What our Elders can Teach us — Lessons from a Monarchy
I am thankful for this day today to mourn the loss of the Queen of England. It has been a tumultuous time in our home as I feel great respect for this English Elder and Matriarch who has shared her strength and so many other valuable lessons steadfastly with the world; especially women and their capacity to lead.
On the other hand, it has been difficult for my husband who is Indigenous to respectfully say goodbye to a monarch who stood by silently, never publicly acknowledging the role the monarchy has played in generations of terror and the attempted death of a people and its culture. We have discussed this at length and I am not sure I have found a way to find a balance between the two forces that are at odds in our home. But I have found comfort in the Indigenous lessons I have learned over the years, one being the respect we must have for our Elders.
Regardless of what we think we may know those who have lived a journey deserve far more respect than those who sit on the sidelines viewing history with a 20/20 vision. There is no way we can find the behaviour of previous generations acceptable. Knowing what we know today, this is completely unacceptable. But to judge those who we feel have made poor choices, judged by us in hindsight, does little to fix the situation today and instead causes further hate and hurt.
We must remember that every choice we make today will be judged in the future by citizens with their own 20/20 vision as well. As Indigenous people have known for generations respecting your Elders is a sure way to ensure that we ourselves are not judged too harshly for mistakes that we have made along our journey; in many cases completely unaware of our mistakes at the time.
My best advice is to take it easy on one another. Be respectful as someone mourns the death of an Elder and uplift the Indigenous people around you. Understand their discomfort they have lost so much. First and foremost, we need to be kind, we are all brothers and sisters and it is our responsibility to take care of one another. So that we may find ways to celebrate and champion this proud race of people who have survived and taught us so much about how to live better and take care of our planet and one another.
Let us also learn from the best the Queen has taught us, as well as from her mistakes, so that we may write a new history together one that we are not ashamed for future generations to read about!
You may be wondering how one might put these words into action and how one can concretely learn from the lessons of the past and better support Indigenous People. Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the UN General Assembly are amazing ways to support Indigenous Peoples. There are many ways to engage in national, regional and global processes related to the SDGs. In particular SDG 16 Peace, justice and strong institutions
The main objective of SDG 16 in relation to Indigenous Peoples is to promote the recognition, protection and realization of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, well-being and dignity, and to enhance their contributions to sustainable development.
For example, we can use SDG 16 to review the impacts of conflicts on Indigenous peoples and the challenges regarding their participation in peace-building as well as in conflict resolution processes. We can also use tools and lessons learned to evaluate the institutions we have and how they can better enable the participation of Indigenous Peoples in local/national decision-making mechanisms.
We can all play a role in sharing good practices of cooperation and listening to the needs of the indigenous peoples in our pursuit of peace-building and conflict resolution, as well as the protection of indigenous human rights, and ensuring we can provide access to justice to remote communities. All of these components play a role in practicing the findings of the TRC Truth and Reconciliation Commission. As well as the MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women) findings whereby we can also consider and assess situations involving Indigenous women in the context of conflicts and participatory decision-making; seeking ways to better care for and support Indigenous women.
Keeping in mind that SDG 16 also covers a much broader envelope of concerns that encompass far more than those issues related to Indigenous People. SDG 16 aims to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for people all around the world. “In order for us to achieve sustainable development, we must provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels” (UN 2015). The targets found within SDG 16 included a wide range of issues, from abuse and violence to public access to information, and vary in scope. For example, “while the promotion of the rule of law (target 16.3) encompasses basic principles of legality, birth registration (target 16.9) is a very specific action with a key role in ensuring individual rights, access to justice and social services” (UN 2020b), as well as political rights.
You can see now that by embracing a passion to champion Peace, Justice and Strong institutions via SDG 16 we can help marginalized people and communities all over the world that have felt the unfair impact of colonization and regime powers that steal equality and justice for others.
The question you may now ask is “how do we bring people together to take action on SDG 16? How can social scientists, lawyers and other knowledge experts share their research and knowledge in a more easily accessible way? Is there a place where people can come together to learn and participate in actions that move the needle on this SDG? Somewhere that allows all of humanity to become soldiers in the army to champion 2030 SDG goals.
There is a place that has been constructed for this exact purpose. A place where all of humanity can individually come together to learn from Knowledge Experts and take action. The Community of Guardians is an online platform where members can listen to what the experts are telling us about how to support a better future for humanity. We can then better understand the problems instead of making assumptions and take tangible actions to solve the problems.
If you are an Indigenous Elder, a social scientist, a lawyer or a legal policy professional, and have a lesson from your research or experience you can share with us, as well as a related “Challenge” that members can accept, please reach out. If you are ready to play a role in re-establishing trust with humanity and sharing your knowledge, please step up and be a Guardian.
If you are reading this and wish to contribute as a member, if you are looking for a way to contribute to a better world, I encourage you to don your superhero cape and join the Community of Guardians. Let us start tackling some of the world’s toughest problems together as a community click the link below, and let’s make this world a place that we are proud to leave our children and future generations.
