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News, Community and Engagement, Indigenous
Answering the call to action for reconciliation
Last fall, SFU responded to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action by establishing an Aboriginal Reconciliation Council (ARC) tasked with discovering the best way to promote reconciliation within the SFU community.
The University further committed $9 million to support the council’s recommendations for a project, or series of projects, that will promote a renewed and respectful relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people connected with the University.
The council, co-chaired by SFU board member Chris Lewis, councilor of the Squamish Nation, and Kris Magnusson, dean of the Faculty of Education, held four open forums last year. Each attracted about 50 Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal attendees. The council also met with the Métis Nation of B.C. and the five local First Nations on whose land SFU sits.
At each public forum, the key activity was listening—and making new discoveries.
One of the outcomes, says organizer Katy Ellsworth, was learning how important it is for Indigenous students to have their own cultural spaces. Another was the realization that Aboriginal people, including the Métis, would like to see more visual representations of themselves and their culture on campus, such as languages, artwork and cultural icons. An eye-opening discovery was learning that Indigenous students still experience racism on campus. There was also a surprising discovery. Canadian hero and former SFU student Terry Fox was part Native American. His grandmother was from a tribal nation in North Dakota, U.S.A.
All of this information, says Ellsworth, is helping the council and the University identify priorities that will make the biggest difference for reconciliation at SFU.
"We want to create something sustainable," she says. "A lasting legacy that won’t require continuous funding."
The final ARC open forum, a feedback session, is scheduled for Jan. 12, 2:00 - 4:00 pm, in Halpern 126 at the Burnaby campus. The council will make its recommendations this February.