Next In Our Allyship Series, Indigenous Allyship. Join Maddie, Malcolm and Special Guest Jemma. Learn with them how we can be better allies.
Next In Our Allyship Series, Indigenous Allyship. Join Maddie, Malcolm and Special Guest Jemma. Learn with them how we can be better allies.
Hey folks, welcome back to the Get with the group Podcast. I'm Maddie.
Malcolm:I'm Malcolm.
Maddie:For this week's episode we are joined with Gemma.
Gemma:Hi, thanks for having me.
Maddie:For this week's episode, we are going to be talking about indigenous reconciliation. So we're super grateful to have Gemma here with us. Gemma works in youth mentorship with the EDI IR team at the grove since January of 2021. So thank you Gemma for joining us for this podcast. We are super lucky to have all your expertise and knowledge to join us here. So I'm just going to start with a quick land acknowledgement we are recording out of Guelph. So this knit land acknowledgement is made for this location. But as you all know, we do have lots of locations for our Growth Hub sites. So we acknowledge that the growth growth hubs Guelph the land under our feet today is located on on a Shinobi, hoed nashoni and add a wonder on Mississaugas of the credit First Nation and treaty three between the legs purchase. We respect the culture, language, languages and teachings of all indigenous communities and are grateful for the land waterways and non human inhabitants that sustain our everyday lives. We recognize that historical and ongoing mistreatments oppression and injustices that First Nations Metis and Inuit communities have faced and still face to this day. At the growth hubs. We are committed to building relationships, trust and many different opportunities within our hubs for indigenous youth and all First Nations Metis and Inuit communities. We are taking small but meaningful steps towards indigenous Reconciliation Through education and reflection. The growth hubs will remain accountable to upholding its commitment to indigenous reconciliation, and the continuation of creating a safe and inclusive space for all.
Malcolm:All right, I'm gonna be continuing on with that with a bit of an accountability piece from the grow. So as the grove Wellington Guelph continues to evolve and expand, we acknowledge the accountability we must take on as individuals and as an organization to recognize the long standing harm, trauma and oppression that has been inflicted on indigenous communities. As an organization that exists within a marginalized system, we take accountability for the ways in which we have we have been placed in advantageous and privileged positions. As such, the grove is committed to working with and poor indigenous communities to challenge the system, dismantle our own biases, and embed practices that encourage relationship building and reconciliation. We recognize the importance of listening, learning and understanding the voices, perspectives and lived experience of the indigenous peoples. There is an equally significant need to change and support leadership and endowment amongst indigenous peoples. The Grove acknowledges the need for uncomfortable conversations, as they are the driving force for learning, accountability and change. Our organization is committed to the ongoing education of matters related to the anti oppressive, anti racist and anti discrimination practices. The Grove strives to challenge the challenge systems of oppression and promote equity and justice within all aspects of the organization. We acknowledge the eternal nature of this commitment, as reconciliation has no timeline, the grove will continue to evolve and learn while remaining accountable for our actions and decisions.
Maddie:Yeah, so Gemma, would you like to tell everyone what you do kind of your? I don't know if you want talking about the workshop we just completed?
Gemma:Yeah, sure. Um, so my name is Gemma Whelan. I'm originally from Wales in the UK. And I just want to say first of all, yes, I am white. And I do come to indigenous reconciliation. As a self identified ally, and I know that has is causes some issues. But it this is a journey I've been on for quite some time and with in relationship with indigenous communities. So yeah, I'm on a Ph. D. Program at the University of Guelph. It's called critical studies in improvisation. So the long and short of it is that how do we use social and creative improvisation to create social change? So creative improvisation could be something like this podcast. Or it could be theater, it could be jazz music, it could be dance, it could be a range of arts. Yeah, so my I work with the grove started through a course that I took called Exploring ally ship. It was an experiential learning course at the university. And I was introduced to Niddah, who I was a mentor of helping her develop the Youth Ambassador training program that you folks have probably. So yeah, that's how I started to get involved. And then slowly but surely, like my, my research has been developing around what non Indigenous youth can do in terms of indigenous reconciliation education, within the grove hubs, when they're in the middle of building relationships with indigenous communities, or if they don't have relationships with indigenous communities at all, so it's it? Yeah, it's a big question.
