52 Ways to Reconcile: How to Walk with Indigenous Peoples on the Path to Healing

52 Ways to Reconcile: How to Walk with Indigenous Peoples on the Path to Healing, by David A. Robertson, is a book that offers concrete actions settlers can take on the path of reconciliation. The book offers fifty-two actions, which can be accomplished over the course of a year. While this includes actions for specific days, like wearing an orange shirt on National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, the book challenges us to go beyond. Some actions are oriented towards learning, like learning everyday words in Indigenous languages or learning about the Sixties Scoop. Others actions involve participating in cultural activities, such as attending a Powwow or taking part in a smudge. Many actions also focus on supporting Indigenous businesses, athletes, creators and more.

David A. Robertson frames these actions as a means to reconcile, although he acknowledges that our understanding of reconciliation needs to be reframed. As he says, "reconciliation is defined as the restoration of friendly relations. Two good friends become estranged for whatever reason, and after many years, find their way back to each other, and one sees the other as a friend once more. There was a good relationship, something caused it to fracture, and then a healing occurred and the relationship was restored. The two people reconciled. [But] between Indigenous Peoples and colonists, there never was a right relationship. If there was not a good relationship to begin with, what exactly are we restoring? The work that we are trying to do, then, is to develop a strong and healthy relationship for the first time." Fostering healthy relationships takes time and effort, and this books offers ideas to get people started.

Every year at my school, we spend time in September teaching about Truth and Reconciliation. Some years, we have emphasized learning about the experiences of children who attended residential schools, such as through exploring the Witness Blanket or learning about the impact residential school had on the life of Mary Courchene. After determining that students had trouble articulating the concept of reconciliation, we spent time last year learning how different Indigenous authors, artists and Survivors define the concept of reconciliation. Afterwards, each student participated in the Project of Heart by creating a tile to honour a residential school Survivor or a child who never made it home, with the intent of creating images that communicate the message that everyone is welcome in our school community. This is a guided act of reconciliation, which aims to foster a stronger relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

This year, our learning on September 29th will draw from David A. Robertson's ideas relating to reconciliation. Too often, reconciliation is viewed as an action we take towards the end of September, and for students it can seem disconnected to our other activities throughout the year. However, many actions we take in our classrooms are actions of reconciliation and it is important that students understand their role in this process. This year, we want our students to understand that growing a stronger relationship is our responsibility all year round. Each class will take ownership and select an action to complete together over the course of the year to support reconciliation and healing. I'm looking forward to seeing what actions we take.