Reconciliation in the Canadian context is difficult to define (Graeme & Mandawe, 2017; Martin, 2009), but is often linked to the residential school system (Chrisjohn & Wasacase, 2011; Nagy, 2012). This instrumental case study examines how reconciliation is understood and activated among a group of educators and community members involved with a professional learning event held in Southern Ontario inspired by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Employing narrative inquiry, and informed by decolonizing methodologies, seven event organizers, four presenters, and five attendees participated in conversational interviews. Two main themes were uncovered from the interview data. The first, reconciliation is difficult, includes consideration of the personal discomfort involved with reconciliation efforts; the tensions that can arise from bringing together Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, as evidenced in a specific incident which occurred at the event; and the institutionalization of colonialism. The second theme associated with the need for action to support reconciliation is connected to education in the following ways: making learning mandatory, being sensitive to language, and centring Indigenous voices. Action for reconciliation through relationships is tied to community connections and having care for people. Informed by critical and decolonizing theoretical perspectives, the author discusses three elements associated with the challenges to describing and actualizing reconciliation: the systemic manifestations of colonialism including Canada’s long history of oppression, the impacts of the Indian Act, and the ways that colonialism informs social institutions that exist today; the role of individuals in maintaining settler colonialism; and the tendency to use reconciliation as a synonym for other Indigenous-centred activities, such as resurgence and restitution. Based on the interview data and related literature, this study posits that the question “what does reconciliation mean” is less important than the efforts of working towards what reconciliation could be, and, ultimately, reconciliation is a complicated concept that requires context-specific consideration
