Truth & Stories
Hello friends!
I hope you had a great week!
This post has been sitting on my heart for a while and I’m delayed in posting it, but I wanted to ensure I had the right words.
One week ago it was the second National Day for Truth and Reconciliation here in Canada. I hope that you took time to lean into the importance of this day.
I have degrees in English Literature and History. Both of my degrees revolve around storytelling, interpreting stories, and understanding the importance of stories. Needless to say, I love reading stories.
We are all woven together by stories. Each day is a sequence of them that ultimately builds your life. They build connections between people, inspire and encourage people. Stories allow you to see different perspectives and experience different things. They build and establish empathy. They connect us as humans in a way that nothing else can. It’s why we watch movies, tv shows, read books and listen to music and podcasts. We want to hear or see the stories.
It’s what I’m doing here, sharing parts of my story. I’m hoping that through my writing and stories that someone is encouraged and inspired. I’m hoping I connect with someone.
Now imagine we were told that our stories didn’t matter. Our voices, heritage and history didn’t matter. Imagine everything that connected us together was stripped from us and buried. Imagine. Sit with it. Feel it.
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a day to learn about the pain our Canadian History caused on the numerous Indigenous communities that lived on these lands before us, and continue to live and revitalize their lands, languages and cultures. It’s about listening to the stories that we weren’t told in history class; listening to the stories that were left out and erased.
It is time to listen to Indigenous stories, voices and history. Lean into the history of stolen land, residential schools, and pain that tore families and communities apart. Let’s create that connection, understanding and empathy. Of course, this is only step one, but to create change we have to be willing to be uncomfortable with the truth. We have to listen to the stories and do the work to unlearn what we’ve been taught for all these years. Seek out ways to help and make change. Wearing your orange shirt is not enough.
Listen and learn as much as you can — Take courses! This one is great!
Read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action.
Learn about and read the Indian Act
Read the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)
Read Indigenous Authors.
Identify and acknowledge the land that you live on or visit. There are apps for this! Whose Land is what I use. Native-land is another a comprehensive resource.
Support Indigenous Companies and small businesses.
Have tough conversations with people in your life. Teach them about what you have learned.
Uplift Indigenous voices and stories.
Follow Indigenous creators on your social accounts — share their stories!
Experience Indigenous events that welcome people of all cultures and backgrounds to attend in a respectful way, such as Pow Wows, arts and culture festivals, sports events, and Indigenous-made film screenings. If you are unsure if an event is open to non-Indigenous attendees, check with an organizer in advance. Some of the most important connections are the ones experienced in-person, which can lead to healing across cultures.
This list has some really great resources, and honestly you have all the tools you need to dig into this (Google is all you need). You can do it!
Connection is the key to understanding, building empathy and creating change. Listen, not just on September 30th, but every day. I’ve learned that National Day for Truth and Reconciliation can be a very traumatic and painful day for survivors of the residential schools and it’s made worse by performative inaction. Friends, we have to do the work; build the connections, listen to the stories and learn how to help. It’s not a wear your orange shirt for one day, post something orange and move on kind of day. Get uncomfortable. Lean in.
We live on stolen land. We stripped history and stories from Indigenous communities across Canada. We have to do better.
I always say that you matter and your voice matters. I really mean it. We all breathe the same air, walk the same earth and have the same 24 hours in the day. We have to be brave enough to speak our truths and to also listen to the stories of others. Even the most painful ones. Because they matter. All voices matter.
I know this post was perhaps not the one you needed today, but if you’ve made it this far just know that things get tricky, challenging and really tough sometimes. Speaking about the hard stuff lightens the load—but it’s made easier when someone truly listens. I’m here, and I’m listening.
Be gentle with yourself,
Katrina
xo
