Sometimes it only takes one act of kindness and caring to change a person’s life.
Jackie Chan
Genocide in Canada?
Genocide in Canada? NEVER!!!
Celebrating National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada
The news has been inundated with the realities of genocides all over the world, but rarely is Canada included in that list. A little dose of TRUTH is in order to get a proper perspective.
Prior to the European arrival, millions of various tribes existed across Turtle Island with their system of bartering, governing that worked for them.
Columbus’ “discovery” of the land, was affirmed by Pope Alexander VI in 1493, when he issued the infamous “Doctrine of Discovery” that stated that empty lands “terra nullius” “discovered by European Explorers, became the property of the Crown. In fact, these lands were inhabited by millions of peoples comprising one fifth of the world’s population at that time. They just happened to be non-Christian and were therefore deemed to be uncivilized and hence the term “terra nullius” or empty lands.
The mentality incurred by the Doctrine of Discovery paved the way for our Indigenous peoples to be horrifically treated due to the policies of the First Prime Minister of Canada by establishing the Residential School system which was specifically launched “to get rid of the Indian problem” and prevailed from the 1870’s to the 1990’s in which more than 130 Residential Schools were established and run by many of our churches.
The “savages”, a term used by Duncan Campbell Scott, were deemed to be subhuman (Indian Act in a plain-language summary). Colonizers attempted to assimilate them into European culture through the residential School System and by the 60’s Scoop when the children were ‘scooped up” and placed into European settler homes. It is estimated that there were even more Indigenous children in the child welfare system than the 150,00 that were in Residential Schools.
The past Chair of the TRC, the Honourable Murray Sinclair’s words ring so true for today:
“it is education that got us into this mess, and it is education that will get us out of it.”
One of the first steps to “getting us out of this mess” was the submission of the TRC 94 Calls to Action 94 Recommendations of the TRC report of 2015. It was carefully drawn up after the Commissioners interviewed thousands of abused survivors and it is estimated that 6000+ died in residential schools. This is a significant number. This is a genocide. Truly the darkest part of our Canadian history.
Perhaps this is best summed up by Connor Sarazin in the June Kairos times Newsletter:
On June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day, may we recognize and celebrate the history, heritage, resilience and diversity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis across Canada.
-Sister Kathleen Lichti, CSJ
Weekly Pause and Ponder
Happy Father's Day
I look forward to Father’s Day every year. It gives me time to think about the role of father in our lives and the influence that each father has on laying the groundwork for his children in a myriad of ways that will guide them throughout their lives.
Of course, as an example, I turn to thoughts of my own beloved father, now long deceased, and the influence he had on my life and on my siblings. Dad and the other men who I knew as I grew up, cemented my perception and belief of what a father should be. Later in life, I learned that not all fathers were kind and loving as were those during my childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. A lack of good male role models can leave its mark on children who suffer from lack of self-esteem, addictions, and a host of other maladies that may be carried through life.
From my earliest years, I knew my father as a kind, gentle, and patient dad. He loved my mother deeply and expressed it in daily acts of kindness. He insisted that we show her love, honor, and obedience. We also learned to respect our elders, and those who visited us in our happy, faith-filled home.
Throughout my childhood, I observed my father teaching by example. We saw his daily cordial conduct, gentle politeness, easy neighbourliness, and the careful dance of when to act and when to desist.
As the years passed and we grew up and took our place in society, new generations arrived. I watch my brothers in action. They treat their wives and children with the same patience, love and kindness that my father portrayed. Suddenly, in this new millennium, another generation, tall and strong, is on the horizon. These lads also exhibit the traits that have been handed down from the generations of our fine forefathers.
How appropriate it is to set aside one special Sunday a year to honor hardworking, fine men who bear the name of Father – or just plain, wonderful DAD.
-Sister Jean Moylan, CSJ
