Last November I travelled to Orillia to be part of the Equipping Ambassadors of Reconciliation Conference, which was led by First Nations people who are part of the Presbyterian, United and Anglican Churches. There were over a hundred of us there: female and male, native and non-native.
On Thursday evening, our group participated in an exercise that helps people understand our shared history. Blankets were laid on the floor in the middle of where we were sitting in a circle that was two rows deep. An invitation was shared to come stand on the blankets. Those of us who came into the center represented the millions of people who lived in this land before the Europeans arrived. We were part of distinct self-governing societies that made up hundreds of nations. At the start, we were able to walk freely among the blankets. We smiled and kibitzed together. By the end, I was back sitting in the circle because I had been among those who represented Native people who had been killed by diseases brought when the Europeans came. Those people still in the middle of the circle were left on small pieces of blanket, isolated from one another.
During the blanket exercise we heard that the British North America Act, that helped establish Canada, declared that aboriginal people were under the protection of the Dominion. The Canadian government’s goals were assimilation, enfranchisement and civilization. And these goals are still with us today. They are the foundation of the Indian Act that still helps to govern our relationship with First Nations today.
When we struggle with understanding why the residential school system that our church helped run went so very wrong, and caused such overwhelming hurt, the answer becomes clear. For all of our good intentions and for all the benefits that our culture shared with the Native culture, we sought to absorb them, so that they would no longer exist as a distinct group of people.
So, residential schools are not an isolated act that we can apologize for and get on with life. They represent a dominant way that my European ancestors entered into relationship. This means that the seeds planted by the BNA and by residential schools are still with us today. The distrust and the anger that I sense in myself towards Native peoples come from those thorny seeds planted generations ago. And we need to root these thorns and thistles out of the garden so there is more room for fruit bearing plants. But how do we do this?
On Friday morning, Elder Grafton Antone shared seven traditional teachings: honesty, humility, wisdom, courage, respect, generosity, love. He then told a story, that I will share:
The Creator sends an angel to the Ojibway, for there is fighting and disharmony in the community. The Creator tells the angel to look for the one who will share the true teachings and help bring peace. So the angel flies down, passing over all the old ones (the elders), but the right one is not among them. The angel goes back to the Creator. “I cannot find the one who will bring peace.” “Go back down. Look some more,” says the Creator. So, the angel flies over the parents, the uncles and the aunts. Disappointed, he reports back to the Creator. Again, the angel goes out. This time the angel flies to the youth, to the children, and finally a newborn baby. “Ah! Here is the one!” The baby receives the wisdom that the Ojibway need. By the time he has received it he is old, and has long, white hair. Yet, when he returns to his community, his parents are still there, and all the people welcome him.
Elder Grafton’s message to us in the church: give back the wisdom you took away by actions like the residential schools.
But how are we to do this?
On Saturday morning, I listened intently to Marie Wilson, one of the three Truth and Reconciliation commissioners. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is part of a court settlement in response to a class action suit of residential school survivors. The other parties involved are the Canadian government and the churches that ran the schools: Anglican, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic and United.
Over the five year mandate, starting last June, the commissioners will lead the effort to gather and document the history of residential schools. They will gather experiences from those who went to the schools, those who ran them, and from the second and third generations of people who have been affected. The commission will seek the safe keeping of hard materials like documents and pictures. There will be a final report with recommendations to all the partners: the government, the churches and the survivors
Marie Wilson shared that the three commissioners begin their meetings together with prayer. Each one has sought out spiritual guides for themselves. They are working together in a spirit of cooperation. Their goal is healing of First Nations people and of those who immigrated to this land. It is their hope that the commission can help us to build communities of peace and cooperation together.
As I learn about our shared history and the relationship of native and non-native peoples in this land, I feel much sorrow and regret. I am tempted to give up, keep my distance, and resign myself to the status quo. But, as I experience the leadership found among the First Nations people, I realize there is much reason for hope and healing for us all.
