Prince George Citizen. June 21. 2021. Here is an inspiring account of truth and reconciliation, which couldn’t be more timely than right now, and with a remote but personal connection. It’s the story of how the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation and the Exploration Place Museum in Prince George worked together to develop a truly trusting and cooperative relationship that could serve as a roadmap to our future.

Two important points in the account stand out immediately. First: truth and reconciliation is neither an abstract nor a passive process. It happens only with all our active participation, by doing real things together. Second: it is a process that happens best when it involves us personally, the way it did with the CEO of the Exploration Place and the Lheidli T’enneh Elder. It flounders when it is left to politicians, whether they be local, provincial, or federal.

Picture the change that would occur were BC’s other museums, starting with Nanaimo’s own, to follow the example of Prince George’s Exploration Place. There’s no greater validation exists than being seen, a validation that’s been denied to Canada’s First Nations. Truth requires acknowledging our full joint histories. Imagine if other institutions that speak to our culture also followed suit. There is room enough for all of us in this, even if only to facilitate it happening.

If you want to know what living in such a community could feel like, I’ll disclose the personal connection. My wife and I grew up in Prince George, played and worked in and around the sites mentioned in this article, including where the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation’s village and burial ground had been and where The Exploration Place now stands. Even this remote, personal association with a community in which both sides walk the talk of truth and reconciliation feels very, very good. [ARTICLE LINK]