placing them in residential schools where they were
abused and mistreated, and other polices designed to
force the assimilation of Aboriginal people into the
dominant culture of European heritage. Reconciliation
means publicly apologizing for these wrongs.

Looking to the Future

Reconciliation is about forging future relationships
with Aboriginal peoples that respect their culture,
traditions and cosmology. It means finding lasting
solutions to land claims and other outstanding
settlements. It means building public education and
healthcare systems that both reflect and respond
to Aboriginal needs. It means creating ways and
means for Aboriginal culture and heritage to be
appropriately reflected in the portrayal of our society.

   

 

Looking Within

Reconciliation is also about appreciating the depth
and range of the diversity that exists among the many
peoples of the province of British Columbia. We are
a mosaic of people with different identities, customs
and cultures. Rather than seeking to devalue or displace
these differences, our society can draw upon them as
sources of richness and variety. We have much to learn
from these differences. And we each have a role and
responsibility to travel that path. To fully understand
ourselves, we must comprehend how others see us and
how they see themselves.

Provincial Goals for

Reconciliation

The provincial government has embraced an official
policy of reconciliation with Aboriginal people and
it seeks to shape a new experience for all people in
British Columbia based on that concept.

In March 2005, the Province began meetings with
representatives of the First Nations Summit, the Union
of BC Indian Chiefs and the B.C. Assembly of First
Nations to develop new approaches for consultation
and accommodation and a vision for a New
Relationship to deal with Aboriginal concerns based
on openness, transparency and collaboration —one
that reduces uncertainty, litigation and conflict for all
British Columbians.

A five-page document, outlining the vision and
principles of the new relationship, was developed as
a result of these meetings. It broaches the topic of a
new government-to-government relationship with
Aboriginals, including new processes and structures
for coordination, and working together to make
decisions about the use of land and resources. The
document proposes discussion of revenue-sharing to
reflect Aboriginal rights and title interests and to assist
Aboriginals with economic development. In addition,

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