Quick answer: Year-round Truth and Reconciliation learning gives an organization time to listen, build shared knowledge, ask better questions and connect education to decisions. Powwow Times offers an ongoing subscription centred on one live webinar each month with Indigenous Elders, speakers, authors, athletes, industry leaders and change makers, subject to each guest’s consent and availability. Teams can continue between sessions with free weekly learning from Foundational Knowledge and 52 Weeks of Cree.
September 30 matters. Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation call people to honour residential school Survivors, their families and communities, remember the children who never returned home, and understand the continuing effects of the residential school system. But one keynote, orange-shirt campaign or annual email cannot carry a full reconciliation commitment.
A stronger approach uses September 30 as an anchor within an annual learning rhythm. People hear directly from different Indigenous voices, return to difficult topics with appropriate support, learn about living cultures and contemporary leadership, and identify actions connected to their own roles.
Content notice: This article discusses residential schools and organizational learning about their continuing effects. The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line provides 24-hour support to former residential school students, Survivors and their families at 1-866-925-4419.
What year-round reconciliation learning looks like
A useful program combines three layers:
- Monthly live learning: A facilitated webinar gives the organization a shared experience with an Indigenous guest whose identity, expertise and authority match the topic.
- Weekly foundational learning: Short lessons help participants build vocabulary and context without waiting for the next major event.
- Organizational application: Leaders and teams connect what they heard to policies, relationships, procurement, services, teaching, communications or community commitments within their actual responsibility.
This structure does not turn reconciliation into a checklist. It creates enough continuity for people to notice what they do not know, revisit assumptions and make better-informed choices.
Powwow Times monthly live learning subscription
Powwow Times can deliver one live digital webinar each month for organizations seeking an ongoing learning relationship. Depending on the agreed program and guest availability, sessions may feature:
- Indigenous Elders and respected community voices;
- residential school Survivors who choose to share their experience and define the terms of participation;
- authors, educators and speakers;
- athletes and sports leaders;
- Indigenous business and industry leaders;
- artists, dancers, singers and cultural presenters;
- advocates, organizers and change makers; and
- people with expertise connected to a specific sector, region or organizational question.
No guest should be presented as speaking for all First Nations, Inuit or Métis people. Each session should identify the person’s own Nation, community, experience and area of knowledge as they describe it. Topics, biographies, recording, promotion and audience questions must follow the guest’s agreement.
Build a monthly learning program for your organization
Tell Powwow Times about your audience, locations, sector, current level of knowledge, priority topics, accessibility needs and preferred start date. We can discuss a monthly live webinar subscription and a practical annual learning rhythm.
Why a monthly live format works
Pre-recorded courses can provide useful background, but a live session creates a different kind of attention. Participants hear a person locate their knowledge, respond to the moment and answer questions within agreed boundaries. The organization can also adapt future sessions when it discovers a gap.
- Continuity: Participants know another conversation is coming, so one session does not have to explain everything.
- Different perspectives: A series can include distinct First Nations, Inuit and Métis voices without presenting them as interchangeable.
- Shared experience: Distributed employees or campuses can join the same live program.
- Questions over time: People can reflect between sessions and bring more informed questions forward.
- Connection to work: Leaders can relate themes to decisions and responsibilities as the year unfolds.
Live does not automatically mean recordable. Replay, clips, transcripts and internal archives require separate permission from each guest. An organization should decide whether it needs a recording before booking, then accept that some guests or topics may be live-only.
A sample 12-month learning map
The right sequence depends on the audience, region, sector and existing relationships. The example below is a planning map, not a fixed Powwow Times schedule or a promise of a particular guest.
| Month | Possible learning focus | Organizational connection |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | First Nations, Inuit and Métis distinctions | Language, data, policies and assumptions |
| 2 | Whose lands and relationships shape your location | Move from a scripted acknowledgement toward learning and responsibility |
| 3 | Treaties and continuing relationships | Operations, public service, education and partnership context |
| 4 | Residential schools and Survivor truth | Trauma-aware learning, commemoration and institutional history |
| 5 | Indigenous languages and revitalization | Education, cultural continuity and support for language learning |
| 6 | Living cultures, arts, powwow and contemporary expression | Representation, events, communications and cultural context |
| 7 | Indigenous leadership and governance | Relationships, decision-making and respectful engagement |
| 8 | Indigenous business and economic participation | Procurement, partnerships, careers and Call to Action 92 |
| 9 | Orange Shirt Day and September 30 | Truth, remembrance, Survivor-centred planning and continuing action |
| 10 | Education, youth and sport | Schools, campuses, recreation and equitable opportunity |
| 11 | Anti-Indigenous racism and systems | Services, workplace culture, healthcare, justice or sector-specific practice |
| 12 | Reflection, accountability and next commitments | What changed, what did not and what the next annual cycle must address |
Do not force a painful topic into a calendar slot without the right guest, preparation and participant support. The sequence should remain flexible enough to respond to relationships and events without exploiting a crisis or asking a guest to speak beyond their role.
