Reconciliation & Decolonization

Living into reconciliation has been an intentional goal of The Federation for nearly a decade and is the foundation of our strategic plan. In all that we do, The Federation strives to change the conditions in which we are living and create more equitable relationships for and with our Indigenous partners and community members.

We believe that every endeavour is guided by a set of commitments—not just about the what, but also the why and the how. Reconciliation isn’t just a goal, it is a fundamental part of our values and one of the ways we are committed to engaging in our work. It informs almost everything we do.

It is not easy. We have made mistakes and we will continue to make mistakes. But we also believe that we do our best work when we are driven by the virtues of equity and justice and when we speak truth to power both individually and collectively.

Premise: What We Believe

We believe that the decision of Indigenous communities to participate in the social service sector is not ours to dictate. We believe that requiring Indigenous communities to abide by and embody the approaches, practices, and policies of dominant cultures continues the legacy of colonialism. We believe that without the wisdom, culture, and knowledge of those who were here before us, our communities would be painfully incomplete.

We believe that the kind of change that we want to see in the world—the systemic changes that need to happen to make our communities stronger and more sustainable—will only happen through deliberate, concerted, and enduring efforts to address the underlying structural barriers that get in the way of equity and social justice.

Definitions: How We Operate

Reconciliation is about much more than just an apology for past harms. It is about creating an environment that eliminates colonial practices that continue to harm Indigenous people. It is about creating equitable relationships grounded in mutual respect.

Decolonization is a stepping stone to reconciliation. Decolonization is about challenging the dominant, western perspective about how things should be or should be done—all the ways people are expected to adhere to certain (western) cultural norms. This includes norms around procurement, organizational structures, contracting, hiring, non-verbal communication, patterns of group decision-making, notions of leadership, and recognized holidays.

Advocacy & Outreach

Federation board members and our staff team often speak about our commitment to reconciliation but, for our members, potential members, or sector partners, it may be unclear what this looks like in our day-to-day work.

Truthfully, a lot of these efforts take place quietly and out of the spotlight. Part of this work involves listening and seeking opportunities to amplify Indigenous voices and raising the profile of urban Indigenous and Métis organizations and communities.

Part of it involves saying “no” to opportunities that conflict with our commitment to support Indigenous organizations and communities and their efforts to provide social services to their members.

Part of it involves stepping back and letting Indigenous agencies take contracts that are best suited for them and part of it means suggesting and developing different approaches and practices when conflicts arise.

Part of it involves accepting the mistakes we have made in the past (both as individuals and organizations) and recognizing the mechanisms of oppression we have each internalized and then working to overcome them.

What you can do…

Connect with an Indigenous First Nation in your community. Find out what their support needs are or what barriers they face and who you might connect them with.
Reach out to an Indigenous organization in your area and learn about their programs and services.
Prioritize reconciliation in consultations and engagement with decision-makers and funders (such as Select Standing Committee submissions).

Transformative Reconciliation

In 2020, The Federation launched a custom-built training opportunity that offers an intensive learning program for members who want to engage in transformative reconciliation through collaborative learning, design, and practice while applying reconciliation-based approaches to their organizations and programs.

The program was developed in partnership by The Federation staff team and Dr. Dustin Louie, a First Nations scholar from Nee Tahi Buhn and Nadleh Whut’en of central British Columbia and a member of the Beaver Clan. Dr. Louie has led work with school districts, private companies, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations in reconciliation, decolonizing, and Indigenizing projects.

Participants engage in robust learning about reconciliation, decolonizing, and Indigenizing; actively translate these theories into practice; safely explore their own positionality and responsibilities in this work; provide the tools to identify and disrupt colonial foundations of our practice and systems; learn local Indigenous Knowledges and embed them in their organization; and develop a network of community practice support to sustain transformative reconciliation.

What you can do…

Bookmark the Transformative Reconciliation page or sign up for Federation emails to be notified when applications open for a new cohort.
Contact an Indigenous scholar or academic in your community and have a conversation about decolonization- or reconciliation-focused learning.

Updates to Members

Each week or two, The Federation’s Executive Director updates the membership on an important upcoming event or ongoing initiative or issue that we are working to address.

Sometimes these updates are informative; sometimes we solicit information or engagement; other times we strive to inspire action or a change in thinking.

