Tag Archives: reconciliation

Lessons from the Past: How Mark Carney and the Liberals Can Tackle Housing Challenges in First Nations with a Renewed Focus on Building Homes and Reconciliation

A black-and-white copy of a house blueprint. It is a modest one-and-a-half story home with a little porch. The cladding is labeled "1X8 rustic". The roof is labeled "shingles". A feature on the roof is labeled "ventilator." The whole image is labeled "perspective view."

The Indigenous and Northern Housing plan within Canada’s current National Housing Strategy is a good start, but it does not go nearly far enough to meet the long-standing housing needs of First Nations communities. With the new Liberal platform prioritizing the rapid development of affordable and sustainable homes, Prime Minister Mark Carney has a chance to begin remedying some of the historical and ongoing injustices that First Nations peoples encounter regarding housing on reserves. This can be accomplished by integrating the AFN’s proposal into the National Housing Strategy, providing a streamlined process for First Nations to benefit, and working directly with First Nations to meet the specific needs of each community, steering clear of the paternalistic dynamics that have largely fueled the housing crisis experienced by First Nations communities throughout Canada.

How Do We Reflect on Our Past Without Knowing It?: YWCA Canada, Residential Schools, and Indian Hospitals

Black and white photo of two teenage girls bent over a table, working with fabric.

Our findings are not unique to YWCA Canada. We know that similar work in Residential Schools and Indian Hospitals was carried out by service organizations and philanthropic societies across Canada. We believe our report joins the important work of many others who seek to move the history and ongoing impact of Residentials Schools and Indian Hospitals beyond the narrow scope allowed by the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.

Indigenous Art & Reconciliation – What’s Old is News

https://media.rss.com/whatsoldisnews/2025_02_05_04_41_54_40392e80-703e-481f-82ad-f465d0cb0ebd.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham This week I’m joined by Eugenia Kisin, author of Aesthetics of Repair: Indigenous Art and the Form of Reconciliation. We discuss what qualifies as ‘art’, how the intent shapes understanding of cultural materials, and how works are commoditized. We also chat about artistic agency, the impact of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission,… Read more »

Alaska, Indigenous Resilience, & the Second World War – What’s Old is News

https://media.rss.com/whatsoldisnews/2024_11_07_05_07_53_be7eb30e-8d63-44a2-b2fd-af0c4d6025b5.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham This week, I talk with Holly Miowak Guise, author of Alaska Native Resilience: Voices from World War II. We talk about the lived memory of the Second World War in Alaska, the American occupation of Alaska, and the diversity of the local population. We also discuss local community responses to the… Read more »

History Slam 214: Indigenous Voices, Resources, & Learning in Canadian Classrooms

https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/History-Slam-214.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham In its final report, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission included several Calls to Action regarding education. One of these was to develop and implement learning resources for all students in Canada so that more Indigenous voices, perspectives, and approaches were included in provincial and territorial curricula. As we’ve seen, however, some… Read more »

History Slam 195: Why Reconciliation Fails Indigenous People & How to Fix It

https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/History-Slam-195.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham During the election campaign this fall, the major political parties all included Reconciliation in their platforms. Yet in the past couple of weeks, the protests around the country in support of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs have served as another example of how far there is to go towards meaningful Reconciliation. As Bruce… Read more »

Accountability for the Roman Catholic Church’s Role in the Residential School System: Urgent Actions Needed Immediately

Here, I outline 3 urgent actions that need to be addressed by the Roman Catholic Church immediately as part of taking responsibility for its significant role in the residential school system. The 3 urgent actions are: 1) an apology from the Pope, 2) a statement by the CCCB outlining how they have engaged and will continued to engage with TRC’s Calls to Action 59, 60, and 61, and 3) payment of $21.3 million by the Roman Catholic entities to Indigenous healing programs that was not paid to the IRSSA.

Not Learning, Unlearning, and Relearning to See Genocide: Part 2

On October 24, 2019, Active History commenced a series on education “after” residential schools with an article written by Clinton Debogorski, Magdalena Milosz, Martha Walls and Karen Bridget Murray. The series is open ended. Active History welcomes additional contributions on related themes. By Karen Bridget Murray …they still kill us [and] take our children… Audra Simpson (2016) Denial I moved… Read more »

Reconciliation in the Classroom: The #150 Acts as a Pedagogical Tool

This post originally appeared in French on Histoire Engagée on June 7, 2018.  Many thanks to Andrea Eidinger for her work translating this post. Catherine Larochelle In the winter of 2018, I had the opportunity to teach HST2444, Autochtones, État et société au Canada at the Université de Montréal. Over the course of the entire semester, I relied extensively on… Read more »

#150Acts: A Poster Series to Bring Us into the Next 150

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Crystal Fraser and Sara Komarnisky On August 4, 2017, there were 150 days left in Canada’s 150th year and Active History published “150 Acts for Reconciliation for the Last 150 Days of Canada’s 150.” Since then, the post has gone viral with more than 30,000 views. As we wrote #150Acts in the late days of July, we pinged ideas back… Read more »