Walking Our Path Together

As the saying goes: We have two ears and one mouth for a reason. In this introductory piece, Tosh Southwick explains the ideas behind this audio series. “When something really important happens in our communities, we make a story about it,” she says. “One of the foundational differences between a First Nations and a Western culture is the oral part – the idea that we pass our knowledge orally down the generations.”

We hear the word reconciliation a lot, but what does it actually mean and what does it look like in action? To begin the series, we talked to three people – David Silas, Tosh Southwick and Karen Barnes – about what reconciliation means to them, and the journeys they took to get to where they are today. David Silas is a Selkirk First Nation citizen. He is a former Yukon College student, currently working as the First Nation Engagement Advisor with the Yukon Research Centre. Tosh Southwick is a Kluane First Nation citizen. She is a former Yukon College student, currently working as the Associate Vice President of Indigenous Engagement and Reconciliation at Yukon College. Karen Barnes is the President and Vice-Chancellor of Yukon College.

As the saying goes: We have two ears and one mouth for a reason. In this introductory piece, Tosh Southwick explains the ideas behind this audio series. “When something really important happens in our communities, we make a story about it,” she says. “One of the foundational differences between a First Nations and a Western culture is the oral part – the idea that we pass our knowledge orally down the generations.”