Reconciliation and nourishing our communities with Tanya Tourangeau

By Laura Mushumanski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

(ANNews) – Indigenous Knowledge is embedded in understanding that for anyone to come to know things differently, first we need to take action in understanding how we know what we currently know. We do this through introspection – being in deep thought and reflection – and in a harmonious way, to self-love and healing. And when we are engaging with coming to know things differently, we are learning and unraveling understandings that are braided into thinking with the head that can move into thinking with the heart. Then, we can start to walk and talk in a good way and nourish our communities.

“I really think right now I am walking my Treaty,” shares our Dene sister Tanya Tourangeau. “Each of us has our own, whether we want to say agreement or understanding, with the Creator. [We ask] what is our meaning here on Mother Earth and what are our gifts, and how do we apply those gifts with authenticity and integrity and accountability as well. It took some time in developing my skills and my understanding, and my own healing to get to my work in reconciliation today.”

For Tanya, a mindset of abundance for Indigenous peoples is rooted in her cultural teachings of humility, supporting how to walk with integrity, be accountable, and authentic. This way of life is how she has come to walk her treaty – being in relationship, being a good relative, and honouring all life residing on Mother Earth.

“I have always been really passionate about economic development and knowing that Indigenous people needed to focus on business to help lift ourselves towards prosperity. No matter what, people do support us. At the end of the day, it is our own business mind, our own business values, our ethics connected to our traditional ways of knowing, being and doing,” shared Tanya. “Connection to spirit, the land, and creation is beyond a western or capitalist perspective, but really in nourishing our communities so we can continue being authentic and not always coming from a mindset of scarcity. We deserve a mindset of abundance, and we had that pre-colonial. You don’t even need to assume that we know that because we lived in harmony with Mother Earth for centuries.”

Tanya shifts ways of thinking, into understanding in deep and meaningful ways, making connections based on reciprocity, as a way of how we all can walk together and support community in good ways. Through these good ways, she interconnects her heartwork and role within community by implementing reconciliation through strategy, policy, and stakeholder relations as a consultant with her business Tanya T Consulting, supporting governments, nonprofits, and for-profit companies.

“[My] path to breaking cycles and building bridges began long before my work in Reconciliation,” says Tanya. “As a young mother, I carried a deep knowing that my children deserved more, that they deserved a world where Indigenous strength and sovereignty were not only acknowledged but fully realized. This became my compass, guiding me through the spaces where change was needed most. The wisdom of my Auntie Dora, who lived to 99.5 years, is woven into everything I do – walking in both worlds with integrity, carrying forward the teachings of my ancestors while navigating spaces where Indigenous voices must be heard…I hope to be a big Auntie like her one day, honouring the love, resilience, and quiet power that shaped me. Through every conversation, every policy shift, and every bridge built, I continue that legacy – one rooted in kinship, accountability, and the unwavering belief that Indigenous Peoples deserve more than survival; they deserve to thrive… That is how I approach my work and assist non-Indigenous [people] to get past their fears.”

In a meaningful way, Tourangeau helps organizations approach reconciliation. At first this work is unfamiliar, with emotions of fear being attached to anything a person does that is new and a process. The one thing that Tanya does to support everyone she walks with, is bringing kindness and compassion within the work she does to uplift community in good ways.

“In one way I think the ‘word’ protocol kind of went against us…I don’t know who came up with the word. I understand the process of it, but it is almost like non-Indigenous people feel they are going to go to jail if they do some protocol wrong. I would love to change the word to make it softer…even like how our natural laws tries to soften that – it is the understanding of reciprocity.”

Protocol that Tourangeau speaks to, is relational. When we are born into the world, we start to be in relationship with everyone and everything that resides on Mother Earth. In the natural world, relationships are understood as symbiotic relationships, they are reciprocal and are in need of each other to thrive. And as Tanya continues to walk in her treaty, reconciliation is the foundation of her walk, honouring all our ancestors, connecting people in harmonious ways to learn and engage with each other in good relations and uplift community – all by “understand[ing] each other’s strengths, to prosper.”

For Tourangeau, the future is not about walking separate paths but about finding the places where collaboration and Reconciliation intersect – where Indigenous Peoples and Canada thrive together. It is a future built on shared prosperity, where Indigenous sovereignty is honoured not as an obligation, but as a guiding principle for stronger communities, better policies, and deeper relationships. Through her work, she envisions a world where Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples walk alongside one another, not in fear or uncertainty, but in a spirit of mutual respect, understanding, and shared success.

“Reconciliation is not just about looking back – it’s about building forward,” Tourangeau shares. And as she continues to bridge worlds, nurture connections, and challenge the status quo, she holds fast to this truth: the future is one of possibility, and when we choose to walk together, we all rise.