Book Launch: Lessons in Legitimacy

Winnipeg Art Gallery - Qaumajuq

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation always brings some choices about what event to attend. As a settler, it’s my time to sit and listen to survivors, victim families, and the Indigenous community more broadly.

I was fortunate to attend the Winnipeg Art Gallery for the book launch of Lessons in Legitimacy: Colonialism, Capitalism and the Rise of State Schooling in British Columbia. Between the launch, two panel discussions, a live stream of the event (including Murray Sinclair’s powerful speech which set the tone for future National Days for Truth and Reconciliation, and masterfully navigated the bridges between past, present and future), touring the galleries, and a film screening, it was a a full day of thought, listening, and reflection. I also enjoyed listening to Dr. Millions and Dr. Carleton articulate how they navigate spaces of Indigenous issues as settlers who work in the academy.

This was one of the first events that I attended that contained a welcome by an Indigenous elder, in this case, Albert McLeod. It was fascinating to observe, and one of the first times I truly felt the adage of ‘nothing about us without us’.