We Are All Treaty People

Treaties are a relationship, an ongoing conversation that needs to happen in this country. Cynthia tells of her settler ancestors, coming to Canada with a fantasy of living this new modern life in Canada. They didn’t know the stories of the people from this land and they did not care to listen and learn. Additionally Dwayne mentioned, colonialism is an extended process of denying relationship. There has been a huge gap in the relationship between First Nations people and settlers. This makes room for racism, misconception and oppression. This is why Treaty Education is so important. Or as Claire calls it, “Settler Education”. We need to understand our history and know the treaties that have been formed throughout our land, in order to bring reconciliation to Canada. Schools that do not have any First Nations students, especially need to be taught about treaties, as they are the foundation of Canada. We need to learn about this in order to create a better future. This is the teacher’s responsibility to educate their students and also the parents of the students.