LISTENING TO INDIGENOUS VOICES

"Our gaze is… in the wrong place because we are asking the wrong questions. Instead of asking, 'What’s wrong with these people?' we should ask, 'What’s wrong with this broader system that built a wall and flung Humpty Dumpty over it?'"
​—Deborah McGregor

Why this Guide?

As we prepared this guide, many, quite rightfully, noted that the Jesuit Forum was far from being experts on the complex question of how to move towards more just relationships with Indigenous Peoples.

In many ways, those concerns are valid. We certainly do not claim to be authorities on this question. Yet, as Settlers and Newcomers living on this land—as people who have benefited from the legacy of colonization and the land taken from Indigenous Peoples—we feel a moral obligation to do what we can to help live up to our responsibilities as treaty peoples and address the legacy of injustices.

As Deborah McGregor rightfully notes, Canada does not have an “Indigenous problem". Canada has a colonization problem. Those of us who have benefited from colonization—particularly those of us who are Settlers, whose ancestors have lived here for some time—have a responsibility to address the system that has enriched us by stealing the land and lives of Indigenous Peoples.

We believe the first step in this process is to listen deeply to what Indigenous Peoples are saying to us, to open ourselves to be transformed by their words, and to act based on what they are telling us to address injustices, heal relationships, and bring about a post-colonial Canada.  Read more

Creation and Editorial Process

© Diane Montreuil
Cover Image: Healing Herbs, Acrylic painting on canvas, 10 x 10 in. (2017) by Diane Montreuil, an artist based in Toronto – originally from Montréal, Québec – of the Eastern Métis, influenced by the Woodland School Style. Diane describes the piece: “Grandmother who gives her wisdom as the keeper of the teaching lodge and the sacred ways. She understands and teaches the healing pathway to our people and young women for them to learn the traditional herbal way of the medicine, based on the medicine wheel. For each heir of the teaching, it’s their responsibility to pass on to the next seven generations and learn how to walk in Beauty and Respect on our Mother Earth.”
© Diane Montreuil

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EDITORIAL TEAM

Listening to Indigenous Voices draws on a wide selection of writings and artwork by Indigenous creators from across Turtle Island who generously shared their work with us. The guide was edited by:

  • Victoria Blanco, artistic editor and Program Manager of the Jesuit Forum
  • Jayce Chiblow, assistant editor and member of Garden River First Nation
  • Mark Hathaway, lead editor and current Executive Director of the Jesuit Forum
  • Anne-Marie Jackson, supervising editor and former Jesuit Forum Director

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ADVISORY GROUP

Listening to Indigenous Voices was created in collaboration with KAIROS Canada and Centre justice et fois guided by an advisory group made up of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous members:

  • Michel Andraos, Dean, Faculty of Theology, Saint Paul University
  • Frédéric Barriault, chargé de projets, Centre justice et foi
  • Ed Bianchi, Program Manager, KAIROS Canada
  • Rosella Kinoshameg, Anishinabe-kwe, Wiikwemikoong Unceded Territory
  • Harry Lafond, Muskeg Lake Cree Nation
  • Mark MacDonald, National Indigenous Anglican Archbishop
  • Gerry McDougall, Anishinabe Spiritual Centre
  • Nicole O’Bomsawin, Abénaki anthropologist and Indigenous consultant
  • Priscilla Solomon, Ojibwe, Sister of St. Joseph, Faith and Justice Office
  • Kathi Tanel, former teacher, Toronto Catholic District School Board
  • Marie Wilson, former Commissioner, Truth and Reconciliation Commission

With editorial support by Jean-François Roussel, Assoc. Professor, U. de Montréal.
See the inside cover of the guide for more details  

Selected Endorsements

© Diane Montreuil
© Diane Montreuil
Cover Image: Healing Herbs, Acrylic painting on canvas, 10 x 10 in. (2017) by Diane Montreuil, an artist based in Toronto – originally from Montréal, Québec – of the Eastern Métis, influenced by the Woodland School Style. Diane describes the piece: “Grandmother who gives her wisdom as the keeper of the teaching lodge and the sacred ways. She understands and teaches the healing pathway to our people and young women for them to learn the traditional herbal way of the medicine, based on the medicine wheel. For each heir of the teaching, it’s their responsibility to pass on to the next seven generations and learn how to walk in Beauty and Respect on our Mother Earth.”

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"Listening to Indigenous Voices is a journey through some of the most important Indigenous voices of our generation. In it, you will learn how to engage in dialogue, growth and change - all the while enacting justice and relationships from the visions, stories, and words of Indigenous artists and knowledge keepers. As Arthur Manuel states: "change cannot be done in a day but the process can start today;" reading this collection is one way to start."

— Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair, is Anishinaabe (St. Peter's/Little Peguis) and an Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba

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"This carefully crafted guide involves the voices of Indigenous peoples through stories, ceremonies, songs and visual arts to reveal a world enriched by diverse Indigenous wisdom and the complex history of colonization and its impacts. It guides us in coming to know each other and to travel on pathways towards living with one another in respect and care."

— Lorna Wanósts’a7 Williams, of the Lil’wat Nation, BC, is Professor Emerita and Canada Research Chair in Education and Linguistics

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"Listening to Indigenous Voices is a wonderful guide to helping non-Indigenous peoples with connecting, discussing, and understanding First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in Canada. The guide provides a step-by-step guideline to having frank and honest discussions about cultural genocide and the necessary un-learning of stereotypes and racism to start the path to reconciliation."

- Angela Mashford-Pringle, Assistant Professor and Associate Director of the Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto (Algonquin: Timiskaming First Nation)
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