ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ

Stephen Peters (Faculty)

I understand reconciliation as a process, as something that people do rather than achieve. Part of that doing is, of course, trying to understand the violence of Canadian colonialism past and present. Colonialism in Canada continues to privilege and marginalize; and we are all called on to understand how it operates through and around us. 

For me, along with the momentous, reconciliation work also involves the mundane: the everyday tasks through which Indigenous activists, communities, and organizations cast off colonial overreach and wrest control of their affairs. I know that this work must involve both Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. As part of the Office of First Nations and Inuit Education team, it has been my honour and privilege to work alongside the Cree School Board, the Kahnawà:ke Education Centre, Kativik Ilisarniliriniq, the Listuguj Education Training and Employment Directorate, and, most recently, the Naskapi Education Committee in their efforts to have ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ’s teacher education programs work for their communities. It is through this detailed, often bureaucratic, and sometimes painstaking work that I have learned what is at stake in reconciliation work, the forces that oppose it, and the promises it holds. 

Working in partnership and in relationships with Indigenous professionals and governance organizations has helped me to understand the meaning of reconciliation. It is has been an opportunity that I am tremendously grateful for and one that, I hope, ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵians from all disciplines and all backgrounds may likewise have and learn from.    

Stephen Peters

Faculty Lecturer and Assistant Director, Office of First Nations and Inuit Education

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