Continuing Scouts Canada’s Reconciliation Journey, Summer 2023
While we value intersectional inclusivity this month and throughout the year, Indigenous History Month is an important opportunity for us to create additional space to come together through listening, self-reflection and learning.
It is also a time to celebrate the achievements and contributions (past and present), of the First Nation, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) peoples. While Scouts Canada continues our journey toward Reconciliation and growing into a strong ally, supporting and working in partnership with FNMI communities, we are thrilled to share that our partnership with Raven Reads is expanding this summer. We’ve teamed up to bring hundreds of free learning boxes, filled with books by Indigenous authors and educational resources, to youth and adults of all ages. By amplifying Indigenous voices, we can help readers further connect with reconciliation in Canada.
To see more of our recent work and where we are going, please visit our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Reconciliation section.
We invite our Scouting community to participate in our upcoming sessions, “Past Present Future: Understanding our Past to Design an Authentically Inclusive Future.”
In this interactive workshop, participants will build a foundation of learning and knowing the “truth” and historical facts of our traditions, colonial framework, and context of our founder. It will feature open discussions around the impact and consequences of these elements on communities and groups through history and to present day.
Since Scouts Canada's Reconciliation journey began, we have completed meaningful work within our Scouting community, including:
- An internal Inclusion Survey as part of a third-party audit of Scouts Canada's culture (report coming soon)
- Indigenous Rights Blanket Exercise workshop, training by KAIROS, for staff and volunteers in leadership roles
- Indigenous-led, Trauma-Informed Reconciliation + Allyship Training Series for public or members only?
- Interviews with two historians to understand Scouts Canada's past, to inform our present and future
We look forward to continuing the efforts of our Reconciliation journey, moving forward, by shaping the scope and timing of an Apology to First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples for the ongoing harm that Scouts Canada has contributed to.
