Listening to History to Create Our Shared Future

Saturday marks the Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere, one of my favourite times of the year. That momentary turning point in time means that even as we descend into hibernation mode, the light is returning. This schedule governs all life on the earth we share and reminds us of our interconnectedness. Since the earth formed this cycle has repeated millions of times. Listening to history has answers. Within those cycles are lessons that teach us that what we do matters. A great deal!

Who Am I?

More than a decade ago, I reasoned that if I wanted to make the most of the rest of my life, I needed to understand who I am. To do that, I needed to appreciate the lives and stories of my ancestors and how I’ve been shaped by stories I’ve been told since birth, and stories that were told long before that. All that has led me to the place where I am now – studying history in Graduate School at York University in Toronto.

My first two years of graduate school opened my eyes as I focused on a Mennonite settlement in southern Alberta where Dad grew up in the 1930s. My inquiries presented a new perspective on a history that I had not anticipated. Like my desire to understand how the stories of my ancestors had shaped me, I wanted to learn how the values, beliefs, and perspectives they brought with them to Canada influenced how they formed relationships with other cultures, including their Siksika (Blackfoot) neighbours, and the land.

Stories that were passed down to me, while deeply meaningful, evolved through a monocultural lens. Speaking with Siksika Elders and non-Mennonite settlers about the same times and events interpreted those stories through a new light. They exposed a history not recorded in books or the archives. The collective wisdom gathered from all the contributions, teaches us lessons that are as relevant now as they were one hundred years ago.

Listening to History

Understanding history is vital to addressing challenges we face today. They are not new. We have lost sight of who we are and how our thoughts and actions affect others. Even actions that may seem positive or innocuous to us, may be deleterious to others and environmentally degrading. Solutions are there if we ask the questions, listen to the answers with all our senses, and then take informed actions.  Read: Listening with all our senses: Discover forgotten wisdom.

Following that process during my MA studies illustrated how actions of a people known for practicing peace, compassion, and charity, and who themselves were both marginalized and privileged, propagated unintentional consequences. Actions by settlers deemed charitable, or at least innocent, inadvertently perpetuated systemic injustices and racism through a political structure intentionally deleterious to non-preferred cultures and the ecology.

Creating Our Shared Future

Lest our current challenges seem insurmountable, wisdom of those who have gone before can teach and guide us. All any of us needs to do to invoke positive change for our shared future, is our part. Senator Murray Sinclair’s memoir Who We Are: Four Questions For a Life and a Nation centres on inclusiveness and applicability to all people, regardless of background and belief. He structures it around four questions that shaped his worldview—Where do I come from? Where am I going? Why am I here? Who am I?

Who we are and what we do matters. As we celebrate a new season, reflect on the year just passed, and celebrate another beginning, consider those four questions. Then listen. The answers may surprise you!

Read:

• An Immigrant Experience on Indigenous Land: The Mennonites of Namaka Farm
• The Mennonites of Namaka Farm and their Siksika Neighbours: Lessons in Settler-Colonialism
• Russlaender and Siksika Encounters: Privilege, Race, and Intercultural Connections at Namaka Farm