Moving Forward with Truth and Reconciliation

Moving Forward with Truth and Reconciliation…

As I write this blog I carry with me the experience I had at the gathering at the N’Amerind centre in London to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30, 2022.  Many people gathered from the Reserves around London and within the city.  This moment carried within it a strong message of hope that we want to move forward in strengthening the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. 

As soon as I joined the crowd and heard the MC welcome everyone, people began turning to each other and introducing themselves.  The jingle dances then warmed the circle with their movement to the beat of the sacred drum.  It was not long after that that we were invited to join in the circle dance holding hands and moving together again to the beat of the drum.  This was a symbol of what can be and how we all can learn to move together.

Finally, the unveiling of the art created by some very talented Indigenous artists along with an explanation of the meaning of this art was so important to capture the intent of this day.  I know there is much healing to be done. However, the day did not centre on the pain of the Residential Schools but began with welcome and an invitation to learn from the symbols, the stories, the dance of these people and an opportunity to approach this day with curiosity, and appreciation of their deep spirituality.   And it can begin with the stories which the paintings reveal.  These murals invite us to take some time to let the art speak to us or raise question. This is a new way to help us learn from the work of artists who can use their talent to reveal some very fundamental insights of Truth and Reconciliation. 

-Sister Joan Atkinson, CSJ | Office for Systemic Justice

National Truth and Reconciliation Day

National Truth and Reconciliation Day– September 30

Image: Unsplash/Aedrian

This is the second year in which we are called to remember the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation or more simply known as “Orange Shirt Day”.  The focus of the day is to remember the children who died at Residential Schools and those who survived those schools but continue to live with the trauma of their experiences long after the last of those schools closed.

I want to acknowledge this day and I want to say thank you to the Indigenous people who invite us in healing and friendship to learn, to seek to understand and in some cases even to dance. It is day to express that it is time to heal the hurts of the past and be allies as we walk together into the future.  This will take time but this is a new moment to seek healing and reconciliation for the wrongs of the past.  Also, when we gather we also learn more of the truth about our Aboriginal peoples and their rich and meaningful culture and ceremonies.  We learn because these people are good storytellers and stories tell us who they are and who we are.

Such change and new understanding does not come all at once, or to each person in the same way.  It a journey that involves coming to know each other, listening to each other, and walking together into a new day. 

I will wear my orange shirt to express that going forward I will not forget the past, and also to express my desire and commitment to create the healing needed and do this together because together we are stronger!

-Sister Joan Atkinson, CSJ, Office for Systemic Justice | Sister of St. Joseph

Our Statement on Truth and Reconciliation

MOVING BEYOND WORDS

We are heartened by the healing felt by so many in response to the Pope’s apology to Indigenous peoples on their land (Truth and Reconciliation Call # 58).

While there were many different perspectives on the apology, there was much more consensus on the need for the apology to be followed by actions to transform the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous persons in Canada.  There can be no reconciliation without social, cultural, environmental, and economic justice for Indigenous communities. And we recognize this calls for deep change on our part, personally, communally, and as a society.

At the most fundamental level of action, we heard the call for truth-telling about the role of the institutional church in colonialism and the residential school tragedy.  Senator Murray Sinclair, the chief commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, cut to the crux of the issue when he insisted, “It is important to underscore that the church was not just an agent of the state, nor simply a participant in government policy, but was a lead co-author of the darkest chapters in the history of this land.”

These words urge us forward into the “search for truth” of which the Pope spoke and have the capacity to free us for restorative action as we co-create a new future. We value such dialogue as critical to the evolution of consciousness at the heart of reconciliation.

In addition, as Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada, our actions for reconciliation prioritize support for Indigenous-led projects for change such as:

• Water First - a certificate program that trains Indigenous youth in the maintenance of water treatment plants which contributes a solution to the crisis of clean drinking water and provides skilled employment.

• Reducing Youth Justice Involvement - an Indigenous-led pilot process in Manitoba whose aim is to reduce Indigenous youth time spent in prison. The process is a year-long live-in experience that uses the best of Indigenous wisdom and time on the land as well the best of Western science to treat addiction.

As we look to next steps, we are attentive to priorities for action identified by a variety of Indigenous voices in Canada.  Some examples include:   

·         Governor General Mary Simon’s suggestion that the church’s actions following the papal apology might start with financing of mental health resources for Indigenous communities.

·         Journalist Tanya Talaga’s recommendation that a good place for the Canadian Catholic church to start is to financially support the recovery of Indigenous children in the unmarked graves.

It is our desire to bring a culture of encounter to our next steps toward reconciliation; a culture characterized by deep listening and a contemplative heart in our dialogue and action. 

A Poem for Truth and Reconciliation

A Poem for Truth and Reconciliation

Today we share a poem written by Thamer Linklater, friend and partner of the Sisters of St. Joseph.

We are the granddaughters of survivors.

We are the nieces of people who never came home.

This entire year has been excruciating for us.

Not like a punch to the stomach,

One you don't see coming,

Taking your breath all at once.

But like an avalanche.

The slow collection of snow on a mountaintop.