Over the past few years, a number of these updates to members have addressed important issues and events related to reconciliation.

Some topics are very clear responses or editorials (e.g., National Indigenous Peoples Day) while others bring reconciliation and Indigenous issues to the forefront of other and/or ongoing agendas and consultations (e.g., Select Standing Committee and Police Act Reform Submissions ).

Recent Updates

2021 Select Standing Committee Submission (2021)
National Indigenous Peoples Day (2021)
Statement of Acknowledgement and Support (2021)
Police Act Reform Submission (2021)
Summer Reconciliation Reading List (2020)
2020 Select Standing Committee Submission (2020)
National Indigenous Peoples Day (2020)
National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Final Report (2019)

What you can do…

Make a submission to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services. (Each year, the committee holds consultations and makes recommendations on the provincial budget.)
Find, host, and/or promote National Indigenous Peoples Day events in your community.
Read the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

Reconciliation Book Club

The Federation’s Reconciliation Book Club was created in 2018 to create an accessible space for staff in Federation member organizations to increase their knowledge of Indigenous issues, ideas, histories, and cultures. Book Club members meet every other month to discuss a new book in an online discussion facilitated by Federation staff.

It is a low-cost, low-barrier way to become better allies without burdening Indigenous people with the task of teaching and guiding. The book club has read fiction, non-fiction, YA, poetry, graphic novels, and more.

While a book club may seem like ‘low hanging fruit’ to some, as a result of participating in the Reconciliation Book Club, some participants have found the courage and support to initiate an organization-wide Orange Shirt Day at their agency. Others initiates territorial acknowledgements. Others are altogether re-examining practices and policies relating to Indigenous clients.

What you can do…

Sign up for the Reconciliation Book Club.
Start your own book club.
Read the books on the Reconciliation Book Club ‘Past Titles’ list.

Reconciliation Dialogues

In 2021, The Federation brought onboard Riley McKenzie as an Indigenous Advisor for our organization. One piece of work that Riley leads is an ongoing series of monthly interviews, editorials, and reflections and commentary on current events in order to further The Federation’s commitment to reconciliation.

The goal is to provide information on Indigenous issues that affect the social services sector, a forum for dialogue with and between members, and an entry point through which to learn about Indigenous people, practices, and perspectives—all shared from an Indigenous perspective. You can find the most recent editorial and interviews here.

What you can do…

Seek out news and current events from Indigenous sources such as APTN News.
Read Indigenous writers (like Monique Gray Smith @ltldrum or Chelsea Vowel @apihtawikosisan) and follow them on social media.

Typeface

Reconciliation is about creating a more equitable relationship between settlers and Indigenous people. And part of changing that relationship is respecting and using Indigenous languages, names, and syllabics and supporting Indigenous language revitalization and preservation.

As The Federation works with more and more Indigenous organizations and individuals, we wanted to ensure that their names and languages and titles appear correctly and appropriately on our website and documents and in our emails.

In 2022, The Federation updated its brand guidelines with a new typeface called November Syllabics, a typeface family that accommodates the typographic preferences and orthographic requirements of all Indigenous communities that use the Unified Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics.

More About November Syllabics

The type foundry that created November Syllabics, Typotheque, has worked in collaboration with Canadian Indigenous communities and successfully submitted two proposals to Unicode to create a complete Unified Canadian Syllabics fonts which involves adding the missing code points to Unicode. They have also spend time researching and collaborating with Nattilik and Carrier communities and have designed fonts that will change the standards of future Syllabics fonts.

What you can do…

Adopt a typeface that supports Indigenous glyphs and syllabics such as Google Fonts’ Noto Sans Canadian Aboriginal typeface.
Support Indigenous language revitilization and preservation efforts in your community.
Learn more about UBC Okanagan’s bachelor’s degree of Indigenous language fluency.

Reconciliation & Decolonization

Premise: What We Believe

Definitions: How We Operate

Advocacy & Outreach

What you can do…

Transformative Reconciliation

What you can do…

Updates to Members

Recent Updates

What you can do…

Reconciliation Book Club

What you can do…

Reconciliation Dialogues

What you can do…

Typeface

What you can do…

Contact Info

Reconciliation

Resources

About The Federation