Reconciliation

Joe Lougheed

[0:00 – 0:54]

Métis culture is complicated. There are those that are on the land and that live in the settlements that probably practice a more traditional way of life. There are also Métis next to you in the office, they are your neighbours. The Métis Nation of Alberta speaks that the Métis are hiding in plain sight. Hopefully I can be helpful in promoting Métis identity in Alberta; in southern Alberta as well as Alberta at large. And in Calgary. And work with the Métis Nation of Alberta to make it well known that your neighbour might be a Métis hiding in plain sight. And we must celebrate not only the Blackfoot heritage in southern Alberta but also the role of the Métis as well in the settlement of Alberta and in our history.

Lawrence Gervais

[0:55 – 2:12]

I don’t think a lot of people really understand what reconciliation is to this point.  I’ve been involved with Truth and Reconciliation since the hearings were here in Calgary and sometimes when I see government, or I sit with government they don’t understand what reconciliation is. When I sit with industry, they don’t understand it. But when we talk about the cultural institutions it’s not having that mindset where the Métis need to be hidden all the time. And be comfortable in starting to tell the story of the original inhabitants here too. Because there’s two. We have the First Nations inhabitants, we have the Blackfoot here, and of course our Treaty 7, but we also have the Métis layer and that story, all those stories, those rich stories need to start to be developed. We know that as a Métis nation as we progress we want to make sure that our people who are self-identifying as Métis have a place, they have a village, it’s here; they have relatives around them. And the more and more that we’re able to tell their stories, we’re going to bring them in. This is about who you are as a people, and what your ancestors would want.

Olivia Marie Golosky

[2:13 – 2:56]

It’s called the Truth and Reconciliation commission for a reason and a lot of times people skip over the truth part. Before we even start focusing and looking at reconciliation, we need to be able to talk about the truth. And I think that also feeds into the issue. Because people are like, okay we know what happened and don’t really want to deal with it, so now let’s figure out solutions without giving communities real time and also not giving communities resources to be able to come forward and talk about what their issues are. If you actually want to be committed to Truth and Reconciliation you have to be willing to listen and to have hard conversations.