When we were working on our marketing plan for our first year of publication, we decided that we would hold two sales each year: one after the winter holidays, conveniently coinciding with editorial director Kate’s birthday; and one six months later, around Canada Day and conveniently coinciding with publisher Kim’s birthday.
This year, however, we are not celebrating Canada Day, individually or as a company. Rather, we are inclined to follow the demands of Indigenous people and Peoples for reconciliation on July 1st, and every day of the year. It’s not that we’re not feeling Canadian, it’s that we’re feeling the responsibility of being Canadian. As a pair of immigrants, we are keenly aware that we are settlers on this land. We accept and bear the responsibility to learn the truth of what our country did to Indigenous people and about the harms we continue to do, and from knowing that truth to commit to do the work to make things right.
Our summer sale is coming, but not today. On this July 1st, we are watching and listening; we are learning. And we hope you’ll join us by doing one or more of the following:
- Begin working through the free online Indigenous Canada course at the University of Alberta.
- Read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action [PDF].
- Write to your MP to urge immediate action.
- Make a donation to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society.
- Explore Indigenous Beading Resources & Artists: Read, Follow, Learn
