Indigenous Justice

Recently I settled  my youngest son into a semester of study in New Mexico – near the Navajo Nation. It has been good to see him begin to be immersed once again into our culture, our foods, our language, and our beautiful red soil & rocks.

People are a little shocked when we tell them that we are “Missionaries” who don’t start any programs.  As servants of Christ we come beside individuals and see what their dreams are for their community. We work together on how we can support them.  

Christopher Columbus, so brave and true, sailed the mighty ocean blue, in fourteen hundred and ninety-two, and found a land so bright and new! Or so the hagiography goes. Brian Walsh and Rick Middleton in their book, Truth is Stranger Than It Used to Be: Biblical Faith in a Postmodern Age make the case for reimagining the heroic Columbus narrative in the light of the Indigenous perspective that saw the 1492 “discovery of America” in a completely different way.

Canada marks a National Day of Truth and Reconciliation on September 30th. It coincides with Orange Shirt Day, a grassroots commemoration marked by the wearing of Orange Shirts for children forced to leave their families and attend residential schools.

I recently went to see the film Bones of Crows with three other members of my Hearts Exchanged group. I made sure to put a stash of tissues in my purse - I expected to get quite emotional based on what I had seen in the trailer for the film. I didn’t use any of those tissues. Not because the film avoided hard stories but because the characters were strong and resilient and the painful truths were not manipulated into some kind of gratuitous sentimentality.

“When you hear strong emotions, especially anger, your natural tendency is to back away and perhaps cross your arms to protect yourself. If you want to help someone with their pain, I suggest leaning forward toward the person with an open posture.” I heard this counter-intuitive advice from a small group training facilitator who was showing us how to help sexual abuse victims process their emotions. This guidance was against all my natural tendencies but has been most useful in helping others with strong emotions.

When I was 11 years old

June is National Indigenous History Month in Canada, an opportunity to learn about the unique cultures, traditions and experiences of First Nations, Inuit and Métis. It's a time to honour the stories, achievements and resilience of Indigenous Peoples, who have lived on this land since time immemorial and whose presence continues to impact the evolving Canada. 

In my first blog piece written on Deacons and Justice, I wrote about the call for Deacons to offer holistic ministries that respect the dignity of all people found in their mandate. In today’s blog, we will look at the call to change exploitative structures. 

I can’t help but lament the absence of divine justice. Thankfully God is not finished with us.  How much better will we do in the next 10 years?  Sometimes I think of the process of reconciliation as a dance. The question is, “How ready are we to make this an inclusive party. to turn up the music so that the dance can begin?