Dear members of the McGill community,
Each year, September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The day honours the Survivors of Indigenous Residential Schools (IRS), the children who never returned home, as well as their families and communities.
As an intergenerational survivor of IRS, I personally reflect on the legacy of Indian education in Canada, how this has affected my family, my partner’s family, our children, and our respective communities. I know that September 30 is a solemn and heavy day for several of my Indigenous colleagues here and I hope that they will be able to find moments of peace and comfort on September 30 and that they will be supported in carrying out the activities that are important to their wellbeing.
September 30 is also a day to recognize McGill’s responsibility in reconciliation and to renew our commitments to creating respectful partnerships with First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples (FNIM), supporting culturally relevant and safer educational spaces for FNIM students, ensuring equitable employment opportunities for FNIM faculty and staff, and centering the sovereignty of FNIM peoples in teaching and research.
McGill’s pathways towards truth and reconciliation are outlined in ourĚý52 Calls to Action. Resulting from the 2017ĚýProvost’s Task Force Report on Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Education, our plan outlines clear goals that will continue to require a collective effort as reconciliation is a shared responsibility. On this National Day, we must look inward and reflect on the ways in which we are all implicated in the work of truth and reconciliation as members of the McGill community.
Reconciliation requires that we pause and reflect on what work we have achieved as reporting back to community is instrumental to accountability and growth.Ěý The Office of Indigenous Initiatives would like to share that this past year McGill has initiated or progressed inĚý19 specific Calls to Actions, representing growth in all five areas of our plan. Below are some highlighted examples:
- Call #52 (Human Resources):ĚýIn Winter 2023, fifteen new Indigenous faculty and staff were welcomed to the McGill community. The number of faculty and staff welcomed increased. The new faculty and staff include First Nations, MĂ©tis and Inuit people from across Canada.
- Call #13 (Financial Aid for Indigenous Students):ĚýIn Fall 2022, McGill launched the Okòn:ra Undergraduate Award, offering $5,000 to Indigenous students enrolled in any McGill undergraduate degree program, including on-campus Bachelors, Law (BCL/JD), Medicine (MDCM), and Dentistry (DMD). The award is offered in each year of study to a maximum of $20,000 per student per degree.
- Call #23 (Recognizing Indigenous Excellence):ĚýIn May and June 2023, three FNIM people received honorary doctorates from Ď㽶ĘÓƵ. The Indigenous honorary doctorates included: (1) Drew Hayden Taylor, Doctor of Letters,Ěýhonoris causaĚý(D.Litt.), Anishinaabe, Curve Lake First Nation; (2) Amelia Tekwatonti McGregor, Doctor of Science,Ěýhonoris causaĚý(D.Sc.), Mohawk, KahnawĂ :ke; and (3) Charlie William Watt, O.Q., Doctor of Laws,Ěýhonoris causaĚý(LL.D.), Inuk, Kuujjuaq.
- Call #51 (Establishing and Strengthening Partnerships):ĚýIn June 2023, McGill commenced the process of creating an inaugural Indigenous Advisory Council whose composition will include community leaders and stakeholders internal and external to McGill.
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Actualizing our commitments to Truth and Reconciliation will be an ongoing effort of McGill for years to come. While we often refer to the “52 Calls” each call often has several actions, which serves as a reminder that there is a long road ahead. Indeed, some of our Calls must be framed as ongoing commitments that we revisit continuously as a campus community. In closing, I share a powerful quote from the Honourable Murray Sinclair, Chief Commissioner of Canada’s Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission:
“The road we travel is equal in importance to the destination we seek. There are no shortcuts. When it comes to truth and reconciliation we are forced to go the distance.”
Ěý
Celeste Pedri-Spade
Associate Provost (Indigenous Initiatives)
