Truth & Reconciliation Week

OTTERBURNE, MB – Last year, in addition to marking the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation with cancelled classes and closed offices, Providence hosted its first annual Truth and Reconciliation Week on campus. Students, faculty, staff and visitors from the surrounding community participated in a number of different activities over four days, which included raising teepees, welcoming an elder and other members of Roseau River First Nation, sharing traditional Indigenous food, and engaging in conversation and reflection about how Providence as a Christian institution can be more deliberate in the process of reconciliation.

The event was organized by Karen Jolly, who is a Providence Seminary alumna, Assistant Professor of Indigenous Studies, and the school’s Liaison for Support and Reconciliation. Karen was born and raised in the Gift Lake Metis Settlement of Northern Alberta, which she still considers “home” despite not having lived there for many years. Today, she lives in Niverville with her husband Howard, refers to their two adult children as her “greatest accomplishment,” and is busy planning the 2024 Truth and Reconciliation Week that will be happening again in Otterburne on September 23rd to 26th.

“I want Providence to experience a little bit of what Indigenous communities do together,” said Jolly. About the teepee-raising that took place in 2023, she shared: “There were a whole bunch of us from different nationalities raising these teepees. What a beautiful picture of reconciliation; of working with each other for a common purpose.” The purpose? To move toward fulfilling some of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s 94 Calls to Action, which includes facilitating “intercultural understanding, empathy, and mutual respect” (63.iii).

“It’s going to be a long road to even do one Call to Action well,” continued Jolly. “But Providence is making steps to bring Indigenous education into the school by offering it to students at both the university and seminary levels. In the course that I’m teaching in September – Indigenous Thought, Topics and Traditions – students will get a bird’s eye view of Indigenous history as a whole, including pre-contact, first-contact, residential schools, and the Sixties Scoop.” In addition to this cross-listed course that’s open to all who are enrolled in a program at Providence, Karen is also working with the school’s Centre for On-Demand Education to develop a community focused and facilitated competency-based certificate program with a couple of First Nations reserves in the province.

This year’s Truth and Reconciliation Week begins on Monday, September 23rd at 1pm outside the Reimer Student Life Centre with another teepee raising and teaching time. “Last year was a huge success,” concluded Jolly. “We are working towards what reconciliation is. This involves creating awareness. But not just awareness – I want to create curiosity. Because when you’re curious, you ask questions. Reconciliation is tied to relationship. And there’s nothing better than building community and eating together.”

A full schedule of events is available HERE.