Indigenous youth skeptical of government's commitment to reconciliation, says survey

More than 1,100 Indigenous youth shared their thoughts on reconciliation, community and their own futures in a report released Wednesday by Indigenous Youth Roots (IYR).

The national non-profit surveyed Indigenous youth ages 18 to 29 across the country for the Indigenous Youth Reconciliation Barometer 2024: Building Connected Futures report.

Megan Lewis, IYR's director of the Centre for Indigenous Policy and Research, said the Barometer report is one of the largest research projects of its kind. 

"There's so little research that exists to capture those voices," said Lewis, who is from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory in Ontario. 

She said she hopes governments and other organizations will use the research to inform policy.

One of the major themes of the report was reconciliation: 85 per cent of Indigenous youth said it was important to them, but they expressed a wide range of concerns. 

Megan D. Nochasak, the Indigenous research and engagement assistant for the report, said her observations from a sharing circle in Halifax showed youth view discussions of reconciliation as "this huge ordeal, and at the same time it's really not this good ordeal."

Youth also emphasized the importance of truth before reconciliation.

"Youth made it very clear that the language of reconciliation can't be used without tangible action," Lewis said.

"Without that shared and truthful understanding of the past and ongoing impact of colonization, that youth fully believe that reconciliation will remain out of reach."

Among their top five definitions of reconciliation, 70 per cent of youth chose honouring treaties and 67 per cent chose land being returned to Indigenous Peoples. 

But they said they are concerned about how committed different groups are to the issue. 

They were pretty evenly split on whether the general public is committed to reconciliation with 35 per cent saying yes, 37 per cent neutral and 28 per cent saying no. 

However, they were more skeptical of whether the federal government is committed to reconciliation — 24 per cent said yes, and over 40 per cent said no.