"...changing its crest to reflect the participation and contribution of Indigenous peoples since Union" - the colours of the four directions and the motto "ut omnes unum sint" ("that all may be one") supplemented in Mohawk with "Akwe Nia'Tetewá:neren" ("All my relations") 

Ed. Foreword:

This "guest post" was written by Rev. Dr. Jamie Scott for the worship service on National Indigenous Peoples Day held on Sunday, June 19th, 2022 at First United Church, Westboro in Ottawa.   It was part of a three part witness involving two other members of the congregation all reflecting on the necessary and challenging journey towards reconciliation between colonial settler peoples and the Indigenous peoples of Canada.   Thanks to Jamie for sharing these reflections and faith convictions from his vast experience of guiding the United Church on paths leading towards justice- and friendship-based reconciliation with Canada's Indigenous Peoples.

The prayer "Remembering the Children" concluding this part of the service is also published here.  The Rev. Lillian Roberts composed the prayer for the 2008 Church and Aboriginal Leaders' Tour in preparation for the Truth & Reconciliation Commission.    H.O.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Listening to Wisdom from the Ancestors in the Faith

Scripture: Matthew 5:23-24  (NRSV)

“So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.”

 Reflection on the Word

This teaching about reconciliation, attributed to Jesus, guided my 12 years as the

national staff for the United Church responding to the devastating impact of the

Indian residential schools system, a system in which we were complicit.

It is a succinct but rich text about what to do when relationships have been broken.

For me, this teaching offers four key insights to us as individuals and to the church as

a whole. The first is that our spiritual life is not separate from the rest of our life.

When you worship, Jesus says, think about your life. If you know that things are

not right with others, go and make them right. Spiritual practice requires reflection

about the health of our relationships with other people. In that reflection, we may

recognize that some relationships are broken, and need repair.

The second insight is that recognizing that a relationship is broken requires a

response. It requires accountability, “stepping up to the plate”, so to speak. We

are called to be pro-active, to take the initiative to own our responsibility by

engaging with the other party. Simply remembering, or even feeling regret, is not

reconciliation. “Leave your gift there before the altar and go!”

Thirdly, we are called to make things right. “Be reconciled!” The neighbour who

has been harmed must be attended to, must have a voice in what is required to

make things right. Perhaps this will mean a change in our attitude, or in our

perceptions, or in our behaviour. It often means repairing the damage, making

reparations. What does this look like for us as a church?

The fourth insight is that reconciliation is a spiritual act. The health of our spirit is

interdependent with the health of our relationships with others. Indigenous

spirituality speaks about balance, being “in balance” or “out of balance” with the

land, with oneself, with others and with the Creator. If we are “out of balance”

with any, we are out of balance with all of them. Making things right, coming back

into balance with others is a spiritual act of regaining balance with the Creator.

It’s been seven years since the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s

Final Report which described the wrongs done to Indigenous peoples by settlers

and colonization as a mountain, and offered 94 Calls to Action as a roadmap to

accountability, to “making things right”.  The Calls addressed not only the legacy

of residential schools but also a wide spectrum of injustices that continue to impact

the lives of Indigenous peoples. It challenged all Canadians to climb the mountain.

Remembering

The United Church began to “remember” that Indigenous people had

“something against us” in 1984 when Elder Alberta Billy (who sadly passed away

this past week) stood at a General Council meeting and called on the Church to apologize

for how it had treated Native people. The Church acknowledged the harm in an

Apology to First Nations Peoples in 1986 which said, in part, “(W)e imposed our

civilization as a condition of accepting the gospel of Christ. We tried to make you

be like us and in doing so we helped to destroy the vision that made you what you

were.”

Wise Elders received the Apology but did not accept it, preferring to wait

until the Church lived out its’ words in action. In 1998, the United Church offered

a second apology, specifically to Former Students of United Church Indian

Residential Schools, their families and communities, for its role in operating thirteen

schools.

