One of the key goals of the annual Truth and Reconciliation Lunch and Learn event in Lacombe is to spark thought-provoking conversations among those in attendance.
The event runs through to Sept. 27 in the Lacombe Memorial Centre's Kinsman Program Room from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Everyone is welcome, and their is no charge (just bring your lunch with you).
Each session features a national webinar followed by a discussion hosted by a partnership between the Mary C. Moore Public Library, the Lacombe Museum, and St. Andrew's United Church.
"Today, and through the week, I hope maybe even someone who isn't necessarily learning something brand new would still take away some new perspectives - especially when we gather a group of people from the community who may be coming here for different reasons," said Samanta Lee of the Lacombe Museum.
"Hopefully, a participant might get a different idea of how someone else maybe sees it, or how they've even been taught about it, or also what they may have heard about these topics," she explained.
Overall, the goal of the week is to build on the knowledge of the bigger TRC organization, and then bring it down to a more local level.
Besides Lee, other hosts for the sessions include Kirstin Bouwsema of the library, and Rev. Cecile Fausak with the United Church of Canada and St. Andrew's United Church as well.
On Sept. 23, the topic was 'Health-related Impacts of the Residential School System'.
Other subjects up for discussion through the week include 'Allyship and Confronting Unconscious Bias', 'Addressing the Impacts of Indigenous Identity Fraud', 'A Community Perspective on the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples', and 'How do we Address the Barriers to Reconciliation?'
The health-related discussion - both among the key speakers online and locally during the discussion - was an enlightening and personal time.
Even personal experiences of racism surrounding the access to health care were shared during the national conversation. Speakers Kathy Pompana and Dr. Maureen Lux also discussed the harms caused by the residential school system and the segregated health care system known as Indian Hospitals, and their modern day impacts for Indigenous health.
According to the TRC website, "audience members will come away with an understanding of the link between these colonial systems, and how they contributed to mistrust of the health care system."
And then folks from Lacombe offered their own experiences and thoughts about the topic as well.
A question often asked during the screening, and the local chat, was 'where do we go from here'.
Of course, there are no easy answers - but building awareness and bringing these topics to the forefront are part of the journey forward, said Lee, adding she wants people to feel safe and not too overwhelmed during the meetings.
She added that indeed it's a complex topic, with many layers, and of course it goes back far in our history.
"If you are feeling a little overwhelmed with the information, or you haven't been able to grapple with it because you don't have a space to do that, maybe we are providing that," said Lee, adding much of her own knowledge of the Truth and Reconciliation process has come from her own studies and via her work in museums.
"What an undertaking - I can't imagine the years behind it," she said of the commission's vision and mission.
"Most of us didn't see that, and weren't a part of it. They went province to province, interviewing people and holding those meetings," she said, adding she feels that Canada has essentially blazed a trail that other nations will hopefully come to explore as well in terms or Truth and Reconciliation.
Meanwhile, also planned for this week is the screening of a documentary on Friday night (Sept. 27) in the same room.
It's called Waapake, and it's been put out by the National Film Board of Canada. It starts at 7 p.m.
According to the film's synopsis, "For generations, the suffering of residential school survivors has radiated outward, impacting Indigenous families and communities. Dr. Jules Arita Koostachin's deeply personal documentary Waapake (Tomorrow) moves beyond the inter-generational trauma, with an invitation to unravel the tangled threads of silence and unite in collective freedom and power."
Admission is $5 per person at the door (cash only).
For more about the Lunch and Learn event, contact Kirstin Bouwsema at kbouwsema@prl.ab.ca, or visit https://trw-svr.nctr.ca/lunch-and-learns/
