Reconciliation in Philanthropy: Learning By Doing

Written by: Itoah Scott-Enns

In Dene culture, preparing fish requires careful and acquired skills with a knife. I watched an elder a few times before picking up the knife to try myself. I hesitated, but the elder told me “you just have to do it, it’s the only way to learn.” I was embarrassed when I mistakenly cut through the fish’s bladder. The elder chuckled and encouraged me to keep going. After, she showed me again where to put the knife to avoid puncturing organs. You can watch an expert do it a thousand times, but until you try yourself you will never know how it feels to let the bones guide your knife. You learn and make mistakes, but you trust the elders to correct and encourage you. Dene learn and educate through a very hands-on approach of listening, watching, and doing.

While Canada journeys through its 150th year, more than 90 foundations have signed the Circle on Philanthropy and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada’s Declaration of Action to demonstrate commitment to reconciliation. Funders are adopting values of respect, reciprocity, relationship, and responsibility to improve understanding and relations with Indigenous communities. As an Indigenous person working in philanthropy, I am always keen to see what these values look like in practice. While the ongoing dialogue and commitments to change are positive, they must be followed by action. Funders keen to support reconciliation tell me it also paralyzes them. The fear and anxiety of doing it “wrong” is holding them back from acting.

Allocating more funds towards Indigenous causes is critical. However, as much as we aim to demonstrate respect and reciprocity, traditional grantmaking reflects paternalistic power dynamics that do not facilitate true reciprocal relationships between equal partners. Indigenous organizations must ask for money and foundations hold the power to grant it – or not. I want us to be honest in the fact that no matter what feel-good version we tell ourselves, that we value grantees as equal partners. Indigenous grantees are ever aware of who makes the decisions for resources they desperately need, and it is not them. We will be held back from leading the necessary change if we cannot accept this truth first.

To read the whole blog go to thephilanthropist.ca/2017/05/reconciliation-in-philanthropy-learning-by-doing/