24 150 Acts of Reconciliation for the Last 150 Days of Canada’s 150
24 150 Acts of Reconciliation for the Last 150 Days of Canada’s 150
Crystal Fraser and Sara Komarnisky
(To learn more or purchase a 150Acts poster, please visit 150acts.weebly.com)
On August 4th, there are 150 days left in 2017 – the year of Canada’s 150th birthday. There have been robust discussions this year around reconciliation and we would like to contribute to the conversation. Together, we have written 150 Acts of Reconciliation for the last 150 days of 2017. Many of these are small, everyday acts that average Canadians can undertake, but others are more provocative that encourage people to think about Indigenous-settler relationships in new ways. We encourage you to use #150Acts to share your engagement with each item on the list. To download a printable .pdf version of this list, click here.
- Learn the land acknowledgement in your region.
- Find your local reconciliation organization.
- If there isn’t one, consider joining together with others to start one.
- Attend a cultural event, such as a pow wow (yes, all folks are invited to these!).
- Purchase an item from an Indigenous artist. For instance, if you are interested in owning a dreamcatcher or a pair of moccasins, find an Indigenous artist who can craft these items for you and provide you with information about these special creations.
- Download an Indigenous podcast, like Ryan McMahon’s Red Man Laughing or Molly Swain and Chelsea Vowel’s Métis in Space.
- Read an autobiography written by an Indigenous person. A couple of ideas include Augie Merasty’s The Education of Augie Merasty, Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton’s Fatty Legs: A True Story, and Mini Adola Freeman’s Life Among the Qallunaat.
- Find out if there was a residential school where you live.
- Memorize its name and visit its former site.
- Watch CBC’s Eighth Fire.
- Choose one plant or flower in your area and learn how Indigenous people use(d) it.
- Visit your local museum, particularly its section on Indigenous people. If it does not have one, ask the staff why not.
- Learn a greeting in a local Indigenous language.
- Register for the University of Alberta’s online MOOC, called “Indigenous Canada,” for free.
- Initiate a conversation with a friend about an Indigenous issue in the news.
- Support Black Lives Matter.
- Eat at an Indigenous restaurant, café, or food truck.
- Read about the Cornwallis Statue in Halifax.
- Seriously consider your own position as a settler Canadian. Do you uphold practices that contribute to the marginalization of Indigenous peoples?
- Learn why headdresses are not appropriate to wear at music festivals (or outside of Indigenous ceremony).
- Find a book that delves into Indigenous local histories.
- Donate to the Emerging Indigenous Voices award.
- Although Gord Downie significantly contributed to the conversation about residential schools, consider why some Indigenous people might not support his project.
- Visit a local Indigenous writer- or artist-in-residence.
- When disc