When he was 12 years old, Patrick Twinn received a lesson from his father that Twinn’s still learning that today.
“It was probably a few weeks before he passed away from a heart attack in a sweat lodge. He sat me and my brothers down in the kitchen and asked us a question: ‘How come everyone that I know that went to residential school is either dead, drunk or in jail?’”
At the time, Twinn says he didn’t know the question was rhetorical, referring to the mass trauma that experience imposed — and the economic, educational and employment gaps it’s passed on through generations. “But it stuck with me for my entire life, and I never really put the pieces together until later in my 20s, when I started to really focus on reconnecting with my community and my culture.”
Today, Twinn reconnects with his community and culture through his role at ATB, which in 2017 started what Twinn calls its “reconciliation journey” by creating its first role with a mandate on Indigenous relations. Twinn joined the journey in 2020, and today his job involves reaching out and listening to Alberta’s many diverse and distinct Indigenous communities (Twinn is Cree) to advance economic reconciliation. But Twinn also acts as ATB’s internal auditor by holding the institution accountable.
“I can’t wave a magic reconciliation wand and solve all of ATB’s truth and reconciliation challenges and obstacles. But what I can do is be like a coach, guiding them through oversights or blind spots and informing them so they’re more inclusive for Indigenous peoples.”
Twinn says he’s come to realize that what his dad saw as an economic problem is actually more of a spiritual problem of Indigenous peoples being disconnected from their cultures. He reconnects through his work, in the spirit of his father, which he passes onto his daughter, bit by bit, every day.
“She’s never met him, of course, but I know she loves him. I just hope she doesn’t have to think about things he had to think about, or even I’ve had to think about, growing up. We’re really trying to create a better future for the next seven generations.”
This article appears in the Nov/Dec 2024 issue of Edify
