The Truth and Reconciliation Committee delivered its final report and recommendations at the 2017 Annual General Meeting which opened with traditional acknowledgement and smudge of the Mauri stone by Camille Callison, Jessie Loyer and Feather Maracle-Luke. The Mauri Stone which is imbued with the spirit and knowledge from the International Indigenous Librarians’ Forum (IILF) was brought to honour this auspicious occasion as the Truth & Reconciliation Committee’s 10 overarching recommendations were read into record at the 2017 CFLA-FCAB AGM and endorsed in principle.
The report and recommendations, endorsed by the board in full then released on April 20, 2017 and first presented at the 2017 BC Libraries Conference. This comprehensive document covers best practices and recommendations for libraries, archives, and cultural memory institutions to participate in this national effort towards reconciliation. The report has been presented across Canada and it, along with its recommendations, has been featured in numerous articles, publications, presented at the University of Toronto Bertha Bassam Lecture and internationally in Australia, Hawai’i, and the United States.
CFLA-FCAB implemented the first call of the ten recommendations with the creation of the Indigenous Matters Committee/ Comité des questions autochtones (IMC-CQA).
used by permission – Chair, Indigenous Matters Commitee
The work of the IMC-CQA will take shape over the next year utilizing the Medicine Wheel structure to reflect the holistic nation of Indigenous knowledges with Working Groups to implement the Truth & Reconciliation Committee report and recommendations, take care of the logistical needs and receive guidance from Elders.
The members of the IMC-CQA are:
BC Library Association (BCLA): Joelle Samson, Gerry Lawson, Alissa Cherry, Margo Schiller, Anne Olsen, Ursula Ellis , Lisa Nathan, Shirley Lew, Kate Sloan
Library Association of Alberta (LAA): Anne Carr-Wiggin, Colette Poitras, Jennifer Mason, Sheila Laroque, Tanya Ball, Kirk MacLeod, Kayla Lar-Son, Sharon Farnel, Mary Weasel Fat, Teneya Gwin, Kathy Goodstriker, Nicole Palanuk, Marlene Dorgan, Toni Samek, Michael McNally, Danielle Powder, Debbie Feisst, Lorisia MacLeod
Saskatchewan Library Association (SLA): Carol Marriott
Manitoba Library Association (MLA): Monique Woroniak, Dr. Stan Gardner, Michael Dudley, Janice Linton, Brian Rountree, Lyle Ford, Christine Bone
Ontario Library Association (OLA): Feather Maracle-Luke, Trudy Russo, Jeff Burnham, Sheri Mishibinijima, Ann Ludbrook, Tina Grover, Stacy Allison-Cassin, Sarah Andrews, Melanie Ribau, Alex Curruthers, Naomi Recollet, Cara Krumpotich
Quebec (ABQLA): Katherine Kasirer, Sonia Smith, Christine Smith, Nikki Tummon, Martin Morris
Atlantic Provinces Library Association (APLA): Maggie Jean Neilson, Suzanne van den Hoogen, Elizabeth Stregger, Louise White
Newfoundland/Labrador Library Association (NLLA): Jennifer Budden, Patti Bryant, Debbie O’Reilly, Stacey Penney, Darren Furey, Courtney Crocker
Association of Prince Edward Island Libraries (APEIL): Trina O’Brien Leggott
Nova Scotia Library Association: Sutherland, Crystal, Trecia Schell, Cordelia Perry
Nunavut: Anita Kora
NorthWest Territories: Lisc Daley, Megan Clark
Yukon: Natalie Wing
National: Michael Ciccone, Diana Davidson, Monica Fuijkschot, Francesco Manganiello, William Leonard, Diane Beattie, Cleo Big Eagle
CAPAL: Martha Attridge Bufton
CULC: Patricia Knockwood, Linda Garvin, John Pateman, Beth Davies
CARL: Marc Bragdon, Jenna Walsh
CALL/ACBC: Tim Knight, Cathy Cotter, Margo Jeske, Alexia Loumankis
Canadian Archives Association: Erica Hernedez-Read, Donald Johnson, Kim Lawson, Jesse Loyer, Raymond Frogner, Melissa Adams, Brendan Edwards, Marnie Burnham, Johanna Smith
Thus far the IMC-CQA has
- Presented the Truth & Reconciliation Report & Reconciliation extensively and received numerous endorsements from across Canada
- Laid the foundations for the Indigenous Matter Committee
- Launched an Indigenous Resources Hub, which was announced on Indigenous Peoples Day in collaboration with the University of Alberta, Edmonton Public Library, Northern Lights Library System, and Toronto Public Library; launched the Indigenous Canada MOOC which not only provides an online learning opportunity, but also tools and resources for libraries to support the delivery of the MOOC.
