Abid Jan

Yet another painful discovery: ​93 potential burial sites found near former B.C. residential school

We need to be very clear about our vision of reconciliation. I hope it is not that the native people accept apologies and payments for the crimes of the residential schools or jobs and contracts in exchange for stolen lands, and that implies forgiveness. Material compensation does not address the crimes of colonialism. These questions that such discoveries raise shall not be considered dead for us to move on.

Such a notion of reconciliation is not healthy for society. Let’s pause and think: what is it doing for Native people? More than anything else, it is obscuring. We need to pay attention to what ethical truth-telling and genuine reconciliation would entail. There is no quick fix to break the colonial impasse that continues to define the relationship with native people fighting to survive to restore dignity to their lives.

The work of the TRC didn’t lead us to the end of the path: rather, it gives us a place and space to begin, including public truth-telling to link critical reflection, enlightened vision, and positive action to confront the truth and reality head-on. 

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