In 2008 the Canadian government apologized to the victims of the
notorious Indian residential school system, and established a Truth
and Reconciliation Commission whose goal was to mend the deep rifts
between Aboriginal peoples and the settler society that engineered the
system. In Unsettling the Settler Within, Paulette Regan, a former
residential-schools-claims manager, argues that in order to truly
participate in the transformative possibilities of reconciliation,
non-Aboriginal Canadians must undergo their own process of
decolonization. They 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. With
former students offering their stories as part of the truth and
reconciliation processes, Regan advocates for an ethos that learns
from the past, making space for an Indigenous historical
counter-narrative to avoid perpetuating a colonial relationship
between Aboriginal and settler peoples. A powerful and compassionate
call to action, Unsettling the Settler Within inspires with its
thoughtful and personal account of Regan’s own journey, and offers
all Canadians – Indigenous and non-Indigenous policymakers,
politicians, teachers, and students – a new way of approaching the
critical task of healing the wounds left by the residential school
system.
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Indian Residential Schools, Truth Telling, and Reconciliation in Canada
Product details
ISBN
9780774859646
Published
2020
Edition
1. edition
Publisher
University of British Columbia Press
Language
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Author