Indigenous Justice

How could I not be deeply dismayed on a Sunday afternoon when my friend Nahla called from a medical clinic--they wanted cash before they would give attention to her ailing son.

Today is the 7th anniversary of the Government of Canada’s Residential Schools Apology. If we truly believe that the Gospel is good news for this time and this place, we must respond.

This history is our history. It shapes who we were, who we are, and who we will become. Let us take this opportunity to shape our future for the good.

We are blessed to live in a country that is seeking to know the truth, to heal from our brokenness, and to reconcile with each other and with God for our sins as a nation that have done so much harm to the peoples who first walked this land.

As I have had the privilege of working in First Nations communities and developing relationships with my Indigenous friends and neighbours, I have been able to learn much about the world through the teachings of the Medicine Wheel.

Editor's note: This post is the second in a series from the Milestones project. People who have been participated in or been affected by the CRC's work for reconciliation during the past six years, as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has travelled the country, have contributed stories of moments (or "milestones" on the journey of reconciliation) when they were touched by the movement of Spirit and came one step closer to reconciled relationships across the Indigenous/non-Indigenous divide in Canada.

Editor's note: This post is the first in a series from the Milestones project. People who have been participated in or been affected by the CRC's work for reconciliation during the past six years, as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has travelled the country, have contributed stories of moments (or "milestones" on the journey of reconciliation) when they were touched by the movement of Spirit and came one step closer to reconciled relationships across the Indigenous/non-Indigenous divide in Canada.

Here is my experience of first day of kindergarten with my son Antonio. We are very close to each other. I wondered how the first day of school would be for him and how I would be. Well, this is how it went. Antonio was excited and cooperative the very first day of school. I was cautiously optimistic. The second day of school however was a complete 180. He had some verbal protests in the morning as he was getting ready but I didn’t want to inflame it all by opposing him directly and escalating his protests.

A First Nations baby who had difficulty breast-feeding was diagnosed with allergies that required special formula. The Canadian federal government would not cover the cost of the special formula, so the nutritionist begged the company for free samples. A non-aboriginal child in the same province would have received the formula through provincial health care. 

Although it is sad to say, the truth is that Aboriginal education in Canada is stuck. It cannot move forward with much-needed reform. The issues needing reform are many--there are significant inequities between funding given to on-reserve Aboriginal schools and off-reserve schools. Less than half of First Nations people graduate high school, compared to almost 90% of non-Aboriginal people in Canada.