Guides: Decolonization, Indigenization and Reconciliation: Companion Resource Guide: Reconciliation

Reconciliation: a contested concept

"Reconciliation discourse may be deployed to legitimize the existing structure of power by dissociating it from the injustices of the past and the colonial foundations of the state... in the Canadian context it effectively pits the state’s desire for closure against Indigenous peoples’ desire for justice." Unpacking “Reconciliation”

"The desire to reconcile is just as relentless as the desire to disappear the Native; it is a desire to not have to deal with this (Indian) problem anymore." Decolonization is not a metaphor

“For me reconciliation is a political word. It's been co-opted and I'm not really interested in it." Musician and artist Jeremy Dutcher at the Juno Awards

Reconciliation: Recommended Resources for Further Learning

Calls to Action Accountability: A 2023 Status Update on Reconciliation by Eva Jewell & Ian Mosby
In this edition of their annual Calls to Action Accountability analysis, Jewell and Mosby reflect on the past five years of reconciliatory movements in Canada. What barriers to reconciliation have been witnessed? What has compelled Canada to act? Who has pushed progress on these Calls to Action forward? [cover artwork Victoria Ransom, Mohawk of Akwesasne]
The Reconciliation Manifesto by Arthur Manuel; Ronald M. Derrickson; Naomi Klein (Preface by)
Publication Date: 2017
In this book Arthur Manuel and Grand Chief Ronald Derrickson challenge virtually everything that non-Indigenous Canadians believe about their relationship with Indigenous Peoples and the steps that are needed to place this relationship on a healthy and honourable footing.
Warrior Life by Pamela Palmater
Publication Date: 2020
Addresses a range of Indigenous issues--empty political promises, ongoing racism, sexualized genocide, government lawlessness and the lie that is reconciliation--making complex political and legal implications accessible to all.
The Limits of Settler Colonial Reconciliation by Sarah Maddison (Editor); Tom Clark (Editor); Ravi De Costa (Editor)
Publication Date: 2016
This book explores concepts and practices of reconciliation in the context of Australia and beyond, considering the structural and attitudinal limits to such efforts in settler colonial countries. Includes contributions about settler colonialism and the politics of reconciliation.
Unsettling the Settler Within by Paulette Regan; Taiaiake Alfred (Foreword)
Publication Date: 2010
Unsettling the Settler Within argues that non-Indigenous Canadians must undergo their own process of decolonization in order to truly participate in the transformative possibilities of reconciliation. Settlers must relinquish the persistent myth of themselves as peacemakers and acknowledge the destructive legacy of a society that has stubbornly ignored and devalued Indigenous experience.
A Culture of Exploitation: “Reconciliation” and the Institutions of Canadian Art by Lindsay Nixon
Publication Date: Aug 2020 - A Yellowhead Institute Special Report.
[A] series of interviews conducted with cultural workers during the COVID-19 pandemic...reveal a renewed exploitation of their labour and their works.
Red Skin, White Masks by Glen Sean Coulthard
Publication Date: 2014
Challenges recognition as a method of organizing difference and identity in liberal politics, questioning the assumption that contemporary difference and past histories of destructive colonialism between the state and Indigenous peoples can be reconciled through a process of acknowledgment. See especially the chapter Seeing red : reconciliation and resentment
Resurgence and reconciliation : indigenous-settler relations and earth teachings by M Asch, J Borrows & J Tully (Eds)
Publication Date: 2018
Resurgence refers to practices of Indigenous self-determination and cultural renewal whereas reconciliation refers to practices between Indigenous and Settler nations such as treaty negotiations. Reconciliation also refers to the sustainable reconciliation of Indigenous and Settler peoples with the living earth as the grounds for resurgence.
Standoff: why reconciliation fails indigenous people and how to fix it. by Bruce McIvor
Publication Date: 2022
in this series of essays, lawyer and historian Bruce McIvor's message is consistent and powerful: if Canadians are brave enough to confront the reality of the country's colonialist past and present and insist that politicians replace empty promises with concrete, meaningful change, there is a realistic path forward based on respect, recognition and the implementation of Indigenous rights.

Stein, S. (2020). ‘Truth before reconciliation’: The difficulties of transforming higher education in settler colonial contexts. Higher Education Research & Development, 39(1), 156–170.

Cecco, Leyland (Aug 25 2021). Canada turns to satirical Indigenous Web site to interpret grim news.[Walking Eagle News, which uses humour to skewer political hypocrisy, has built a growing following in the wake of recent horrific discoveries]. The Guardian

Daigle, M. (2019). The spectacle of reconciliation: On (the) unsettling responsibilities to Indigenous peoples in the academy. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 37(4), 703–721.

Gaudry, A., & Lorenz, D. (2018). Indigenization as inclusion, reconciliation, and decolonization: Navigating the different visions for indigenizing the Canadian academy. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 14(3), 218–227.

Nagy, R. (2012). Truth, reconciliation and settler denial: Specifying the Canada–South Africa analogy. Human Rights Review, 13(3), 349–367.

11 university students speak (2021 Building Reconciliation in Education Forum)
7 short videos. Students form First Nations and Inuit nations across Québec share their experiences in the post-secondary school system as well as their visions of reconciliation in education.