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What does true reconciliation actually look like? How do you get involved? Where do you begin?   

A Mile in Their Shoes: Truth, Empathy, and Reconciliation (MITS), an award-winning program inspired by alumni looking for their own path to reconciliation, tries to help the �ʹ�����’s community answer those very questions. And for Ry Moran, Tuesday Johnson-MacDonald, and Dan Brant, MPA'15, those questions have driven their work on MITS.     

Launched in 2022 by �ʹ�����’s Office of Indigenous Initiatives and Office of Advancement, MITS invites alumni to join a four-month immersive learning experience about residential schools and their impact on Survivors. The program blends online learning, readings, discussions, and an onsite visit to a healing lodge at Six Nations of the Grand River near Brantford, Ont.  

This year, a related free virtual event on June 12 will complement the program and help mark the 10th anniversary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) final report, including its . Open to all alumni and moderated by �ʹ�����’s Chancellor Shelagh Rogers, it will bring together Indigenous leaders, university reps, and alumni to discuss what progress has been made and what urgent work remains.  

Moran, a member of the Red River Métis and the University of Victoria’s Associate University Librarian – Reconciliation, will speak at the event. For him, true reconciliation isn’t just about understanding – it’s about an experience that goes much deeper, which is exactly what MITS tries to do.    

“As a lot of Elders say, the longest journey is from the head to the heart. It’s about feeling why this matters, not just thinking about it,” says Moran.  

Here’s a closer look at Moran, Tuesday Johnson-MacDonald, and Dan Brant, and the work they’ve done to bring reconciliation to the hearts of MITS participants.  

Ry Moran 

Program curator 

When �ʹ�����’s reached out to Moran in 2021 to help develop the course content for MITS, he jumped at the chance. He had previously been the founding director of the , and had been doing reconciliation work for years at that point.  

“I wanted to get involved because this was something really focused on education and getting people in front of good resources – which is really what I’m all about,” he says.  

As he was developing those resources, he was trying to keep a few things in mind. One, that they were free and easy for alumni to find. Two, that they were rooted in TRC reports and research. And three, that the voices of residential school Survivors were front and centre.  

“Taking that big picture of understanding what happened and connecting it to the experience of actual Survivors is so important,” says Moran. “We have to be listening to them because that really is where the learning can happen.” 

That experiential component is taken even further, he adds, with the in-person visit to , the healing lodge at Six Nations of the Grand River.   

“And so hopefully, by giving people this information and these experiences, they can become part of the solution in a respectful way. Because I think when you know better, you do better.”   

Tuesday Johnson-MacDonald  

Event coordinator  

It’s tough to think of a person more suited to organize and manage MITS’ event at Soul of the Mother than Tuesday Johnson-MacDonald.  

Not only is she a proud �ʹ�����’s parent and the founder and president of TAP Resources, an event management company specializing in Indigenous events, but she is a member of the Six Nations of the Grand River herself.  

“Honestly, it’s been an honour to be part of this,” she says. “It’s just great to see that �ʹ�����’s is taking this step to educate their alumni on the historical path.”  

The September event is a “hard-hitting experience,” she adds, designed in part to mirror what Indigenous children faced at residential schools.  

Greeted in the Mohawk language, served cold mush, and identified by numbers, participants are meant to feel disoriented and uncomfortable. The day also includes an Edge-of-the-Woods ceremony to welcome visitors, as well as dialogue sessions, a traditional Indigenous lunch, and a sharing circle for reflection. Traditional drumming, singing, dancing, and teachings are also woven throughout.    

“It’s a heavy program, but we’re not trying to make anybody feel guilty,” says Johnson-MacDonald. “We’re just sharing our story to educate you, to make you aware, but also to uplift you. We want to uplift you into action.”       

Dan Brant, MPA'15 

Program facilitator  

Dan Brant has been part of MITS since 2023, helping shape the experience before, during, and after the in-person event. This year, he will also be part of the virtual conversation on June 12.  

A member of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte and the Matthews Fellow in Global Public Policy at �ʹ�����’s, he brings decades of experience working on reconciliation and First Nations issues.  

Brant says his role is all about helping MITS participants better understand the historical and cultural context behind what they’re learning.  

“I try to give people a sense of the ‘why’ – why this happened, how it happened, and why it still matters,” he says. “But it’s not just a history lesson. I try to give them a sense of the personal experience.” 

The impact is often profound. He remembers hearing from multiple participants at the in-person event who had grown up just a few kilometres from the nearby Mohawk Institute. It was the longest operating residential school in Canada, and it’s where Indigenous children suffered horrific abuse.   

“That kind of realization in itself has been powerful in just getting one of the many unflattering truths out and helping people understand what First Nations people dealt with and are dealing with,” says Brant.  

Brant hopes the MITS program continues to grow – and to reach more people of influence at �ʹ�����’s and beyond.  

“The more people who hear and experience the truth, the more likely we are to see real change.”  

Visit the event page for more information about the virtual conversation on June 12, including how to register.