Deepening the roots of reconciliation

In time with the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, the new Healing Forest Exhibit aims to teach visitors how the University of Waterloo’s urban forest can be a key space for reconciliation, healing, shared understanding and respect.  

Housed in Environment 2, the exhibit introduces visitors to the National Healing Forests Initiative and showcases three case studies of established healing forest projects, providing concrete examples of how these diverse spaces are used in the spirit of reconciliation.  

Visitors can deepen their understanding of our local forests’ ecosystem and native species, revisit or discover the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's 94 Calls to Action, and learn about more Indigenization efforts on and off campus. Orange strings, draped across a section of the wall, invite participants to tie a string and reflect on what they have learned—a symbolic gesture of connection and commitment to reconciliation. 

“We wanted to give people another way to deepen their understanding of Indigenous culture and knowledge, and to learn more about how to actively practice reconciliation on September 30 and all year round,” says Sophia Armstrong, designer of the project with Dr. Kelsey Leonard, professor in the Faculty of Environment.  

The exhibit marks the one year anniversary since the forest's designation as a healing space and serves as a powerful reminder of the continuous action that needs to be taken. The designation and activities it has spurred are significant steps in the university actioning its commitment to decolonization and reconciliation and advancing the Indigenous Strategic Plan goals around placemaking, education and fostering relationships.  

With funding from a SSHRC government grant and additional support from the David Suzuki Foundation, the exhibit will run until December 5 and will be open to the public. High school students attending a conference hosted by the Faculty of Environment later this term will have the opportunity to visit the exhibit, further broadening its impact. In 2025, the collection will be stewarded by the WAMPUM Lab and available to the campus community as a traveling exhibit in perpetuity. 

"Come to the exhibit. It can be intimidating to get involved, but coming into it with the right intention, making time, space, and mental capacity, is an act of reconciliation itself," Armstrong says.  

As Armstrong reflects on her own journey as a settler working on this project with the WAMPUM Lab, she hopes visitors will take away a sense of gratitude for the original stewards and rights holders of the land, and a renewed commitment to practicing reconciliation in their own lives.