On the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, I have been thinking about what this day asks of those of us who are guests.

For Indigenous colleagues, women in our programs, Elders, Knowledge Keepers and communities, this day may carry many things. What it should not carry is another expectation to teach us, share stories with us or carry the responsibility for our learning.

They do not owe us their stories.

They do not owe us their teaching.

And they should not have to carry the responsibility for our reconciliation.

For those of us who are guests, our responsibility is different: to listen. To learn. To notice whose labour we are relying on to do that learning. And to ask what we will do differently when September 30 has passed.

At Atira, we talk about what it means to be a good guest. I am increasingly conscious that being a good guest is not something we get to declare ourselves to be. It is something we practise – through our relationships, our decisions, whose knowledge we value, whose leadership we make room for, and our willingness to change.

I am deeply grateful to the Indigenous women who work at Atira and to those who trust us to walk alongside them. I am grateful to the Elders, Knowledge Keepers, partners and communities who have shared their knowledge with us.

And I am conscious that gratitude carries responsibility.

September 30 asks us to pay attention.

October 1 asks us what we will do with what we have learned.

Sarah McIntosh
CEO, Atira Women’s Resource Society