Special report back from DEVS third year student Kelsey Sleep Jennings
My QUIP internship with the City of Kingston’s Cultural Heritage Department has taught me a lot about how to transfer my DEVS knowledge into real-life situations. Starting in September of 2017, I began my internship as a Digital Research intern; something you likely would not associate with a DEVS major, however my role soon shifted as I was thrust into conversations surrounding Sir John A. Macdonald and his legacy within Kingston. Although I was not employed due to my knowledge as a DEVS major it turned out to be a huge asset to my department and ongoing conversations of developing counter-narratives.
Working alongside the City Curator and Collections Technician we often discussed the divide that the Sir John A. legacy made in Kingston; Some viewing him in a heroic light, others understandably frustrated with his legacies of treatment of Indigenous peoples in Canada. I was fortunate enough to be able to work alongside Kingston’s reconciliation process which included creating strong counter-narratives to help build a deep understanding of the complexities of the city itself. Creating a counter-narrative means that instead of “erasing history” as argued by many proponents of presenting the Sir John A. Legacy in Kingston, we would be creating alternative narratives which fall along the same timeline, yet reveal the reality of life for other demographics in the city. The majority of counter narrating that we have undertaken surrounds the Sir John A. Legacy and the livelihoods of Indigenous people in Canada.
One thing that students can look forward to seeing very soon is counter-narratives popping up in perhaps one of the largest spaces of privilege in Kingston; City Hall. With items brought forth by Indigenous community members, exhibits are being curated that will put on display one aspect of the Indigenous experience in Kingston through the use of traditional Cradle Boards. Creating these counter-narratives are vital to creating a Kingston that is accessible and addresses its past failures. It is completely okay that we acknowledge that Sir John A. did significant things to create the Canada we see today. However, it is not okay to ignore the other timelines that existed and it is certainly not okay to fail to address the horrific treatment of Indigenous people under Sir John A. Macdonald’s power. Creating counter-narratives has proven to be an effective way to be sure to address these colonial pasts while attempting to decolonize spaces of privilege and authority while bringing light to the realities of Kingston’s history.