Indigenous Justice

Sound bites and political theatre: federal budgets and major policy announcements can often look like nothing more than political posturing. In response we might trot out the clichés: the devil is in the details…the proof is in the pudding…show me the money! But as our friends at Citizens for Public Justice often remind us, values are at the root of budgets and public policy. When government promises for First Nation Control of First Nation Education are made – as in the Feb. 10 Budget and the Prime Minister and AFN National Chief Atleo’s announcement on Feb.

This is one of my favorite passages from Nicholas Wolterstorff. I first appreciated its significance on July 4, 2011, when I was living in Colombia, South America, participating in the Mennonite Central Committee’s Seed program. We were a mix of people from all the Americas: Peru, Colombia, Mexico, US, and Canada. On American Independence Day, with the smell of brownies in the oven and Taylor Swift playing in the background, we came together—not to celebrate our country, but to recognize where we came from.

It would be easy to administer rectifying justice to strangers and keep a closed heart, go back home to where it is safe, and keep God at a distance. But once we are in relationship, we will be able to see the gifts in the other person and able to accept the blessings they have to offer.

Let’s reflect together on the God David describes so beautifully in Psalm 103, and how our fear, respect, and love of the faithful God of covenant relates to the call to reconciliation in Canada.

Come see what God is doing! The two winners of the first prize (one Canadian and one American) will win a trip to Edmonton, Canada for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. If you’re between the ages of 18 and 30, you’re invited to submit a 400-800 word reflection or mixed media contribution (eg. spoken word video, Prezi presentation, poem) on one or more of the following questions to the judges panel through drowaan@crcna.org before February 21.

John was walking along the sidewalk. He wore faded, black denim jeans and an Iron Maiden t-shirt underneath his studded leather jacket. Far removed from the latest fashion trends, he was decidedly a child of the 80s as he lit the cigarette he just bummed from someone passing by.

At the tail end of this season of Advent people seem to have more emotional space for attention to both the brokenness of the world and the hope hidden in Christ. 

We just moved – packed up all we own and migrated across the Rockies and across the Georgia Strait. We’re now in a town that shares borders with two reserves. I admit that I don’t know a great deal about these neighbours. That’s not entirely true; at a certain level, I’ve learned a great deal. I know that they are the first residents of this land. I know that through a series of treaties and promises and no shortage of sneakiness and partial truths, we managed to squeeze them onto small reserves.

Many people today, not just Christians, have a growing sense of God’s participation in their life. What is interesting is that for many, perhaps even most of the people who can do that, at the same time that our sense of God’s personal  activity in our lives has grown, our sense of God’s activity in the world around us has diminished.

Our colleague Shannon Perez has a habit of asking zinger questions. As five of us colleagues sat in a Skype circle debriefing our experience of the Vancouver Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) she asked us:

Equipped with the testimonies of the survivors, what in your life will you turn way from, and what will you turn towards God? How will you back this repentance up with action?

See what I mean by zinger? Shannon’s point is actually pretty simple – we can’t come away from the experience of a TRC and its brutal and beautiful truths unchanged.