We Cannot Do Reconciliation, We Must Be Reconciliation

Lisa Raven is the Executive Director of Returning to Spirit, and a member of the delegation of indigenous leaders who met the Pope to invite him to Canada to apologize for the harms inflicted on generations of indigenous families. Here, she shares what reconciliation means to her. Her organization delivers two, four-day sequential and experiential workshops on reconciliation. You can find out more at https://www.returningtospirit.org/.

- By Lisa Raven

The truth and reconciliation process involves resolving conflict from the past, often between governments, non-state bodies, and groups of people. The process aims at healing the relationship between the opposing sides through uncovering facts, allowing for acknowledgment, mourning, and forgiveness - all toward the final goal of healing.

Reconciliation means being at peace - our ability to be at peace for longer periods of time. Therefore, reconciliation has everything to do with each of us as individuals, as opposed to the "other." For a lot of people, that's a difficult concept to grasp.

Some people in Canada believe that Indigenous people should "get over it already," however, reconciliation is not a journey with a destination. It is a series of moments and building relationships along the way, which are highlighted by peace, understanding, and mutuality.

For Indigenous people in Canada, reconciliation is in the language, and is a spiritual journey. There are no words for hate and resentment. There are words that describe those feelings, but there is also an understanding that if we hold those feelings we are actually harming ourselves. We are only meant to hold those feelings temporarily, because the translation of those words helps us understand that "as I hold this, I'm hurting myself, so I'm only holding it for a little while."