I think my heart has been broken. No, I’m sure it has. Last weekend I was given the opportunity to attend a Truth and Reconciliation Conference, an ongoing effort to grapple with the fall-out of the Residential Schools that our Indigenous People were forced to attend for more than a century. It’s an ugly story. The purpose of the schools was to take “the Indian out of the child,” and the hope was that if children were removed from their culture, they would become assimilated into the European-Canadian culture.
But it goes back so much further than the first school, which opened in the 1840s. And its effects last far beyond the closing of the last residential school in 1996. These schools were set up by the Federal Government and run, for the most part, by the Church. Forced to attend these schools, Aboriginal children were forbidden to speak their own language, practice their own religion, or even have contact with their parents and siblings. There was little or no medical help available and students were subject to much abuse. The number of deaths that occurred is undocumented and there are families to this day who have no idea what happened to their siblings.
As I listened to leaders in the Aboriginal Community speak about this, to the commissioners for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to residential school survivors and their children, I heard hard things. The word “Christian” used as an epithet! The word “genocide” used to describe what was being done to Aboriginal peoples! There was anger, hatred, hurt and blame expressed. But that’s not what broke my heart. I expected to hear that.
What broke my heart was the grace expressed by many people in the room. Men and women who spoke of their Christian faith after undergoing horrific experiences at the hands of those who were supposed to exemplify Jesus’ love. As I listened to one woman speak of what she experienced as a young girl, I began to weep. Immediately there was someone beside me, offering help. Three times in the course of the day I was approached by different people who wanted to make sure that I was all right. I was overwhelmed by this, thinking about the irony of the people whom my ancestors tried to destroy comforting me as I wept for the pain I heard expressed.
During the conference, I heard the phrase, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” many times, I heard prayers of thanksgiving, stories, laughter, and Aboriginal languages spoken with much pride. It was a time of much sorrow but also a time of much joy and pride.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is an attempt at healing. It will be a long journey, that’s for sure. One elder said that it took seven generations to get to this place and it will take seven more to be healed from it. I don’t know what my part in the process is yet. I don’t know what OUR part in this will be. I do know that as Native and non-Native people we have much to learn from each other.
As a small beginning, a group of us are excited to present Kisemanito Pakitinasuwin - The Creator’s Sacrifice, a cross country art tour inspired by our Creator’s call to be people of reconciliation and featuring the dynamic artwork series by Cree artist Ovide Bighetty. “These paintings have provided a way for many Aboriginal people to hear and understand Jesus’ love for them from within the context of their own culture. They have also provided a way for many non-Aboriginal people to appreciate the gifts of Aboriginal culture, to see the gospel story in a fresh way, and to witness how Christ operates in and through Aboriginal culture.” (Steve vandeHoef) This tour will be at Hope Fellowship for the month of September and will include opportunities for learning and reforming relationships. More details will be available as the time draws closer.
It is my prayer that we, in some small way, as people of HOPE, will have opportunity to extend that hope to those who have struggled without it for so many years.
- Evelyn
But it goes back so much further than the first school, which opened in the 1840s. And its effects last far beyond the closing of the last residential school in 1996. These schools were set up by the Federal Government and run, for the most part, by the Church. Forced to attend these schools, Aboriginal children were forbidden to speak their own language, practice their own religion, or even have contact with their parents and siblings. There was little or no medical help available and students were subject to much abuse. The number of deaths that occurred is undocumented and there are families to this day who have no idea what happened to their siblings.
As I listened to leaders in the Aboriginal Community speak about this, to the commissioners for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to residential school survivors and their children, I heard hard things. The word “Christian” used as an epithet! The word “genocide” used to describe what was being done to Aboriginal peoples! There was anger, hatred, hurt and blame expressed. But that’s not what broke my heart. I expected to hear that.
What broke my heart was the grace expressed by many people in the room. Men and women who spoke of their Christian faith after undergoing horrific experiences at the hands of those who were supposed to exemplify Jesus’ love. As I listened to one woman speak of what she experienced as a young girl, I began to weep. Immediately there was someone beside me, offering help. Three times in the course of the day I was approached by different people who wanted to make sure that I was all right. I was overwhelmed by this, thinking about the irony of the people whom my ancestors tried to destroy comforting me as I wept for the pain I heard expressed.
During the conference, I heard the phrase, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” many times, I heard prayers of thanksgiving, stories, laughter, and Aboriginal languages spoken with much pride. It was a time of much sorrow but also a time of much joy and pride.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is an attempt at healing. It will be a long journey, that’s for sure. One elder said that it took seven generations to get to this place and it will take seven more to be healed from it. I don’t know what my part in the process is yet. I don’t know what OUR part in this will be. I do know that as Native and non-Native people we have much to learn from each other.
As a small beginning, a group of us are excited to present Kisemanito Pakitinasuwin - The Creator’s Sacrifice, a cross country art tour inspired by our Creator’s call to be people of reconciliation and featuring the dynamic artwork series by Cree artist Ovide Bighetty. “These paintings have provided a way for many Aboriginal people to hear and understand Jesus’ love for them from within the context of their own culture. They have also provided a way for many non-Aboriginal people to appreciate the gifts of Aboriginal culture, to see the gospel story in a fresh way, and to witness how Christ operates in and through Aboriginal culture.” (Steve vandeHoef) This tour will be at Hope Fellowship for the month of September and will include opportunities for learning and reforming relationships. More details will be available as the time draws closer.
It is my prayer that we, in some small way, as people of HOPE, will have opportunity to extend that hope to those who have struggled without it for so many years.
- Evelyn
Comments
Post a Comment