Good Neighbours Committee Completes Two-Year Long Community Education Project

The Good Neighbours Committee (GNC), which is a collaborating partner of HARC, has just completed a 2-year community education project on anti-racism and anti-hate using various arts-based approaches in Vanderhoof and surrounding region. Vanderhoof is a district municipality on the unceded territories of Saik’uz Whut’en. It is a community steeped in traditional, white-dominant, heteronormative values. At the same time, the village was originally imagined by its namesake as an artists’ mecca, no doubt for the abundance of natural beauty, big colourful skies, and wide meandering river. There has been a vibrant arts community – visual arts, fabric arts, performing arts, and more – for decades and decades and it is within this arts community that the GNC has collaborated to deliver this project.

The project engaged local First Nations, PRIDE committee, Community Adult Literacy Program participants, and newcomers to deliver ‘soft’ cultural learning events, which provided exposure to various ways of being in the world without challenging personal reflection on broader social justice issues. These events engaged community attendees in a variety of activities, including henna, fabric arts, beading and crafting; cultural foods of Mexico, Egypt, India, Philippines, Ukraine, Costa Rica, China, Germany, and Mennonite communities; games, dances, and songs from Dakelh and Punjab communities; and podcasts exploring experiences of living in/with Vanderhoof by folx from Saik’uz, the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and recent newcomers. These events were happily received by over 2000 participants over the course of 2 years.

Deeper personal commitment for self-reflection on how we perpetuate racism and white, heteronormative supremacy was required of over 100 participants who engaged in events designed to challenge the community status quo. Over two years, the GNC offered 4 theatre-based bystander intervention skill development workshops (2 for local schools and 2 for community), the Pining for Connection Indigenous language workshop utilizing pine needles to make art, and a Generous Listening workshop delivered with storytelling tools from the HEAL Healthcare website.

Advocacy became a prominent action for the GNC during the last 2 years due to an increase in anti-2SLGBTQIA+ vandalism and opposition to Indigenous-specific history being offered in local schools. Members became more active in attending school board meetings, encouraging the broader community to respond to requests for public engagement by the School Board, showing up creatively to counter protests against SOGI and Indigenous-focused education, and creatively amending hate messages on the Rainbow Crosswalk and the Talking Rock on hwy27.

The GNC is proud of the cultural learning, skill development, and advocacy accomplished over the last 2 years. We are grateful to the Government of Canada for funding for this project, and to HARC for organizational and creative support.