Community came together in Qualicum Beach Wednesday, September 30, to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The day begin with a gathering at ts’xwelikwshenawtxw, “the house at the foot of Mount Arrowsmith.” As people spoke over coffee, crafting, and knowledge sharing activities, People First Radio producer Joe Pugh spoke with Kim Recalma-Clutesi, Ogwi’low’gwa, of the Qualicum First Nation about the day.
“ I wanna be really clear, reconciliation is not an Indigenous thing. It’s a settler thing. It is something for the outside world, outside of the indigenous communities to do. It’s their job,” she said. “And it’s not about us recounting what was lost. It’s about looking at what society as a whole lost by not having allies with the First Peoples 150 years ago when these colonies were established.”
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was first observed in 2021. It was a response to call to action number 80 from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which called on “the federal government, in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, to establish, as a statutory holiday, a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to honour Survivors, their families, and communities, and ensure that public commemoration of the history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process.”
Recalma-Clutesi spoke about the importance of observing the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in a way that does not carry the expectation that residential school survivors are pressured into sharing stories that could be re-traumatizing.
“I’ve sat with many survivors. I’ve sat with many family members, my late husband, my first husband. And I’m very aware of the pain that it takes to recount those stories, and the rabbit holes people go down when they do that. It’s against our teachings to do that. And so when we’re asked to do that, it puts you in a deficit. It’s not reconciliation when you do that.”
She says there are a number of books that people can read to inform themselves on the issues without actively re-traumatizing people, citing Shingwauk’s Vision by JR Miller, a book she helped peer review, as one example.
“Shingwauk’s Vision is actually a really, really good book. I hope the libraries all have multiple copies, and people read it. And then they get informed without dragging that pain out of people individually.”
From ts’xwelikwshenawtxw, a crowd of over 100 people marched to the fountain in front of Town Hall, where Qualicum First Nation Chief Michael Recalma, Qualicum Beach Mayor Teunis Westbrook, and Kim Recalma-Clutesi gave speeches.
From there, the gathering moved to the Qualicum Beach Museum, where a special exhibit was set up to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Museum Operations Manager Kissel Reid spoke about her approach to the day.
“I wanted the museum to be a space to learn. National Truth and Reconciliation Day is such a brand-new holiday that I think there’s a lot of people out there who still have questions about what it is, what it means, why do we wear orange shirts, and I wanted the museum to be a space where people can come and learn about as much as they could, but also ask questions if they had any questions,” she said.
“ I wanted to make sure that at every exhibit, at every stop throughout the way, that there was a topic of indigenous learning, of truth and reconciliation, or of a history that people sometimes aren’t familiar with.”
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