Until, one day, a sound sets off a cascade,

Wrecking everything in its path.

We all saw the building snow.

Our bodies knew the horrors untold.

You see, we live near the mountains.

Towns, however, that are crushed by snow,

Are shielded by walls and roads.

Existing so far away from mountaintops.

A sea of orange now floods the landscape.

T-shirts, signs, banners, handprints

Take up the space cleared by snow.

Some wear the colour to commemorate

Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins.

Some wear the colour to honour

The childhood that was stolen from them.

Some wear the colour as a sign of atonement.

Refusing to let history be buried.

Some wear the colour to blend in.

Using apologies, holidays, and shirts

To cover the gap.

Meanwhile pipelines, legal action, and police raids

Tear the rift further and further apart.

We are the granddaughters of survivors.

We are the nieces of those who never came home.

We are apart of the avalanche.

We had our hearts unburied with every child found.

Where do you fit in this story unfolding?

Thamer Linklater is a member of Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation and a survivor of the Child Welfare system in Manitoba. She recently graduated from the University of Winnipeg with a B.A. in English and is now working on her Master’s in Indigenous Studies at Trent University. She has worked in various teams for the Six Seasons Project. She has been involved with Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak and is an active First Nations advocate. Thamer has recently started work on her collection of poems and hopes to publish them soon.

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A Canada Day Like None Other

A Canada Day Like None Other; A Liturgy Like None Other

Canada Day, July 1, 2021, was like none other I had experienced. Canada Day, July 1, 2021, I experienced liturgy like none other, but one for which I have dreamed, hoped, and prayed.

Sister Linda and Sister Diane had come to Hay River from Yellowknife to visit for a few days. On July 1st, Canada Day, we joined the community of Katlodeeche First Nation Reserve to honour and remember the children who did not return home from Residential School. Approximately 220 people, many wearing orange, had gathered for the memorial. Although the last days of June had been extremely hot, mixed with rain and thunderstorms, that morning the weather cleared, the sun came out, (as well as the bugs!).

The memorial was to begin at 13:23 hours, signifying the number of graves (at the point of planning) that had been discovered, 1,323. Those planning to attend were invited to gather at 13:00 hours in order that the memorial could begin on time.

As we arrived, the table had been set - a small fire with a few logs. The drummers were present, warming their drums over the fire, ready to sing a prayer song.

Chief April Martel welcomed everyone; community members, many people from the town of Hay River including the mayor and counsellors, RCMP, Rangers, men, women and children, Dene, Metis and Inuit, as well as non-indigenous. All had come to stand in solidarity.

Roy Fabian, former chief and elder, began to speak. Roy began explaining the word “Dene”. He explained that it consisted of two words, De and Ne. De means the water, the rivers and Ne of the land, the plants, animals, and people. All is gift from the Creator.

We had gathered on the site of the former residential school. Roy shared with us some history of the residential days and he spoke the truth, in the fact that not all was good.  

“A Canada Day like none other ...but one for which I have dreamed, hoped and prayed.”

Following Roy’s words, the feeding of the fire began. Roy explained that traditionally the hunter would take the fat/muscle from behind the eye of the animal and offer it in thanksgiving for its life and thanksgiving to the Creator. Today, tobacco is used. Everyone present, who wished, was invited to make an offering.

Taking some tobacco in his hands, Pat Martel, a former chief and elder, began the fire feeding ceremony with a prayer in his Dene language. He then sprinkled the tobacco in the fire. This was followed by Chief April Martel, elder Roy Fabian and the drummers. The drummers then began to sing the prayer song while those present came forward to make their offering.

It was a vey sacred moment. As individuals and families came to the fire, taking some tobacco in their fingers, each one took a few moments to reflect and remember. Among the crowd gathered, there was an atmosphere of profound quietness as we stood in solidarity. The drummers continued to drum and sing throughout the fire-feeding ceremony.

Up to this point, the memorial was in honour of the children who did not come home, within an atmosphere of quietness and grief. And then the mood changed. The drumming took on an air of celebration as everyone joined in a tea dance. Roy explained that the dance was in honour of the children now, in the present.

 As the drummers led the dance with a celebratory drum beat and joyful song, a large circle formed around the monument on the Residential School site as we danced to the beat of the drum.

As Sister Linda had just moved to Yellowknife in September, we ended our day going to Alexandra Falls. As we walked through the trees to get to the lookout, I was aware that we had come full circle from Roy’s words explaining the word Dene.

I was profoundly moved at the memorial for the children who did not come home from Residential School. Being in solidarity, praying, listening, offering, and dancing, experiencing community… I did not receive the Eucharist, the Real Presence, as we believe, however, I was nourished by the real presence of each person. It occurred to me that perhaps this is what Jesus envisioned for “church”. These past few days I feel much like the disciples on the road to Emmaus… “were not our hearts burning…”

Was not my heart deeply moved!

I dream and pray and hope for a new way of “church” everywhere, but especially in the north; one in which spiritualities of many cultures can be woven together in a deep spiritual experience of community.

Sister Maggie Beaudette, CSJ