Back to: Walking with Truth and Reconciliation- a journey with Rachelle Dallaire
Consider what you’ve thought and talked about so far. Where do you want to learn more for yourself? What about in your communities? What would be helpful to your workplace? The prompts below can be used for discussion in your work team, in program planning, or community relationship building.
Self-reflection
- What does “heart and mind working together as one” mean to you?
- Do you act from your mind or your heart more frequently? Most of us have a dominant position.
- How do you find the balance between the two, so they can “be as one?”
Reflections for your workplace
- Thinking of “heart and mind working together as one” what are the strengths and weaknesses of each position in your organization?
- How do we recognize and support someone who has a “damaged spirit”? What is a spiritual wound and how do we treat that in ourselves and our clients?
- What’s your relationship with the local Elders and Knowledge Keepers? Do you know any of the cultural stories? Do you know the sites that are important to the Nation in your area?
- In this complex space of truth and reconciliation, Rachelle invites us to just show up. Just be present. This is so valuable. What are the ways that you “show up”? Do you let fear and complexity hold you back? What would make it more doable?
- What are the “embodied leadership principles” that Rachelle identifies? What parts are you doing? What would you like to grow? How does your organization reflect these principles? Are they principles in action or just words?
- What does a reconciled future look like?
- Do you note any congruencies between the words Rachelle speaks and the cultural principles she identifies?
More to Explore
Deep dive
Vera Manuel (Kulilu Paⱡki Butterfly Woman) was an important poet, playwright, and dramatherapist.
The Secret Life of Canada: this podcast series featured many episodes on Indigenous history in Canada.
Takeaways from the course
As you finish with the sessions:
- Were the topics you identified at the beginning covered in the sessions?
- Do you have questions that remain?
- What do you want to learn more about?