Reconciliation

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Walking With Indigenous Communities

Walking With Indigenous Communities

Reconciliation Webinar Recordings

The Alberta Recreation & Parks Association (ARPA) continues to provide learning opportunities for our members to to begin or deepen their reconciliation journey. The following sections include videos on: Reconciliation, Elder Teachings, and Reconciliation Pop Ups.

Featured Webinar | 10th Grandmothers’ Circle: Honouring Wisdom

After nearly five years of Grandmothers’ Circles, we’ve reached our 10th circle! Guided by the theme of “Honouring Wisdom”, this circle features 5 Indigenous women Elders who share their unique perspectives on fostering wellness. Honed through a lifetime of experiences, their insights offer invaluable guidance for encouraging holistic health, and demonstrate the importance of intergenerational teachings in fostering community wellness. This event is presented by Communities ChooseWell and Alberta Blue Cross.

Reconciliation Teachings

What is Walking With Indigenous Communities: ARPA’s Action Map?
Listen as Janet Naclia, ARPA Director of People & Programs, Elder Diane Meguinis (Tsuut’ina), and Maddison Drader, Communities ChooseWell Program Officer of Events & Education, unpack the Walking With Indigenous Communities (WWIC): ARPA’s Action Map. Presenters share the history of the Action Map, discuss parallels made to honour the Indigenous oral perspective, and highlight tangible examples of the map in action.
Grandmothers’ Circle: Protocol 101
At the Alberta Recreation & Parks Association we often get questions related to Elders and the proper use of protocols. To honour and celebrate National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, this session features four multi-nation Elders, including Brenda Roland (Métis), Diane Meguinis (Tsuut’ina), Doreen Healy (Blackfoot) and Karli Crowshoe (Blackfoot) who took the time to answer questions related to the proper use of protocols. This session has been generously sponsored by Communities ChooseWell and Alberta Blue Cross. 
Discovering One’s Own Reconciliation Journey
As one of ARPA’s newest staff members, Spencer Acheson is excited to share a presentation about how he began his journey of reconciliation since beginning his role in the Recreation and Parks sector. With the help of ARPA’s Indigenous Oral Knowledge Hub, Spencer shares insights on what he has learned from the Indigenous Elders, partners, and communities we are privileged to work with and about the importance of practicing and promoting allyship in personal and professional settings. 
Traditional Ways of Making Relations Panel
In this video, panelists share their key successes/stories in building relationships with individuals, communities, and organizations, to promote wellness and community connections. The focus is on gathering insights on relationship building from a range of perspectives (Indigenous champions, Western Orgs, etc.), and providing advice on how to start, best practices and key successes in relationship building with Indigenous communities. This session was sponsored by our friends at Alberta Blue Cross. 

Elder Teachings

Smudging
Blackfoot Elders and Traditional Knowledge Keepers, Dr. Reg and Rose Crowshoe share valuable insight about the significance of smudging.
A Personal Look into Residential Schools
Blackfoot Elders Kelly and Daphne Good Eagle from the Siksika Nation in Treaty 7 territory offer personal insights into their experiences in Residential Schools.
Intergenerational Trauma
What do we know about intergenerational trauma? In this session, Kerrie Moore – a psychotherapist, educator and Cree/Metis Elder – provides a cultural understanding on the nature of intergenerational trauma. Elder Kerrie also discusses the function of the brain, the effects of toxic stress and how it can lead to trauma, the role of epigenetics, and why culture identity is important for resilience. 
Why Indigenous History Month Matters
ARPA and the Boys and Girls Club of Calgary (BGCC) host a webinar exploring our shared history with Indigenous peoples, National Indigenous Peoples Month, and reconciliatory actions for the recreation and parks sector.
Importance of Indigenous Elders
Dr. Reg and Rose Crowshoe, honoured Blackfoot Elders and Traditional Knowledge Keepers, share their thoughts on the importance of Indigenous Elders and their role in reconciliation. The Crowshoes discuss how the recreation and parks sector can support the Elders, the impacts of colonization, and how viewers can work in collaboration as allies with Indigenous communities

Reconciliation Pop Ups

Sit with Janet Naclia, ARPA Director of People and Programs, and Jessica Smith, Manager of Iiyika’kimaat, Home Fire & Aura for Trellis, as they discuss the importance of reconciliatory actions for the recreation and parks sector.

Reconciliation Pop Up: Part 1
Learn more about the smudge, the purpose of a land acknowledgement, Treaty 7, as well as some statistics on the Indigenous population in North America.
Reconciliation Pop Up: Part 2
Part 2 explores our shared history with Indigenous peoples, including residential schools. Janet and Jessica also discuss relevant policies, including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC), Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls, and the Framework for Recreation in Canada 2015: Pathways to Wellbeing.
Reconciliation Pop Up: Part 3
Part 3 discusses awareness, how to get involved and how to educate ourselves to become an ally.
Reconciliation Pop Up: Part 4
Janet and Jessica share some examples of reconciliatory actions that ARPA and Trellis have taken alongside elders and communities, as well as examples of actions that you can take on as a recreation, parks and wellness professional.

The Alberta Recreation & Parks Association would like to acknowledge the First Nations, the Métis, the Inuit and all of the people across Alberta who share a history and a deep connection with this land. We dedicate ourselves to moving forward in partnership with Indigenous communities in the spirit of reconciliation and collaboration.