Lloyd Desjarlais, Director of Indigenous Initiatives, Red Deer Polytechnic.
Darcy introduced our guest speaker and shared the land acknowledgement.
Lloyd shared stories of reconciliation and possible paths for the future.
It was disquieting to hear that while in use, the Red Deer Industrial School was the site of one of the highest mortality rates in Canada and that more deaths were attributed to the central Alberta residential schools than other schools in Canada. Lloyd discussed the failure of the residential school system due to a greater focus on erasing Aboriginal identity than on education. He talked about the need for increased self government, jurisdictional acknowledgement, and greater access to post secondary education as part of possible positive steps to be taken.
He highlighted some of the 94 Calls to Action that are being considered for implementation at Red Deer Polytechnic. They include creating post secondary opportunities that are provided in Aboriginal languages, recognizing the value of different health practices and collaboration with Aboriginal healers. Lloyd remarked that it is crucial that health care requires the tools to serve all cultures. There are many similarities between the needs of new immigrants and international students and members of the Aboriginal community. Increasing knowledge about treaties and and indigenous law is crucial when engaging in conversations that promote reconciliation. He also shared that changes to the information kits provided to newcomers and the citizenship tests that reflect a more accurate history of the diverse Aboriginal peoples of Canada are in progress.
Lloyd asks all to reflect on the understandings we have about our Aboriginal peoples and acknowledge that there is so much more to learn as we endeavour to move forward. Adrian Strawberry thanked Lloyd for sharing his knowledge today.
Weekly Meeting Update
Phil H chaired the meeting and Jan Carr was the Sarge for the day. It was a full house today, emphasizing the importance of the message brought by the speaker today.
50 50 was not awarded today even though Bill Hull led an enthusiastic group in the 4 Way Test.
Guests of Rotary
Lynn Wilson,guest of Bryan Wilson
Brenda Corney
Rob Boshnick
April Poupart, guest of Aliesha
Tammy Sorenson
Kaye Parkkarim RDP. guest of Adele
Visiting Rotarians
Sharon Moffat, Red Deer East co president.
Ian Hartley, Red Deer East
Ray Miller, Red Deer East
Meghan Maskowitz, Red Deer Sunrise, president.
Bryan Wilson, Red Deer East
+
=Black Tie Bingo
.png)