Canadians, as a nation, began to “remember” the history and impacts of Indian

residential schools in 1990 when former National Chief Phil Fontaine disclosed on

national media that he had been physically and sexually abused at the residential

school he attended. Other survivors came forward with horrendous stories of their

experiences at government-mandated, church-run schools which, for over 120

years until 1996, tried to assimilate Indigenous children into settler culture. It’s a

history most Canadians were not taught in our educational system.

As the truth came out, some tried to claim that the abuses experienced by some

150,000 children who were taken from their families and forced to attend the

schools were the actions of “a few bad apples” among the staff. But as survivors

continued to speak up, through individual lawsuits, a class action and the Truth

and Reconciliation process, the churches, the government and the country as a

whole “remembered” that a systemic harm had been perpetrated on Indigenous

children, their families and communities. Prime Minister Harper “remembered”

this in the 2007 national Apology, saying that the residential school “system” was

based on the assumption that “Aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were

inferior and unequal”. It was “designed to remove and isolate children from the

influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them

into the dominant culture”, effectively “to kill the Indian in the child”.   We all

heard the truth that the Indian residential school system was an intentional and

systemic attempt to eradicate a people by our churches and government.

In the years since, Canadians continue the process of “remembering” what our

sisters and brothers have against us as we confront the horror of thousands of

deaths at the schools and hundreds of unmarked burial sites on the grounds of the

schools – children who died far from home, buried without recognition and often

without their parents being informed of what had happened to them.

Our “remembering” has also expanded to recognize that the residential school

system was only one colonial tool among many to disempower, dispossess and

assimilate Indigenous peoples. The imposition of the Indian Act, the outlawing of

Indigenous cultural and spiritual practice, the impact of the 1960s Scoop removing

Indigenous children from their families to be raised in non-Indigenous homes, the

abrogation of treaties, the underfunding of the health and social needs of Indigenous

communities, and racism continue to inflict damage. The mountain of harm is

huge.

Climbing the Mountain

The United Church as an institution has begun to climb the path to reconciliation.

It put action behind the words of it's Apologies by settling claims quickly and

fairly, submitting all of its records to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission,

increasing its funding for Indigenous ministries, changing its crest to reflect the

participation and contribution of Indigenous peoples since Union, repudiating the

Doctrine of Discovery and embracing the UN Declaration on the Rights of

Indigenous Peoples, and last year setting aside $3 million dollars to support the

work to locate of unmarked burial sites and the identification of unnamed children.

This is a start but we still have a long way to go.

[Reflection continued as another member of the congregation described her journey of growing awareness and action to "climb the mountain", and another sharing action ways leading toward "reconciliation".]

The Prayer:   Remembering the Children 

God of our Ancestors,

who holds the spirits of our grandmothers and grandfathers

and the spirits of our grandchildren,

Remembering the Children,

we now pledge ourselves to speak the Truth,

and with our hearts and our souls

to act upon the Truth we have heard

of the injustices lived,

of the sufferings inflicted,

of the tears cried,

of the misguided intentions imposed,

and of the power of prejudice and racism

which were allowed to smother the sounds and laughter of

the forgotten children.

Hear our cries of lament

for what was allowed to happen, and for what will never be.

In speaking and hearing and acting upon the Truth

may we as individuals and as a nation

meet the hope of a new beginning.

Great Creator God

who desires that all creation live in harmony and peace,

Remembering the Children

we dare to dream of a Path of Reconciliation

where apology from the heart leads to healing of the heart

and the chance of restoring the circle,

where justice walks with all,

where respect leads to true partnership,

where the power to change comes from each heart.

Hear our prayer of hope,

and guide this country of Canada

on a new and different path.

Amen

(attribution:   Rev. Lillian Roberts)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ed. Postword:   

This post is one of more than a dozen Pilgrim Praxis reflections on the Canadian experience of colonialism and settler domination of northern Turtle Island - politically, religiously, economically, culturally, and territorially.   Browse in www.minister.ca for other reflections, including the work of the 1% Fund Action Group proposing a substantial and tangible sign of government and societal desire for a new way of being in relationship with Indigenous Peoples - the path toward "Reconciliation".   A second iteration of the Action Group's Proposal will soon be published.