Maddie:Yeah. And so we just finished how long? How many weeks was a six week six weeks, we just finished a six week program workshop with Gemma, where all the youth ambassadors for the grove and Aaron Fergus, Palmerston and Guelph we gathered, and Gemma led us through different readings. And it was it was really awesome. I mean, you know, we were able to have open conversations and discussions about the history and kind of the present day, how to be an ally, what does indigenous reconciliation look like. And something that I really enjoyed, that Gemma brought to the table was, all of our sessions were started with Gemma reading something of indigenous reconciliation. And she would just let us draw while we listened. And it had a really big impact on how you kind of let your mind go when you're doodling. And you can just absorb the information so much more. And then as soon as the reading was done, all of the wires would go into a document and pose questions, and then we'd answer each other's questions. And it was just a really nice way to see where everyone stands with their knowledge, and how to learn if it was
Malcolm:a safe space to learn from each other without feeling like anyone was being looked at a bit too heavily. But yeah, it was a very safe space and open area where everyone Yeah,
Gemma:I guess that leads me to think thing like what was your own experiences of learning about indigenous reconciliation in school?
Maddie:I will start. So I also identify as a white settler, but I do feel like I am a self actualized ally to indigenous communities. I always strive to learn and to use my privilege to fight for indigenous reconciliation. So in school, I'm majoring in psychology at the University of Guelph. So I feel like a lot of professors and courses have tried to include indigenous history and really anything to kind of dip our toes into the water, because a lot of folks don't really know much of any history. And that was the same with me. So I had a little bit of an idea kind of what the land I'm on, I knew that we were part of the Mississaugas of the credit treating number three dish with one spoon territory. And I that was about it. I mean, I was always open to learning about it, but I just I learn more when I'm provided with a space to talk about it. I feel like there's always that little bit of that voice in the back of my head. Like don't say the wrong thing. Don't I don't know don't say anything. That could be offensive and it it kind of makes me nervous to have those conversations but Gemma, you really proved how important it is to have those conversations and to learn about indigenous reconciliation because there is such a history of trauma and oppression and we need to learn those things in order to move forward. So knocked on I'm not sure what your experience was.
Malcolm:Yeah, so I'm not gonna go through the whole same thing but I am also I'm also a white identifying person. So I'm currently I I study at the University of Guelph, I'm majoring in real estate. So I've got a business degree coming up but so we have an entirely different sort of area we are exploring in our university paths, but unfortunately In the business program I have, I mean, you could probably expect this I had little to none, little to no experience learning about anything to do with indigenous allyship, or indigenous past
Gemma:or any indigenous land or indigenous land, which is super interest, which is very interesting.
Malcolm:We've never had a land reconciliation or anything like that the beginning of our lectures, but I was I was quite fortunate in high school, I had one history teacher who just took it upon himself to educate us a little bit more on indigenous history. But he was always he would always tell us that we were lucky that he was bringing this up, because our school board had no interest in that being part of the curricular activities. So yeah, it's it's quite unfortunate that it's not spoken about more often. Yeah.
Maddie:I mean, Gemma from because I know that you're not from Yeah, you're experienced back home.
Gemma:Yeah. So as an international student, you know, I sit in a very precarious situation where it, which is another interesting thing for me is, you know, how, how do newcomers learn about or immigrants or migrants or refugees learn about even, you know, the history of Canada? And for me, when I moved here in 2016, no, I first moved to Toronto, and it was the, it was the first time that I'd ever heard of colonization of indigenous people, because it just wasn't in my school curriculum in in Wales, and I think that's for obvious reasons.
Malcolm:I mean, it's not even in Canadian. Yeah. So
Gemma:yeah. Um, so my learning journey has been sort of thinking about, so, Wales, the country I come from is both colonized, but also have been involved in the act of colonization. So Wales is is is sometimes recognized as England's first, colonized, colonized. Success. So in the process of that happening, we lost our language. So only 40% of people speak the Welsh language now. And then, like, there's sort of echoes of of that. That, I mean, if you go to North Wales, it's very different people living in communities where they, they still speak Welsh, but I'm from South Wales. And, yeah, you get a really good sense of there is a Welsh and English divide. So coming here, with that, I didn't realize until I started learning about, like colonization and what what that has done to indigenous peoples language, land, cultural practices. So it's helped me to be reflective, but not, you know, not in so much as, like, being Oh, well, we've experienced this too. So I know exactly how you feel. Yeah, I, it's, it's a for me, it's a way in. And then so the other part is that in order to save the Welsh language, Welsh agriculturalists tried to colonize Nova Scotia, I think in the 12th century, and failed because of the, because of the tariff tree, it was just very difficult. And then they were successful in South America. So Argentina, in Patagonia, and the it's called the colony, that's how it's translated, but it's called on WaterFire. And there are more people that speak Welsh in this small community than there are in the whole of Wales. So, yeah, it's really, it's really interesting and the way in which, like how we try and engage with people to learn the Welsh slang wedge, which also is resonant of, like, the way in which so the way that they decided that they were going to erase this language was you had to wear a board that had W en written on it. And that meant Welsh not. So meaning, don't speak Welsh, if you were caught speaking Welsh, you'd have to wear this. And they relied on. Like, pairs of children to tell the teacher that other. Yeah, so so for me that that, that allows for me to sort of try and understand what the schools were like here. And again, nowhere near as abusive, I don't think. So. For me, it's been about a lot of learning a lot of mistakes and learning from my mistakes. And I think that's a, that's a really key part of it.
