Dangling in the Glimmer of Hope: Academic Action on Truth and Reconciliation

Universities are learning to address the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission but are struggling to reconcile colonial attitudes, past practices and future actions within a system that is highly colonial. To meet the Calls to Action and orient ourselves to reconciliation, learning more accurate stories, identifying leaders in Indigenous communities, and engaging with creative selves, may help us take steps on our journeys.

We believe we need to answer these calls within ourselves even as we try to answer these calls in our classrooms.

The Graduate Programs in Education faculty and staff at Thompson Rivers University are actively engaged in strengthening our heartbeat in relation to reconciliation.

Fourteen faculty teaching in Graduate Programs in Education contributed to this book. Additionally, Brett Fairbairn, President of Thompson Rivers University, discusses the increased focus on indigenization at his institution. Garry Gottfriedson, shares his vision in offering this professional learning opportunity, both for the university and for Canada, and explains his experiences as an Indigenous community member from Secwepemc nation, a teacher, facilitator, and colleague.

The book is divided into four sections, each with an introduction that expresses what authors thought they would learn and what they learned. Indigenous and non-Indigenous authors will share this writing and learning space. Each section includes a 400-word of positionality, both in relation to the academy and in relation to Indigenous understanding. It also presents an Canadian Indigenous author and a creative work that addresses some elements of indigeneity that are of interest to them, using poetry, short story, or a childrens story as the vehicle. The book also includes two afterwords - the first by Garry Gottfriedson and Victoria Handford, and the second by Dorothy Christian and Janice Dick-Billy, both of whom are Elders in the Interior
of British Columbia.

The journey of reconciliation on Canadian university campuses must be taken.