FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – The Cultural Learning & Innovation Circle will host its second Dialogues for Reconcili-Action event, facilitated by local author Christy Jordan-Fenton.
The event will be held on Wednesday, July 20th, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at 10511 100 Avenue. It will cover the history of residential schools and allow residents to participate in Project of the Heart, a hands-on art activity that aims to help folks process their emotions after learning about residential schools.
“There’s little wooden tiles and everybody’s invited to decorate one and then they get put together into like a big mosaic,” Fenton explained
“We’re hoping at CLIC that we’ll have a big mosaic of everybody who’s involved in the Reconcili-Action training that they can each decorate a tile and contribute to that,” Fenton said.
According to Fenton, Dialogues for Reconcili-Action is a smaller, workshop-like version of Reconcili-Action training, which is normally a three-day intensive course teaching residents how to take significant steps toward Reconciliation.
She says anyone is welcome to attend the Dialogues for Reconcili-Action event.
“Anybody’s welcome. They’re also family-friendly and age-appropriate. We’re hoping sort of just to get people more information and more tools to be more involved with reconciliation,” Fenton said.
Fenton says she has been invested in Reconciliation since 2010, facilitating numerous Truth and Reconciliation Commission Education Days and Orange Shirt Day events for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
She continues to work with groups across Canada to advance Reconcili-Action.
Fenton wrote Fatty Legs: A True Story with her mother-in-law, Margaret-Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton, which tells the story of Pokiak-Fenton’s experience in the residential school system.
Fenton will present her mother-in-law’s residential school survival story and other books they wrote together while also presenting historical facts about residential schools.
The cost to attend the event is by donation. Those interested in attending must register and can do so by contacting 778-576-1230 or email community@fsjclic.ca.
