Understanding ‘truth’ key as municipalities move forward with land acknowledgments

Poole says upon moving forward, it can’t be for the sake of doing something.

“We want to do something because we know why it needs to be done,” he says.

“After Kamloops, we lowered our flags for 215 hours and we’re trying to understand a lot of what is happening. Several of us have been involved in webinars, but we’re all in different places, so it’s important we try to understand together and move forward together.”

Desjarlais says an acknowledgement is good, but not by itself.

“The simplest thing I did was ask them the reason why they’re considering doing this,” says Desjarlais, who is Plains Cree from the Piapot First Nation in southern Saskatchewan. “If we’re going to talk about truth and reconciliation, how will a relationship change moving forward if there are no action statements tied to an acknowledgement?”

Ideally, he says municipalities would commit to simply getting to know local Indigenous communities.

“Be it First Nations, Métis settlements or within the urban population, they should try to get to know the people they’re acknowledging. It shouldn’t just be a checkbox on a council agenda,” he says.

“Another thing I stressed is to focus more on the truth. We’ve seen in the last month or so, and as we’ve been on this path since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission came out, segments of society want to skip the ‘truth’ and go right to ‘reconciliation’ without really understanding why, and the truth is the why. So we need to reel it back in a bit, have difficult conversations about the truth, and learn to be uncomfortable with the realities of Canada.”

Mayor Poole says decisions will be made in the coming weeks and months on how to best move forward with acknowledgements and action items.

“When we move forward with this, it’ll be because we have a really good understanding of what we’re talking about and what we’re acknowledging, rather than saying words that don’t yet mean a lot to councillors,” Poole says.

“We don’t want to just start doing something for the sake of doing it.”

Blackfalds is situated on Treaty 6 territory, the traditional and ancestral land of the Cree, Dene, Blackfoot, Saulteaux and Nakota Sioux, and is the traditional home of the Métis.

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Supports are available for those affected by the ongoing impacts of residential schools, and those triggered by recent media reports.

A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for former students and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419

by Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Understanding ‘truth’ key as municipalities move forward with land acknowledgments

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