Statement from the Indigenous Education and Action Committee
Indigenous Education Action Committee Statement on National Indigenous Peoples Month
The Indigenous Education Action Committee (IEAC) of the Newfoundland and Labrador Law Society works to promote reconciliation within Canada and more specifically within the province. As a part of that process, the IEAC advocates for the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action in its work.
June is an important and relevant month for Inuit, First Nations and Metis people throughout the province and country because it is National Indigenous Peoples History month. Several organizations and entities celebrate and share the rich culture, language, traditions, legal orders and knowledge of Indigenous people throughout June, and the IEAC wants to contribute to that celebration.
With this awareness, it is also important to emphasize that there is still a lot of work ahead. The Innu, Inuit and Mi’kmaq and other Indigenous Peoples within Newfoundland and Labrador still face many barriers on a daily basis. We urge all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to educate themselves and others about the history of Indigenous people within the province and seek to address the challenges that Indigenous peoples still live through. With a hope that those barriers, and the rights of the Mi’kmaq, Innu and Inuit can be upheld and respected at every level of government.
To begin this work the IEAC supports the continual implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action within the Newfoundland and Labrador Bar, and the ongoing work of implementing Missing Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and LGBTQ National Inquiry Calls for Justice.