Free weekly learning between live webinars
Monthly sessions are stronger when participants arrive with some context. Powwow Times provides two free weekly learning paths that can support the rhythm:
- Foundational Knowledge: bite-sized weekly Truth and Reconciliation lessons designed to give readers one subject to understand, discuss and consider.
- 52 Weeks of Cree: beginner-friendly weekly Cree language lessons that invite consistent listening and practice.
A team can share one lesson each week, allow time for individual reflection and use a short discussion prompt. The purpose is not to collect completion statistics alone. It is to improve the quality of the next conversation and help people recognize when they need further learning or a relationship rather than a quick answer.
Connect learning to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action
Different organizations have different responsibilities. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action address education, governments, businesses, healthcare, justice, media, sport and other institutions. For example, Call to Action 92 asks Canada’s corporate sector to provide education for management and staff on the history of Indigenous peoples, including residential schools and treaties, as well as intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights and anti-racism.
A webinar series is not proof that an organization has fulfilled a Call to Action. Education should help people understand the responsibilities relevant to their work and support action with Indigenous people, communities and organizations rather than replacing those relationships.
What the host organization needs to provide
- An accountable owner: One person or team coordinates the series and carries learning into organizational work.
- A clear audience: Define whether sessions are for all staff, leaders, educators, students, a professional group or invited partners.
- Accessible delivery: Plan captions, interpretation, accessible materials, time zones and platform support from the beginning.
- Guest care: Respect biographies, names, pronunciations, boundaries, compensation, timing, questions and media permissions.
- Participant preparation: Share content notices and support resources for sessions involving residential schools, violence or other traumatic histories.
- Follow-through: Give participants a concrete place to take questions, recommendations or role-specific next steps after each webinar.
How to evaluate a year-round program
Attendance and satisfaction are useful operational measures, but they do not show whether reconciliation is advancing. Use a small set of learning and application questions:
- Can participants distinguish First Nations, Inuit and Métis rather than speaking about Indigenous people as one group?
- Do they understand the history and continuing relevance of the topics discussed?
- Are employees asking more specific, respectful questions?
- Which policy, service, curriculum, procurement or relationship decision changed because of the learning?
- What did Indigenous partners or affected people identify that the organization still needs to address?
- What should continue, stop or change in the next learning cycle?
Do not ask Indigenous employees to carry the evaluation or publicly disclose personal experience. Create voluntary, appropriate ways for people to contribute and compensate additional advisory work when requested.
Who can use year-round reconciliation learning?
- corporations and industry associations;
- federal, provincial and municipal public agencies;
- school divisions, colleges and universities;
- healthcare and social-service organizations;
- museums, festivals and cultural institutions;
- tourism organizations and conference teams;
- non-profits and foundations; and
- international organizations seeking live learning from Indigenous people in Canada.
Organizations can also begin with a September 30 program, an in-person Truth and Reconciliation presentation or a live digital cultural presentation, then build an annual plan from what the audience needs next.
Start a year-round learning conversation
When contacting Powwow Times, include your organization, sector, participant locations, approximate audience size, current learning activities, preferred start month, accessibility needs, topics of interest and the decisions you hope better learning will support.
Powwow Times can then discuss the monthly live subscription, appropriate guest categories, program rhythm and how September 30 fits within the year rather than standing alone.
Frequently asked questions
What is year-round Truth and Reconciliation learning?
It is a continuing program that combines recurring Indigenous-led learning with reflection and application to an organization’s responsibilities. Powwow Times’ model centres one live webinar each month and can be supported by free weekly lessons.
Who may speak in the monthly webinars?
Depending on the topic and availability, guests may include Indigenous Elders, speakers, authors, athletes, business and industry leaders, artists, Survivors and change makers. Participation, biography, topics, recording and promotion remain subject to each guest’s agreement.
Can a national or international team participate?
Yes. Live digital delivery can connect multiple offices, campuses or countries. The booking scope should address time zones, platform access, captions, moderation and whether any recording is permitted.
Does the subscription replace Indigenous consultation?
No. Education can help staff prepare for more respectful work, but it does not replace legal consultation, community-specific authority, relationship-building or the involvement of Indigenous people affected by a decision.
Can we start with September 30?
Yes. A September 30 talk, keynote, discussion or performance can become the first shared experience in a longer program. The next session should be planned before attention disappears so participants know how learning will continue.
Are the weekly resources free?
Yes. Foundational Knowledge provides free weekly Truth and Reconciliation learning, and 52 Weeks of Cree offers free weekly beginner Cree lessons. Organizations can share the links with participants as part of their learning rhythm.
