I would. Thank you for the question.
The report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada contains more than 80 recommendations. That would be a good place to start.
I speak French, but my mother tongue is English. So this is a good test for me today.
That is one recommendation, but there are others. I am thinking of Canada’s ministers of education and of the ministers of health.
It has to become about the commitments, as you're describing. How do we ensure that people really understand what these days are about?
I'd like to share a model with you that we use in my community. We start with the individual. That becomes about you and me thinking about the territory we live on: How do we share that with our families? How do we share the history that we know? Then there's your family, and then that goes, in a larger ring, to your community. Then you think about nations, and then you think about the country.
So everyone has a role in what this education is going to be. There is no one source, if you will. It becomes about us, as individuals, creating our own understanding. That is now a responsibility. No longer is it for indigenous Canadians to share. It's about every single Canadian taking the time to learn. I would suggest that be one approach.
I would also suggest that tools be made, within government, for public servants. These would be in addition to all the changes and recommendations of the TRC, for example, public servants having a stronger understanding of the relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous Canadians. Taking it a step further, there are a number of tools that can be used, that we would love to be able to support, having engagements on....
I also would suggest looking to those nations, and being able to provide...from my perspective, speaking to first nations, specifically, in this country, both on and off reserve, both status and non-status. As we know, in the Yukon, you aren't required to be status to be a citizen of our nations. Our agreements provide us with that ability to define our own citizenship. We've moved beyond the Indian Act. So then it becomes about how we support our nations to share their stories, to have that very special day, as Kluane people, to share who we are, where we come from and what our history has been. How did the Alaska Highway impact our people? Why is it that the gold rush is seen as the beginning of the Yukon? Wait a minute. That's not accurate. Why did it take 40 years for Kate Carmack to be acknowledged as one of the discoverers of gold? These are the moments that will no longer be only our responsibility as Kluane First Nation, but as Yukoners. However, we need support to be able to host those important events and to create those materials.
I would like to thank you for that question because there will be tools and resources that will need to be developed. There will be teachings, and learn-ins, and understanding that's built at home, at the dinner table. I know very well, coming from an indigenous and non-indigenous background, that there are conversations that don't always take place. “Hey, Grandpa, we have a farm. I think this farm is built on the people from Curve Lake's traditional territory.” Those conversations were only had at our dinner table because I have an indigenous background and a non-indigenous background. So it changes the conversation.
It is our responsibility to change that conversation, in that circle I described, which is ours, and then to take it further—to community, to family, to our places of work, our nations and our countries.