How did the National Healing Project start?
In 2015, Peter Croal and Patricia Stirbys were on a healing walk in Ottawa which coincided with the release of the Residential School Truth and Reconciliation report. Following that walk, Peter and Patricia agreed to work together to develop the concept of a forested healing space. Today, they are spreading the seeds of this idea across the country.
Patricia Stirbys is a member of Cowessess First Nation (Saskatchewan) and works in the financial sector. Born and raised in Ontario, she holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of Ottawa and has worked with Indigenous communities, industry, and government on a broad range of issues. Her goal is to foster positive relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities that can lead to lasting gains for Canada.
Peter Croal was an exploration geologist for the federal government and later with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), contributing to programs that allowed the development community to better work with Indigenous peoples to create more effective impact assessments and poverty reduction programs around the world.
What is the National Healing Forest Initiative?
Forests have a healing, spiritual, calming, and nurturing effect on people. The National Healing Forest initiative is an invitation to Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, institutions, and individuals to create green spaces across Canada to honour residential school victims, survivors, and their families, as well as murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls, and children who have been or were removed from their families (including during the Sixties Scoop) and ended up caught in the welfare system.
The goal is for communities and individuals to work together to create a healing forest or green space, whether within urban parks or in rural settings. It might include outdoor gathering spaces, walking trails, or plots dedicated to growing sacred plants and trees. Visiting Elders might present stories, and survivors and their families could share their experiences. Each community or individual decides for themselves what their healing forest would look like and how it would function. The only proviso is that the forest is created and used in the spirit of reconciliation, healing, shared understanding, and respect.
How is a healing forest developed?
Indigenous or non-Indigenous communities can develop their own healing forest ideas and present them to community councils for deeper discussion. Minimal infrastructure is needed – an existing green space could be identified and dedicated as part of the initiative. A healing forest space could be developed on public, private, or commercial lands.
All resources needed for the healing forest would come from existing community, provincial, or federal programs devoted to reconciliation. The National Healing Forest will provide community organizers with an electronic file that can be used to create and install a National Healing Forest plaque. One can see the plaque design by clicking here. The National Healing Forest will maintain a map of existing and future projects where stories and public outreach efforts can be shared.
Useful links and more information
Listen to The Audience Talks Back: The 2018 CBC Massey Lectures with Tanya Talaga (NHF mentioned at 18.50): https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1469184579628.
Read Tree Canada's blog post about the initiative by clicking here.
Interview with Alan Neal on CBC All in a Day:
Podcast presented by David Paré as part of his Decarbonize Ottawa series – December 31, 2021:
The Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund is helping to spread the word. See: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1469184579628.
On May 1, 2022, the David Suzuki Foundation announced a partnership to help the Healing Forest network continue to grow across Canada. The foundation will be providing grants of up to $2,000 to 10 communities in 2022 to assist with Healing Forest development. To learn more about this partnership, visit: Davidsuzuki.org/healingforests. The Foundation hosted a webinar on healing forests which is posted here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3d1-PoxzWE