Why, 155 years after confederation with Canada, does Indigenous relations remain a front-and-centre issue in B.C.?
Dr. George Abbott posed the question to a Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) audience at Surrey campus on Oct. 6 to begin his talk, “The Roots of Discord: Lessons from Our Colonial Past.”
A Provost Presents presentation, Abbott’s talk provided a glimpse of how historic injustices against Indigenous Peoples in B.C. continue to shape the province today.
Abbott, a former B.C. cabinet minister and current Chief Commissioner at the B.C. Treaty Commission, told the afternoon crowd in Spruce Atrium that our journey toward reconciliation is far from complete. Treaties are vital, he said, but because they are not embraced by all First Nations, reconciliation also requires other approaches.
“There’s a hundred reasons why any First Nation would distrust the province and distrust the federal government,” he said. “How it’s done is not important but having those paths to reconciliation be open and active and sustainable and productive are the keys.”
Abbott’s recent book, Unceded: Understanding British Columbia’s Colonial Past and Why It Matters Now explores how and why B.C.’s history of Indigenous relations unfolded as it did.
Dr. David Burns, Provost and Vice-President, Academic, pro tem hosted the Tuesday event, while Justin Molander, a member of the Sapotaweyak Cree Nation and an accounting instructor in the Melville School of Business, introduced the speaker.
Molander said the “proof is in the pudding” when it comes to allyship, pointing to the ongoing efforts to rectify a colonial past.
“I think if you read Unceded, which guides our talk today with George, you will feel it. It will come through. It will enlighten you in ways that hopefully really upset you and also give you a bit of hope for where the future could be.”
