Speaker Zabrina Whitman says Canadian society needs to respect aboriginal rights to live differently
Hannah Wyile and Zabrina Whitman
A gathering at Acadia University this week is welcoming aboriginal and non-aboriginal academics and artists from across Canada.
It's the third annual Aboriginal Arts Mawio'mi. Mawio'mi means "gathering place" in Mi'kmaq.
The theme of this year's get-together is: "How can we co-exist, in a just and peaceful way, with the Land and within ourselves and each other as humans?"
Zabrina Whitman and Hannah Wyile are both attending the Mawio'mi and made a presentation together. Wyile is doing her PhD at the University of Ottawa on aboriginal reconciliation and Whitman is researching traditional knowledge and management of natural resources.
It was only back in June that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its summary report and recommendations on how to repair the damage caused by residential schools.
Despite a close federal election campaign, the topic of residential schools and reconciliation has barely been raised on the campaign trail.
'A gradual awareness'
Wyile says awareness of Aboriginal issues has been slow to change.
"I didn't learn about residential schools until I went to university, and even in that instance I think I encountered it particularly because I was studying in a human rights program," she said.
"We have seen an increase in awareness since the beginning of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but it's really been a gradual awareness."
Whitman says peace co-existence is about mainstream Canadian society respecting aboriginal rights to live differently.
"I think, fundamentally, what it relates to is the right to self-determination, because the challenge we have today is that there isn't that recognition," she said. "Self-determination isn't about using liberal or liberal-based policies or decision-making and applying it to our communities. Self-determination means supporting indigenous peoples and deciding things that work for them from their traditional value systems."
The conference runs until Sept. 22.