Cindy Rendall, the owner of Untethered Heart Counselling, has been running Truth and Reconciliation Week workshops through the city of Lethbridge for non-Indigenous people for the last two years.
“Lots of people were like me,” Rendall said. “You know a little bit and you think you’re doing ok because you went to Sisters and Spirit Vigil… but really there’s so much more we can do, and knowledge that we need to seek.”
Her course, “Reconciliation Starts with You!,” creates a space for open discussion of cultural awareness and unconscious biases. Rendall takes her students through settler history and the systems that worked to benefit colonizers while harming Indigenous peoples.
“It’s not easy to look at reconciliation. It’s not easy to look at our history or to look at white privilege, or systemic racism,” said Rendall.
Echo Nowak, Indigenous relations specialist for the City of Lethbridge, said the city started offering Rendall’s workshop after hearing the community wanted more education.
“Cindy’s presentation really touched on the history and things that we don’t really learn in a history book,” said Nowak.
Rendall said becoming an ally is a path of being uncomfortable, asking questions, being a supporter of Indigenous people and recognizing that everyone is on their own reconciliation journey.
“We also need to take responsibility of ‘How do I walk in my world knowing the things that I know? When do I speak up for injustice? When do I work with trying to change the system? How do I do those things?'” Rendall said.
According to Nowak, reconciliation is also an ongoing conversation.
“People are wanting to learn and indigenous people know that. We’re wanting to teach, and we’re wanting to tell you our history and our story, so don’t be afraid to ask,” Nowak said.
Rendall’s workshops can be booked on her website.