Gospel Lesson: John 9: 1-12 Reflection on Reconciliation June 21, 2015 – offered by Charles Barrett John’s gospel lesson this morning speaks metaphorically about spiritual blindness, our inability to see the truth about the nature of God and God’s plan. I am an early baby boomer, and like many others here this morning my youthful world view was strongly influenced by North American popular culture of the 1950s. Let me give you a hint. In 1955 I sported a raccoon skin hat … which was actually made of cardboard. Those who are cognoscenti in these matters may recall that the first episode of the Walt Disney TV miniseries was entitled Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter . Killing “Indians” made him a hero in mid-20 th Century America, even if the real life of David Crockett had more nuanced views. (The historical Crockett was a staunch opponent of President Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act, a stance that led to the loss of his seat in Congress and hence indirectly to his popular martyrdom in Texas in 1836.) The legend of Davy Crockett is itself not terribly important, but it is symptomatic of our culture. If you cast your mind back 60 years you will remember many (many) other examples of negative stereotypes of North American aboriginals, on TV, in the movies, in popular songs and in vernacular expressions. Growing up in suburban Toronto does not give one much opportunity to meet First Nations people. In fact contact for me began when my parents acquired a cottage in the Kawartha Lakes in the early 1960s, when we visited the Curve Lake First Nation, today a highly successful community, and a model for aboriginal economic and cultural development. Then it looked poor, unkempt and dilapidated to a young teenager from the city. Nor did other encounters open my eyes and broaden my mind. I recall vividly walking to a local store on Lake Couchiching while visiting my friend Tony Quarrington’s cottage, where the road passed through the Rama Reserve. The native kids through stones at us. I was quite scared, and certainly not open to getting to know them. My journey to reconciliation began a long time ago, but has come into a much sharper focus recently. Let me deal with the latter first: Listening to a presentation by an elder from Kitigan Zibi at Trinity United Church a couple of years ago prompted me to reflect on what would need to be done to move from a conversation on the wrongs of the past to actually achieving right relations between aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians in the future.
2 The answer is not easy, to say the least. But the answer lies, I think, in the onus of understanding on the part of non-aboriginals. My own little epiphany prompted me to spend time learning what the Americas were like before 1492, and about relations between Europeans and aboriginals in what is now Canada at the time of the first contacts. The story of the post-contact period is not a happy one from the perspective of Canada’s fi rst peoples. Indeed this tale has counterparts in other parts of the hemisphere, and on other continents too. That leads to a broader conclusion. This is the one that has been taking shape in my mind for much longer. It was influenced by a particular aspect of my career, namely the time I spent working on economic reform projects, mainly in Asia, over a quarter century. In international development one learns quickly not to assume an understanding of the indigenous culture, nor to presume to have the right answer, nor even the right conception of the problem. Learning how to listen and understanding issues from your partner’s perspective are basic skills, but sadly ones that are practiced quite rarely. Returning to Canada’s relationship with its aboriginal peoples, my insight is simply this: Our concept of history and who we are is extremely Eurocentric. I repeat, our world view is very European-focused. This insight is hardly revolutionary. It is an obvious conclusion, not in the least surprising. But it is nonetheless a very difficult reality to overcome in practice. We see the world from a European perspective for good reason. The beginning of the modern era towards the end of the fifteenth century saw the rise of Western Europe, as a globalizing, expansionary force. The Protestant Reformation and the rise of capitalism went hand in hand. European culture was in the ascent, and has remained on top for half a millennium. Other cultures could simply not compete on equal terms, despite great depth and sophistication. You and I are the product of that history. By and large we have seen it as a good thing, not only for us as Settlers in a new land, but for the world as a whole. Our Victorian and Edwardian ancestors, British in outlook (even the Francophones) and Imperialists to the core, certainly saw the civilizing forces of Empire in a positive light. Those were the folks who gave us the Residential Schools.
3 I am not going to debate the benefits of European expansionism and imperialism, but simply to say there are other legitimate world views and historical perspectives. We need to open our eyes and ears to them if we are to have a meaningful dialogue on reconciliation, and more importantly if we are to move from talk to action. In 1986 the United Church issued an apology to First Nations People that spoke of the error of imposing European culture on native persons. It did not address Residential Schools directly, and it was simply acknowledged, not accepted by our aboriginal brothers and sisters. Yet it speaks eloquently to the error of viewing the world from a single vantage point, and The words of the 1986 apology remain very relevant today. Apology to First Nations Peoples (1986) Rt. Rev. Robert Smith Long before my people journeyed to this land your people were here, and you received from your Elders an understanding of creation and of the Mystery that surrounds us all that was deep, and rich, and to be treasured. We did not hear you when you shared your vision. In our zeal to tell you of the good news of Jesus Christ we were closed to the value of your spirituality. We confused Western ways and culture with the depth and breadth and length and height of the gospel of Christ. We imposed our civilization as a condition for accepting the gospel. We tried to make you be like us and in so doing we helped to destroy the vision that made you what you were. As a result you, and we, are poorer and the image of the Creator in us is twisted, blurred, and we are not what we are meant by God to be. We ask you to forgive us and to walk together with us in the Spirit of Christ so that our peoples may be blessed and God's creation healed. Epistle Lesson: 2 Corinthians 5: 16-20 Reflection offered by Louise Madaire We Live, Worship, Play and Work on Unseeded, Un-surrendered Algonquin Territory.
4 When 2 Corinthians says “we no longer see Christ in the human way” is it possible that we now see Him, and all children of God as divine? In most cultures and religions there is what I refer to as “Basic Truths”. When we hear them, the spiritual resonance is definite. This is what our settler ancestors failed to recognize. Through a European centric lens the cultural bias has continued for generations. Even now we hear statements such “what do they want now?” or “Residential schools system was a long time ago, it wasn’t us”. I point to the Aboriginal teachings of All my Relations and the 7 Sacred Grandfather Teachings, as some of the basic truths that resonate with me. May I state we are all treaty people , in that as non-Aboriginals, treaties, decrees and laws were made by our Government Representatives, & Parliament. Most of duties have not been carried out nor the promises completely kept. I remember attending CEGEP with some Aboriginal people, some of my classmate Billy and his cousin as well as others went to Parliament hill in Sept of 1974. The Government brought in all kinds of law enforcement including riot squads from Montréal, who beat up the un-armed protestors. That evening during the news as film of the day’s events was being shown, my father said “we give them so much and still they are not happy”. My very indignant teenage response was words to the effect of “we took a whol e continent away from them, and brought disease and problems. That was probably the beginning of my interest in the “Indian problem”. My participation became more active with the Sisters in Spirit movement, which was trying to bring attention to the Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women, and later other initiatives such as the Project of Heart. In 2008 I was lucky to participate in the LIVING INTO RIGHT RELATIONS NATIONAL TASK GROUP (May 2008 – November 2013). The United Church brought 6 representatives (3 Aboriginal 3 Non-Aboriginal) from the 13 conferences to Pinawa Manitoba for a retreat. One of the Aboriginal women in our group, was very upset about a specific situation and generally mistrustful of us, she challenged us non-Aboriginals to what we would do about her situation. I answered her and she softened, the discussion that followed was about her experience with the settler community and even with her own people, this continued that evening as we stayed in the cafeteria and bonded over desserts and bev erages. She said “you are very special”, my response was there were many people like me. We promised as attendees to continue the work of Right Relations in our home conferences for 5 years.
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