For Lance Scout, reconciliation means, “The choice to take back the child we’ve left behind and honouring the human spirit and our gift, the land.”
The Reconciliation Canada team first met Lance at a Reconciliation Dialogue Workshop in May 2015.
As an intergenerational survivor of the Indian Residential School system, Scout has faced a number of challenges within his family and community. However, his involvement in reconciliation has given him the opportunity to reflect on his traditional values, and feel liberated to take the steps needed to achieve his goals.
“Denial and violence has impacted me so much and now understanding my parents’ journey within their childhoods relieves me of so much animosity within my life,” says Scout.
Scout became involved in reconciliation through his work as a Resolution Health Support Worker with the Blood Tribe Department of Health Inc. He provided emotional support during the Alberta Regional Hearing tours and worked as a team lead for the Blood Tribe’s Cultural Support Providers at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) National Event in Edmonton.
Scout’s commitment to reconciliation led him to become a project coordinator for seven major commemoration projects on the Blood Tribe. These projects received an endorsement from TRC Commissioner Chief Wilton Littlechild, who saw this undertaking as invaluable in reviving language, culture and ceremony within the Blood Tribe.
Ceremony is now thriving within his home community.
“Honestly, it’s made me the man I am today: sober and able to help my people through the traditional channels of language, art and song,” reflects Scout.
Scout plans to continue advocating healing and reconciliation. In 2016 he will continue to promote reconciliation throughout his community by hosting the second annual Reconciliation Week in Medicine Hat, AB.
To read more Impact Stories and for our full Impact Report 2015, click here.
