Solanto reminds us that recognizing diversity in culture and circumstance in Canadian aboriginal communities is not enough; we must thoroughly examine the assessment tools and models we use when we approach aboriginal communities to avoid unintentionally continuing oppressive practices.
At a deeper level, he notes, our widely accepted understanding of rights and personhood is a backdrop against which aboriginal people and their cultural values are often misunderstood and oppressed.
Solanto challenges us to abandon flawed and inadequate practices and models in favour of community building, which begins with non-aboriginals acknowledging the healing that they must engage in order to become true allies toward the path to reconciliation.'