Building Bridges Together
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building bridges together a resource guide for intercultural work between aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples may 2008 this resource guide consists of discussions and stories about key concepts and historical developments that inform current-day intercultural work between aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples in bc. by reading this resource guide, you will: gain an awareness of the diverse perspectives inherent to intercultural work between aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples in bc acquire information about online and text resources that relate to intercultural work between aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples in bc building bridges together a resource guide for intercultural work between aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples lead author & editor scott graham contributors crystal reeves, paulette regan, brenda ireland, eric ostrowidzki, greg george, verna miller, ellie parks and laureen whyte design & layout joanne cheung & matthew beall cover artwork kinwa bluesky prepared by the social planning and research council of british columbia special thanks to the vancouver foundation for their generous support for this project © MAY 2008 library & archives canada cataloguing in publication graham, scott, 1977 – building bridges together: a resource guide for intercultural work between aboriginal and non aboriginal peoples includes bibliogrpahical references. also available in electronic format. ISBN 978-0-9809157-3-0 SOCIAL PLANNING AND RESEARCH COUNCIL OF BC 201-221 EAST 10TH AVE. VANCOUVER, BC V5T 4V3 WWW.SPARC.BC.CA [email protected] TEL: 604-718-7733 building bridges together a resource guide for intercultural work between aboriginal and non-aborignial peoples acknowledgements: the content of the building bridges together series would not be possible without the insightful contributions of the members of the building bridges together advisory committee. members of the committee would like to extend their gratitude to the many community members who provided their on-going support, valuable insights and suggestions on various sections of the resource guide and workbook, including layout, assessment sheets, case studies, discussion points and guiding questions. sparc bc would like to specifically thank the following advisory committee members for giving their time and expertise: brad tait, lisims backcountry adventures inc. (a part of nisga’a commercial group) danny peters, native education college darlene shackelly, native courtworker and counselling association of bc donald isbister, healing our spirit ellie langford parks, centre for non-profit management eric ostrowidzki, nicola valley institute of technology greg george, quick thinking management solutions laureen white, arbutus consulting patrick kelly, patrick kelly consulting paulette regan, truth and reconciliation commission, government of canada verna miller, nlaka’pamux health and healing society verna billy-minnabariet, nicola valley institute of technology brenda ireland, first light initiatives Table of Contents Introduction 1 Outline and learning objectives 2 Intercultural work between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Peoples: Defi nitions, dynamics and principles 3 Defi ning intercultural work 3 Dynamics of intercultural work 4 Categorization 4 Prejudice and stereotypes 5 Discrimination 6 Racism 6 White privilege 7 Principles for intercultural work 11 Mutual recognition 12 Mutual respect 13 Sharing 14 Mutual Responsibility 14 Examples of Intercultural Work 16 Brenda Ireland and Paulette Regan talk about “Unsettling Dialogues of History & Hope” 16 Ellie Parks talks about organizing a national conference 19 Ellie Parks discusses the work of Saltspring Islanders for Justice and Reconciliation (SSIJAR) 20 Laureen Whyte talks about “Making the Grade” 22 Verna Miller refl ects on Indigenous Knowledge and Respect 29 Greg George talks about ‘All Nations Gathering’ 31 SEE/BLIND: A collaborative story by the “Building Bridges Together” Advisory Committee 32 Discussions and resources on Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal relations 34 Terminology of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples 34 Ways of understanding history 35 General phases of colonization and decolonization 37 Settler and Indigenous social policy in Canada 40 E-learning about peoples’ experiences with colonization 42 Historical and legal facts regarding Aboriginal people 43 Territories, names and languages of First Nations in British Columbia 44 British Columbia treaty process 44 Partnerships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Peoples 45 Appendices 46 Appendix One: Supplementary resources 46 Online resources 46 Books 48 Articles 50 Appendix Two: Comment sheet 52 Endnotes 53 Introduction From June 2006 to April 2008, the Social Planning and Research Council of British Columbia (SPARC BC) and the members of the Building Bridges Together Advisory Committee built two resources that aim to encourage intercultural work between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in BC: (1) Building Bridges Together Resource Guide; (2) Building Bridges Together Workbook. Building Bridges Together Resource Guide is a compilation of a wide range of resources that can inform local initiatives to engage in dialogue and action-planning between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples. The resource guide was designed to help you and your community access relevant information as you engage in community processes to explore history, refl ect on the present, and take action leading to a better future for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples. Building Bridges Together Workbook compliments the resource guide by outlining a three part process to creating an intercultural dialogue series with and for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples. The workbook is the ‘how-to’ component of the Building Bridges Together series and contains assessment sheets and planning worksheets to help you work with people in your community to develop a locally relevant dialogue series. a resource guide for intercultural work between aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples 1 Outline and learning objectives There are three chapters in Building Bridges Together Resource Guide. In chapter one, we provide an overview of the defi nition, dynamics and guiding principles for intercultural work between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in BC. In chapter two, we present the personal refl ections, hopeful imaginings and critical questions about intercultural work between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples that were developed by members of the Building Bridges Together Advisory Committee. Chapter three features a wide range of short discussions and resources related to topic areas that are central to intercultural work between Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal peoples in BC. The appendices consist of supplementary readings and resources and a comment sheet. Although this resource guide does touch on a wide range of topics, it is by no means a comprehensive treatment of the subject of the relations between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in BC and Canada. Nevertheless, it does aim to provide a thumb nail sketch of some of the ideas and developments that relate to intercultural work between the two groups. As such, all content in this resource guide has been developed with a view to facilitating the achievement of three learning objectives for the reader: • To understand some of the key concepts, as well as the historical and contemporary developments that typically inform discussions about intercultural work between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in BC; • To gain an awareness of the diverse perspectives and lived experiences inherent to intercultural work between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in BC; • To acquire information about online and text resources that relate to intercultural work between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in BC. 2 building bridges together Intercultural work between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Peoples: Defi nitions, dynamics and principles In this chapter, we provide a working defi nition of intercultural work and discuss some of the dynamics of intercultural work between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples. This chapter also includes a summary discussion of the guiding principles for renewing relations between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples as developed in the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP). Defi ning intercultural work Before we can talk about intercultural work, it is necessary to fi rst defi ne what is meant by the term culture. Although there are ongoing debates about what does and doesn’t count as culture, the United Nations’ Educational, Scientifi c and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) provides a useful description that we feel captures the essence of what culture is: “... culture should be regarded as the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group. It encompasses... art and literature, lifestyles, language, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs.”1 Given this wide defi nition of culture, we consider intercultural work in similarly broad terms, which is to say that intercultural work involves the activities and thoughts that are created and changed in and through human interaction across and in between different cultures.2 Intercultural work between Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal peoples is centered on the recognition that working in between cultures does not take place in a power vacuum or in equal-power relations. It is situated in the context of power imbalances and inequalities, most of which have their historical roots