 We're just emerging from the first phase of reconciliation, where light was shed on some very painful wounds and some very dark secrets in Canadian history. Who hasn't been shocked and horrified to hear the stories coming out of residential schools? Many feel a responsibility and an obligation to share these stories in their classrooms. And it's important that we learn what happened. But I challenge you to bring reconciliation into its next phase, where we put Indigenous perspectives back at the centre of the narrative. When people tell their own stories about overcoming adversity, enduring hardships, going through prolonged periods of suffering, it isn't only the trauma that they focus on. It's not only what the abusers did to them that they share, but they share what inspired them, what kept them going, what was their spiritual centre, how did they remember who they were, who did they become, what little victories did they manage to win. It's important to highlight these details. When we share stories only of the suffering and abuse, we're giving students the perception that Indigenous peoples are the perpetual losers, that they never get to have their own victories, that they never get to win. I'm Christy Jordan Benton, co-author of Fatty Legs about my children's innavalik grandmother, Margaret Ulemon Pocac-Fenton. And yes, I wanted people to know about the horrific things that happened at residential school. But more importantly than that, my mission was that my children would have no greater hero in their lives than their grandmother. The beautiful thing about the way that Margaret tells her stories is she doesn't just share the abuse, the bullying that she suffered at residential school. She amazes with the ways that she found choices where you would think all choice was removed, where she found clever ways to get what she wanted, where her focus, her determination was so unparalleled that she accomplished what would seem completely impossible and did so with courage and bravery. Please join myself and Margaret along with a phenomenal lineup of facilitators at River Cree Resort on the Enoch Reserve on October 4th, hosted by the Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium. To sign up, go to www.erlc.ca and join us in exploring and creating the next phase of reconciliation. All my relations.