09/30/2026
Reconciliation is relationship.
Since 2015, when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its 94 Calls to Action, there have been many waves in the journey toward justice for Survivors of Indian Residential Schools. We have seen progress and setbacks, alongside the continued impacts of systemic racism embedded in the institutions around us.
Today is a day to listen, engage with our communities, and consider how we live in relationship with one another, with ourselves, and with the natural world, not just today, but throughout the year.
One of the most beautiful things about CollabARTive Studios is that it has become a space where people share their stories, both verbally and through art. People witness one another here. They talk through problems, create alongside each other, and imagine different futures.
As someone generationally impacted by colonial policies in Canada, I also want to acknowledge the many people I meet who are rediscovering their cultures, families, histories, and identities because of the violence Indigenous peoples have experienced at both individual and systemic levels.
Each of us has a responsibility to consider what it means to be in good relationship. To show up for one another and to be intentional about what we bring into the spaces we enter. Our words, actions, energy, attention, and willingness to understand one another matter because we are interdependent. We impact one another every day.
So today, I invite you to ask:
How can I be in better relationship with myself, with others, with my community, and with the natural world?
How can I better understand experiences different from my own?
Truth requires us to witness what happened. Reconciliation asks what we will do with that truth.
It is each of our responsibility to inform ourselves, to listen, and to understand the complex history of what is colonially known today as Canada.
