Indigenous communities are coming together to speak on reconciliation and changing the narrative in Sudbury - Action News
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Sudbury

Indigenous communities are coming together to speak on reconciliation and changing the narrative in Sudbury

It's been nearly 10 years since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission published its calls to action. Since then, there has been a forum led by Universities Canada focused on building reconciliation every year. This year's forum was held at Laurentian University.

The National Building Reconciliation Forum is being held at Laurentian University

Two women stand smiling at the camera beside each other
Roxanne Recollet, a Wikwemikong band member (left), and Kyla Martin, a member of Moose Cree First Nation (right), are both students at Laurentian University. (Rajpreet Sahota/CBC)

The Indigenous community, students and staff have been gathering this week at Laurentian University in Sudbury for a three-day forum on reconciliation.

The National Building Reconciliation Forum is aUniversities Canada initiative. It aims to support Indigenous education. It will also focus on implementing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls To Action, Canada's attempt to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation.

Roxanne Recollet, a Wikwemikong band member and student at Laurentian University, says the conference reminds her of her parentswho both attended residential schools.

"I needed to learn the harsh truth so I can forgive, so I can move forward and so I don't pass on that trauma to the next generation."

Multiple dolls sit on a table
Indigenous dolls were among the items up for sale at the National Building Reconciliation Forum. (Rajpreet Sahota/CBC)

She says it's important now more than ever to put action behind discussions of reconciliation.

"We practice that by changing ourselves because we can't change anybody else I'm not going to have those same barriers for my child, for my teenager. So when they get to adult age, they're going to go out in society and be proud of Anishinaabe people."

This year's theme is Indigenous Education and Mapping Out Institutional Spaces. The attendees will discuss, share best practicesand explore issues around education. It includes panel discussions, oral histories, workshops, lectures and performing arts.

A woman looks at the items on a vendor's table
Sponsor booths and the vendors' market were held in the Parker Atrium on the Laurentian University campus. (Rajpreet Sahota/CBC)

Kyla Martin, a member of Moose Cree First Nation and a third year student in the Indigenous Social Work program, agrees.

"I didn't learn a lot of it until I was older. I think it's important for our youth to be educated in reconciliation and our histories. It's also an acknowledgement to us and what we have to go through and how resilient we are."

Rene Lemoyne is originally from Kebaowek First Nation in Kipawa and is now pursuing a masters in Indigenous relations at Laurentian University. She says the event is about "good change."

Two women look at Indigenous a vendor's stall
A vendors' and makers market was on site during the forum. (Rajpreet Sahota/CBC)

"When I was an undergrad, there were different articles that I would read with language that wasn't very good. It wasn't very kind towards Indigenous people, was very outdated and the articles were new. They were from 2016 to 2018, so they should have known better, but they didn't," says Lemoyne.

"This whole conference, to me, means we're noticing that there's things that are wrong and we're going to work towards making them better, not only in education, but in everything, because the research we do in education goes forward."

A new path forward

As a part of that, the university has announced the development of a four-year degree program on Indigenous studies. Currently, there is no set date on when the university will begin to offer the program.

"We need to bring back a few more Indigenous courses, a few more Indigenous related degrees because with the closure of University of Sudbury, we lost a lot of that," said Martin Bayer, the Laurentian University native education council chair, explaining the new development.

A man in a brown suit stands smiling at the camera
Martin Bayer is the chair of the Laurentian University Native Education Council. He says the school is also looking to make an Indigenous studies course mandatory for all students. (Rajpreet Sahota/CBC)

In 2021, multiple Indigenous studies programs were cut after Laurentian University filed for insolvency. It resulted in changes to one of the oldest Indigenous studies programs in Canada as Laurentian University terminated ties with the University of Sudbury. Currently, the university only offers minors in Indigenous Interdisciplinary Studies, Indigenous Storytelling and Anishnaabemowin Land-Based Immersion.

Bayer says the school is also looking to make an Indigenous studies course mandatory for all students.

"Every graduate of Laurentian University has to graduate with an Indigenous or First Nations perspectives course."

A man in a blue suit stands in front of a National Building Reconciliation Forum banner
Dominic Beaudry is the associate vice-president academic of Indigenous programs at Laurentian. He says there is no set date on when this new program will start accepting students. (Bienvenu Senga/Radio-Canada)

Dominic Beaudry, the associate vice-president academic of Indigenous programs, explains the university ischanging the narrative between the old courses and the one in development.

"The previous Indigenous studies program focused a lot on trauma. Our new Indigenous studies program is going to be interdisciplinary, so it's also going tofocus on, Indigenous contribution to the modern world that we live in. It's going toinclude Indigenous narratives in a meaningful way."