- Reconciliation Dialogues for Public Libraries planning with CCUNESCO, LAC, NCTR and NFB
- Indigenous Knowledge inclusion jointly with the Copyright Committee called “Let’s Talk about Reconciliation.”
I would like to thank:
- Truth and Reconciliation Committee members – Sarah Andrews, Martha Attridge Bufton, Greg Bak, Betty Braaksma, Marc Bragdon, Donna Bourne-Tyson, Patti Bryant, Cynthia Bretell, Anne Carr-Wiggin, Michael Ciccone, Carol Cooley, Diana Davidson, Monique Désormeaux, Michael Dudley, Pierre Gamache, Stan Gardner, Linda Garvin, Ben Gosling, Rosemary Griebel, Helen Halbert, Karen Hoffmann, Katherine Kasirer, Patricia Knockwood, Thom Knutson, Megan Langley, Jessie Loyer, Feather Maracle Luke, John Mutford, Maggie Neilson, Trina O’Brien Leggott, John Pateman, Colette Poitras, Trudy Russo, Pam Ryan, Joëlle Samson, Sonia Smith, Trecia Schell, Paul Takala, Suzanne van den Hoogen, Jenna Walsh, Natalie Wing and Monique Woroniak
- Elders Norman Meade and Marlene Kayseas for helping guide our work.
- IMC-CQA Indigenous MOOC Working Group members – Alex Curruthers, Linda Garvin, Melanie Ribau and Colette Poitras
- Canadian Commission for UNESCO for their leadership with “Let’s talk about Reconciliation.”
- All the member of the IMC-CQA for their patience as we form the foundation to move forward.
I look forward to working with members of the IMC-CQA nominees from across Canada who with the Truth & Reconciliation Commission 94 Calls to Action acting as a compass, will be working to walk together on the path to reconciliation and to transform libraries of all kinds, archives, and cultural memory institutions in acknowledging, embracing, including Indigenous peoples and respecting Indigenous knowledge.
Respectfully submitted by
Camille Callison
CFLA-FCAB Vice-Chair and Chair, Indigenous Matters Committee / Comité des questions autochtones (IMC-CQA) and Indigenous Representative to the Board (Membre à titre personnel, représentation des Autochtones)
Document links:
Truth & Reconciliation Committee Report http://cfla-fcab.ca/en/indigenous/trc_report/
Rapport sur la Vérité et Réconciliation http://cfla-fcab.ca/fr/ressources-autochtones/rapport_verite_reconciliation/
Indigenous Resources http://cfla-fcab.ca/en/indigenous/
Ressources autochtones http://cfla-fcab.ca/fr/ressources-autochtones/
Indigenous Matters Committee (IMC) Mandate http://cfla-fcab.ca/en/about/committees/indigenous_matters_committee/
Comité des questions autochtones (CQA) http://cfla-fcab.ca/fr/apropos/comites/comite-questions-autochtones/
Indigenous Canada MOOC http://cfla-fcab.ca/en/indigenous/indigenous_canada_mooc/
Let’s Talk about Reconciliation http://en.ccunesco.ca/our-themes/building-inclusive-communities/reconciliation-in-action/let-s-talk-about-reconciliation
Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action
http://templatelab.com/truth-and-reconciliation-commission-calls-to-action/
http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/File/2015/Findings/Calls_to_Action_French.pdf
For information on the medicine wheel being utilized, please visit the Turtle Lodge Journey of the Human Spirit at http://www.turtlelodge.org/journey-of-the-human-spirit/. Elders Norman Meade and Marlene Kayseas were given tobacco for advice and guidance when adapting the medicine wheel. http://umanitoba.ca/student/indigenous/elders-in-residence.html. The Turtle Lodge cared for the International Indigenous Librarians’ Forum (IILF) Mauri Stone on behalf of Canada since the 9th IILF in 2015 until it was passed to Australia in February 2017. The Mauri Stone was present when the CFLA-FCAB Truth & Reconciliation Committee Recommendations were read February 1, 2017. 9th IILF & Mauri Stone http://libguides.lib.umanitoba.ca/NinthInternationalIndigenousLibrariansForum2015.
>Camille Callison (B.A. Anthropology, M.L.I.S. First Nations Concentration) is from the Tsesk iye (Crow) Clan of the Tahltan Nation, the Indigenous Services Librarian/Liaison Librarian for Anthropology, Native Studies & Social Work and a Member of the Indigenous Advisory Circle at the University of Manitoba. She is the Canadian Federation of Library Associations/Fédération canadienne des associations de bibliothèques (CFLA-FCAB) Vice Chair and Indigenous Representative; the Chair of the Indigenous Matters Committee and a member of the Copyright Committee. Camille is a member of IFLA Indigenous Matters Standing Committee, a member of the National Film Board (NFB) Indigenous Advisory Board and the Canadian Commission for UNESCO Memory of the World Committee and Sector Commission on Culture, Communications & Information and a PhD student in Anthropology.
