Starting points to learn more about Indigenous culture

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/06/2023 (903 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The other day I was at one of my kids’ schools for a special event. On my way out, I bumped into one of her teachers and we started chatting.

When I meet people and they mention they know who I am from the Free Press or from Twitter, I am always surprised and immediately a bit embarrassed. (Sometimes when I say things, I don’t fully grasp that there are people who see or read those things.)

On the flip side, a funny thing about people who talk to me, is that they might inspire a column idea, though I always try to be respectful and would never break someone’s confidence by publishing private conversations. (Thank you to this teacher who inspired this week’s column.)

Anyway, this person and I were talking, and in that conversation, she asked my thoughts on an Indigenous issue.

Now, I should make clear that I am on my own learning journey, and that I don’t know everything, and in some cases I don’t know very much at all. I only speak for myself and from my perspective and lived experience, and my words should never be taken as me speaking on behalf of all Indigenous people.

I grew up removed from my culture, and, like every kid from my generation, I grew up learning an inaccurate and very colonized version of history in school. In fact, sometimes when my kids tell me the things they are learning in school now, I am amazed.

They know more than I ever did, and even teach me things that I don’t know now.

”Unlearning things we’ve been taught or things that we grew up believing to be true is far more difficult than learning new things.”

So, all this to say is that I like these kinds of conversations, because they help me learn, and in some cases, they help me unlearn some of the things that I grew up believing in. It’s uncomfortable, and if I’m being honest, really hard to reconcile. Unlearning things we’ve been taught or things that we grew up believing to be true is far more difficult than learning new things most of the time.

It’s not our fault that we weren’t taught an accurate version of history. However, it is our collective responsibility to fix that, and it can be an overwhelming place to try and figure out where to even start.

A while ago I read this book by Bob Joseph called 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act.

(I should point out that I am I no way affiliated with this book, or the author, and I am not trying to sell it to you.) But this is the book that I refer everyone to read, because I found it very approachable, insightful, and easy to understand.

I learned a lot from this book, and the followup companion book that Joseph wrote with his wife Cynthia Joseph called Indigenous Relations: Insights, Tips & Suggestions to Make Reconciliation a Reality. (You can read the Free Press review for this book here.)

These books are a good starting point for those of us who don’t know how to move forward on a path of learning and reconciliation, and even a great reference for those who are on that path already.

Another way that I have learned about Indigenous culture, history, and perspective is that I am deliberate and intentional in following more Indigenous people on social media, and reading books, news, stories, and opinions by Indigenous folks. I have learned so much from reading columns from my colleague Niigaan Sinclair. Even TV shows and movies have the power to educate and change us.

Sometimes our best learning comes from empathetically listening, paying attention to, and believing other people’s lived experiences.

In any case, I am grateful for these conversations and for people who are willing to engage in them by asking questions and sharing perspectives.

shelley.cook@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter @ShelleyACook