Malcolm:That was that was one of the best parts about our workshop is whenever someone made any sort of mistake, because we're all still learning, we were all a group and a team. And we would educate that person and help them expand their knowledge, I myself had plenty of moments where I learned something new, or I made a fool of myself. But it's important to do that. Because if you are too scared to make a fool of yourself, then you're never going to learn the correct knowledge.
Gemma:But then having conversations in in spaces, with specifically other non indigenous folks, is also critical. I think this this notion comes from the four R's youth movement, so that they say that before, non Indigenous people in their widely defined identities should go into, should go into their own communities first and talk about the history of colonization, and try and understand what indigenous reconciliation is, before trying to engage with indigenous communities. Because we're trying to reduce the harm that we are causing. So for me, this was kind of like, an the workshops. Were also, you know, part of my research, this was the third iteration of the workshops, and each of the series has been really, really different. Because people have been from different cultural backgrounds. They've entered Canada in various ways. So yeah, it brings to light how other people have also experienced colonization in their own country. Yeah, yeah.
Maddie:I mean, I like that you touched upon the learning with other non indigenous folks, because it's not their job to teach us, right. It's our job to have that base layer of knowledge and education.
Gemma:And sometimes that can be really hard to know where to start, because it can feel overwhelming. And
Malcolm:yeah, just to learn. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Maddie:So kind of last topic of discussion. Before we wrap up. Gemma, do you have any kind of prompts or ideas on how non Indigenous identifying youth can practice indigenous reconciliation?
Gemma:Well, I guess the allyship guides here at the grove are a great resource that have been developed in partnership with indigenous folks. So the information in it is, is vitally relevant. But also, it's I think it's okay to speak to folks at the grove as well about any, like, education programming that you might want to learn yourself. I know that there is plans in the future for some meaty finger weaving happening, but I guess it's the first step I would say is yeah, just like tucked each other. And that's that's a really scary first, like starting point. Yeah. And so also what is the purpose of you having these conversations as well is super important. Yeah. And then I think adults should be accountable in these conversations like, US cannot only be the ones that are leading the way here. Yeah, so asking adults as well, if they don't know then learn together, even if it's outside of school, and they fit at home. Yeah, try and learn together. And it's a really, really long process. Yes. To learn more,
Malcolm:yeah, that's yeah.
Gemma:So, yeah. And apologize. If well apologize when you when you know you've made a mistake. If you are engaging with with indigenous folks, I think that's that's really key.
Maddie:Awesome. Well, I will just say a little final note, as a settler organization, the grove acknowledges the everlasting nature of this work, and we will continue to approach our learning with honesty, curiosity, and authenticity, we strive to demonstrate a small piece of our learning within this interactive land acknowledgement. However, we want to emphasize that this is informed by settlers who are working to learn about the Indigenous ways of knowing. Therefore, we will always seek out ways to make this this display more accurate and representative. As an organization, we will continually seek out ways to learn about indigenous experiences, and reflect on our positionally positions as settlers. Our learning must come from an honest place as we continue to recognize our absence of knowledge on the truths behind indigenous experiences. We are committed to learning and unlearning and we acknowledge the amount of work that has to be done. Day by day, the grove will work to build relationships with indigenous peoples and youth while we move towards truth and reconciliation. So thank you everyone for tuning in for this week's episode and a big thank you, Gemma. No, thank you for having me on the podcast. Your expertise is always valued and it doesn't go unnoticed how much work you put in. So we really appreciate having you here on the podcast.
Malcolm:Thank you everyone for tuning into this week's episode. And remember, be kind to your mind, and we'll see you next time. Bye.