When Wade Maude began his role as the Indigenization Strategy Coordinator at CUPS in late 2021, he was thrilled with the enthusiasm that greeted him.
Within three weeks of starting, he had already implemented the Cultivating Compassion program for staff to learn about the Indigenous experience in Canada.
“When it comes to truth and reconciliation, you can’t have reconciliation until people understand the truth,” says Wade.
Cultivating Compassion is a four-module program, each offering three-to-four hours of solo learning about pre-colonization, colonization, pathways towards reconciliation, and inclusive decolonization.
“Recognition and acknowledgement need to take place before healing can begin,” says Wade. “So, as CUPS staff start to learn, they take that learning home to family and friends. We’re planting seeds and creating conversations and it begins to grow.”
For Wade, Elder visits to the CUPS Child Development Centre are his favourite time of the week.
Two Elders – Ruby Eaglechild and Randy Bottle – alternate giving their time to be with the kids aged three to six. When an elder isn’t available, Wade is able to step in. He has two decades of training in traditional Indigenous ways, and is a Pipe Keeper and Sweat Lodge Facilitator.
“Engaging with kids is so important,” Wade explains. “We sing a song, tell them stories, play a drum. Exposure to the culture and true Indigenous teaching is very powerful and is helping to change future generations’ perceptions of Indigenous people. They’re going to remember this for the rest of their lives.”
While Wade is excited to share Indigenous culture with children at CUPS, he wishes the curriculum across Canada would do more to teach school-aged kids about our collective history.
He’s heard it said – and believes this to be true – that if Indigenous kids can go through these experiences, then non-Indigenous kids can learn about it.
Each Friday afternoon, CUPS staff gather in person and virtually, for a sharing circle. Led by Wade, these circles serve a couple of purposes: to release stress from the work week, to realize that others have similar feelings, and to experience an Indigenous ceremony.
“We begin each circle with a prayer, a song and a smudge,” says Wade. “From there, people share. At CUPS, the staff do important but sometimes heartbreaking work. Sharing those feelings before leaving for the weekend is a way to process.”
Even those who don’t share benefit from the time together.
“We can hear our own thoughts and feelings in the words of others, and that can bring us a certain level of comfort, that we’re not alone,” he says. “At the end of the circle, all of these rocks have been dropped and people feel less burdened.”
The Social Justice Committee at CUPS engaged Blackfoot Elder Randy Bottle to help CUPS write its own land acknowledgement:
In the Spirit of acknowledgement and recognition of the truth, CUPS has a desire and responsibility to promote and commit to reconciliation and healing with Indigenous peoples. CUPS values dignity, unity, healing, and accountability within our work, as we strive to build strong and resilient communities through wholistic and integrated care. CUPS respects and acknowledges the traditional territories, oral practices, and the history of the Blackfoot (Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai), the Tsuut’ina (Sarcee), the Stoney Nakota (Chiniki, Wesley, and Bearspaw) First Nations, and the Métis Nation (Region 3). We live, work, grow, play, and appreciate this beautiful territory as we are all treaty people.
Spoken at the start of events, and written in CUPS documents, the land acknowledgement is a foundational piece of the Indigenization strategy for the organization.
Wade is encouraged by the Indigenous work CUPS is doing on several fronts:
“CUPS and its staff are hungry for this learning, this experience,” says Wade.
“Change won’t happen overnight, but eventually, this will lead to Indigenous representation in staff roles, board seats – the possibilities are endless.”