52 Ways to Reconcile: How to Walk with Indigenous Peoples on the Path to Healing - Week 24

Week 24 – Recognize Indigenous Innovation
From 52 Ways to Reconcile: How to Walk with Indigenous Peoples on the Path to Healing by David A. Robertson

This week invites us to look at the incredible innovation Indigenous Peoples have demonstrated for thousands of years, and how settlers arriving on this land dismissed Indigenous knowledge, laws, cultures, values, beliefs, medicine, and social structures. In doing so, settlers stripped Indigenous Peoples of their rights, their land, and their ways of life while claiming they had no rightful place on the land they had inhabited for generations.

There are many examples of Indigenous Peoples supporting newcomers despite the harm being done to them. One example is how the town of Gimli came to be. Around 1875, Icelandic settlers arrived in Sandy Bar, where an Indigenous community was already living. Rather than casting out the newcomers, Indigenous community members, particularly a man named John Ramsay, taught them how to fish and hunt, properly seal their boats, and fortify their homes. Ramsay also provided food for those who could not feed themselves.

Ramsay continued helping despite experiencing immense personal loss. His family had been devastated by smallpox, brought by settlers, leaving only one daughter surviving with severe disfigurement. Even with this tragedy, he continued to support the newcomers. Evidence suggests that some of the methods Ramsay taught are still used today.

For a long time, Indigenous Peoples were viewed by settlers as primitive or uncivilized, and many believed it was their responsibility to "save" them through force. Prime Minister John A. Macdonald famously said:

“When the school is on the reserve, the child lives with its parents, who are savages, and though he may learn to read and write, his habits and training mode of thought are Indian. He is simply a savage who can read and write.”

This was not an isolated belief. Yet history clearly shows this thinking was false. Indigenous societies had complex systems of governance, sustainable ways of living, sophisticated trade networks, and countless innovations that were ignored or dismissed because of deeply rooted racist beliefs.

Indigenous children were taken from their families. Communities lost ceremonies, languages, and cultural practices. People lost the right to leave their communities without permission. These losses happened simply because Indigenous Peoples spoke differently, dressed differently, and looked differently.

Although changes to the Indian Act began in the 1950s, First Nations people could not vote federally until the 1960s, and Indigenous rights were not formally recognized in the Canadian Constitution until the early 1980s.

This week, take a closer look at some of the innovations Indigenous Peoples introduced that continue to influence our lives today:

• Goggles: Inuit communities created goggles from carved antlers, wood, and shell to prevent snow blindness.

• Petroleum jelly: Indigenous Peoples used petroleum to protect skin, retain moisture, and support healing long before 1859.

• Syringes: Hollow bird bones and animal bladders were used to inject fluids into the body or flush wounds.

• Baby bottles: The Iroquois created feeding devices using dried and greased bear gut with nipples made from bird quills, creating an early version of what we recognize as baby bottles today.

Acknowledging the contributions Indigenous Peoples have shared with the world is one step toward building right relations.

I invite you to explore these and other Indigenous contributions, make note of what you learn, and share that knowledge with others. Then take a moment to reflect on: Why were we so quick to dismiss Indigenous Peoples and label them as primitive?

Want to read last weeks post, you can do so here.