Truth & Reconciliation Training

Truth & Reconciliation. You may be becoming aware of what these words mean now. Last year, many Canadians finally awakened to the horrors of the Residential School system when 215 children were uncovered in graveyards at a Kamloops residential school; and Canada officially designated Sept 30th as a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

I am a Truth and Reconciliation Specialist. What brought me here was having grown up in an Indigenous community and having seen first hand the struggles for Indigenous families, and having then spent many years working in Child Welfare, Children’s Mental Health and for the Advocacy Office in Toronto.

However, it wasn’t until my Masters of Social Work years, when I wanted to study the residential school system more intensely, and I had more access to information kept hidden from our “Canadian history books”, that I an Indigenous woman, fully understood the Truth. And the uncovering was heart wrenching.

Today, we have almost 10,000 children’s deaths exposed by the uncovering of more graveyards at residential schools. I sadly expect that number to double…

For the past 15 years, I have studied the residential school system extensively, and have uncovered a lot of heartbreaking information that most Canadians remain unknowledgeable about. Even now, as information is more publicly available.

Many participants who have taken my training realize that there is so much more that they didn't realize. And my quest to share knowledge is that when we know more, we do better.

The fact of the matter is we need reconciliation. Many of us don’t like that word because there has never been a great relationship to reconcile. But the point is, reconciliation is about mending our broken relationships and we need each other. We have to approach a better future from the framework of community and interconnectedness.

The sad Truth is, there has been a genocide, and some of us believe it hasn’t ended.

Why are half the youth in care Indigenous? And why does our federal government continue to fund them less than non-Indigenous youth in care? Even after having been convicted of a Human Rights violation in 2016 where the supreme court demanded they rectify this racism?

Canadian indifference to our story.

Why are Canada’s First Peoples overrepresented among the homeless and those incarcerated? Why are some of our Indigenous communities in third world conditions? And why are there suicide epidemics among their youth??

Canadian indifference to our story.

The sad truth is, there is so much ignorance and misunderstanding that has led to Canadian indifference, and again, when we know more we do better. In fact, I have seen this training urge Canadians to do the very best that they can.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission listened to over 7,000 survivor stories and created 94 Calls to Action on how this country can do better. Action means doing something.

I can help you design an Action plan. For over ten years, I have created and provided seminars, workshops and training to organizations across the province.

I am offering this two part training for ANYONE and EVERYONE interested in learning.

On Monday, March 28th at 9:00 am - 12:30 pm

The first part of this training explores our collective history and the current day implications that affect Indigenous youth and their families; and our life together as a Whole.

Without truth there cannot be understanding, and without understanding we can not begin to work towards reconciliation.

On Tuesday, March 29th at 9:00 am - 12:30 pm

The second part of this training looks at Reconciliation:

We must aim to help mend the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. I believe it will take each and every one of us to move this country forward in reconciliation and thus we need to come together in Unity.

You are not separate from any of this. We are all interconnected and have a role to play. We are all a part of a community that believes our children deserve the best this country has to offer. Thus, I truly believe that Your involvement is an essential part of the solution.

You must ask what can I do and how can I help? I invite you to join these workshops to explore these questions. You will leave with some answers on What and How, and most importantly you will have the Why: a gift in itself that you can pass onto future generations.

We ask for a $100 ($50 per session) donation to go towards the Lodge's Healing Forest for residential school survivors and their families.

Please register by sending an EMT to jenny.sawanohk@redstonesnakewoman.ca

Misiwe Ni Wakoomahgunuk 💜

Gitchi-Miigwech.

Jenny Sawanohk, Mihko-Asiniy-Kinepik-Iswew