Live Forward, Look Backward

The past and future collided on a Friday night at the University of Toronto as Alice and Owen debated the question : Should Indian Reserves Be Abolished.

Alice was from the Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve and was a strong advocate for indigenous rights and improving life on reserves. She was against the motion. She argued that reserves nurtured a sense of history and culture where indigenous languages, spiritual beliefs and values were shared. She passionately detailed the past wrongs of the residential school system in Canada and how many of the social and economic problems were linked to that experience. For…