How our journey began

Many years ago, a conversation about reconciliation took place between Kátł’odeeche First Nation Chief, Roy Fabian, Bishop Denis Croteau of the Diocese of Yellowknife and Sister Ann Thomson ssa. Their discussion led them to connect with an Algonquin man named Marc Pizandawatc. While Marc had already been facilitating healing workshops among Indigenous communities in the North West Territories, Sister Ann suggested a program focused specifically on reconciling Indigenous communities and the Church in an effort to begin healing from the legacy of Indian Residential Schools in Canada.

With funding from the church and a dedicated team of people (including residential school survivors) with expertise in community development, personal empowerment principles and First Nations’ traditions, culture and spiritual practices, the hard work began.

Critical to the design and process was the need to reconcile within one's own biases and preconceptions before being able to really listen to the other, and be open to different ways of thinking. The program model was designed to be divided into separate workshops - for Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups, followed by a Reconciliation workshop to bring both groups together. Over the years, this model has held strong as our foundation and has worked well in creating opportunities for honest conversations, true listening and overall reconciliation between people from all different backgrounds.

Today’s workshops are no longer focused on reconciling with the church but with each other. We believe deeply in the power of reconciliation on an individual basis through face to face conversations. Healing from the legacy of the Indian Residential School system affects every Canadian and it takes each one of us to participate in the healing process. One thing that has not changed since that initial conversation two decades ago, reconciliation begins with you.