The Victoria Reconciliation Dialogues is a conversation series that invites the community to take part in reconciliation on Lekwungen territory. The seven-part series seeks to build the communities knowledge and understanding of reconciliation.
The City Family and special guests guide these dialogues.
The Victoria Reconciliation Dialogues are an opportunity for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to share their ideas and stories. They are a chance to explore how this community can make the culture and history of Indigenous Peoples present throughout the city. These conversations take a variety of forms, including storytelling and discussions.
The series began on September 30, 2019. Due to COVID-19, the series was placed on hold until the Dialogues could be held in-person once again in 2022.
Dialogue 1 is guided by Florence Dick, Songhees Nation and Victoria City Councillor Marianne Alto. This first conversation introduces Reconciliation. It draws on the guidance of Lekwungen Elders and members about the land on which we live.
Dialogue 2 is guided by Brianna Bear and Mayor Lisa Helps. This conversation provides an overview of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples(UNDRIP). The conversation asked participants to reflect on the UNDRIP and how it relates to Reconciliation with the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations and urban Indigenous Peoples. Learn more about UNDRIP.
Dialogue 3 is guided by Carey Newman and Victoria City Councillor Sharmarke Dubow. This conversation focuses on what Reconciliation to newcomers to Canada. It asks participants to consider their own responsibilities around Reconciliation.
Dialogue 4 is guided by Dr. Cindy Blackstock and Mayor Lisa Helps. This conversation opens with a performance by the Lekwungen Traditional Dancers. Following this performance, there is a theatrical presentation by the Canadian Heritage Arts Society. This presentation introduces the complex life and work of Sir John. A Macdonald. Participants considers the politics and appropriate context for monuments to controversial historical figures. This included the City of Victoria's Sir John A. Macdonald statue. This conversation was not a debate or discussion on the future home of the statue. Rather, it aimed to help inform Council decision-making on next steps.
Urban Indigenous people living in Lekwungen territory are not people of the Lekwungen lands. Yet, as Indigenous people in Canada, they are often displaced from their own homelands. This has happened through colonization, including the sixties scoop and other colonial practices. This conversation discusses the experiences of Urban Indigenous people living in Lekwungen territory. It also focuses on the diversity of Indigenous experience. The Dialogue includes live musical performance by the Mitchell Sisters and the Answer2 drum group.
Victoria has an award-winning heritage conservation program that includes many early settler buildings. At the same time as these buildings were built, Lekwungen heritage was being dismantled and erased. This Dialogue features members of the Songhees Nation and City staff who worked together on the Government Street Refresh project. It explores how to celebrate the city’s colonial heritage while honouring and making visible Lekwungen culture.
Working with the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations, in 2017 City Council established the City Family. The purpose of the City Family is to take a Lekwungen-led approach to reconciliation. In this dialogue, members of the City Family and special guests present calls to actions. These calls to action are for the City and community to carry on the work of reconciliation for decades to come. Participants are asked to make a reconciliation commitment of their own. The six key themes are:
In 2019, the series received $10,000 in funding from the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation’s Urban Communities Partnering for Reconciliation pilot program. The Union of BC Municipalities facilitates the pilot program.
