In 2015 Justice Murray Sinclair ushered in a new era for Canada: one that would be shaped – day into day, month into month, year into year – by Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples stepping into the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s 94 Calls to Action. Those actions are not boxes to be checked, but rather, the holding of space for our collective imagination and action to be realized – a space that requires deep listening, thought, creativity, and love.
When September 30 was declared a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, that space, that day away from work and school, was ours to fill. A day on, not a day off.
At 828 Hummingbird Lane, we took inspiration from The Little Hummingbird to connect over the calls to action and commit to them; and also to create something that would remind us of our commitments. To chose one and do what we can, as the little hummingbird – Dukdukdiya – invites us to do.
We are grateful to the many individuals who stepped into the space of reconciliation and helped make “Project Hummingbird,” happen.
Thank you, to Michael Nicoll Yagulaanas, for your work, for your way of expressing the possibilities held by the spaces between us and for reminding us that it is our job to fill them. Also, of course, thank you for gifting us the use of Dukdukdiya’s image, she is flying on orange flags, in more than 94 homes across Nexwlélexwm. She reminds us work towards reconciliation each and every day.
Thank you to Simon Windazi James, who took time out of his moving day to bravely share his story and poem. Your presence opened our hearts and our minds. Your courage to step into the space became ours.
Thank you to all of our volunteers. Thank you to Andre Bussanich, Georgina Farah, and your daughters, for creating the space for the calls to action to be realized. Thank you to Krista Hennenbury for sewing flags on her beautiful machine, to Gail Lotenberg for creating and operating the ironing station to set our hummingbirds into action, to Circular Bowen for your financial and emotional support, and to many others: those who brought their kids, their voices, brought us sustenance. Each of you brought your hearts and you opened so many more.
Let’s take this journey together, and hold one another to our commitments.
Chenchénstway.
Brenda Morrison
Meribeth Deen
