First Steps
John 15:12
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
This week at the Vatican, history was made when Pope Francis, on behalf of the Catholic Church, apologized to Canadian First Nations people. The pontiff made the apology on Friday during a live-streamed audience with some 190 Indigenous representatives young and old at the Vatican. “I ask for God's forgiveness, and I want to say to you with all my heart, I am very sorry. And I join my brothers, the Canadian bishops, in asking your pardon,” Pope Francis said.
It was a long time coming, following in the steps of other Christian Denominations who had partnered with the Canadian Government in operating Aboriginal Residential Schools in Canada. In 1986, at its 31st General Council, The United Church of Canada responded to the request of Indigenous Peoples that it apologize to them for its part in colonization. Then the Anglican Church followed in 1992 and the Presbyterian Church in 1994.
As the Canadian people, and in particular the people of the United Church, move towards a time of reconciliation with their aboriginal brothers and sisters, why are these apologies so important?
When Carol and I attended the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings in Campbell River in 2012, we heard heart breaking stories again and again from survivors of the Residential School system, and how aboriginal children had been subjected to physical, sexual, and cultural abuse.
One of the most upsetting things we heard repeatedly was that as children they would share with people whom they trusted, for the most part, people in authority (police, principals, ministers, priests) and they were not believed. Even as adults, when they shared accounts of the treatment they received in the school, they were told they were lying – and worse.
On a more personal note, my brother-in-law, who passed away this past fall, was Metis. One of the things he was secretly proud of when he married my sister over 50 years ago, was that he could “pass” for being a Euro-Canadian. It was a trait that had helped a young Metis man, growing up in Northern Manitoba, to succeed in life. But undergirding that pride was a shame of his heritage. He once shared with me that his cousins often accused him of, “only being Indian when it was convenient for him.” They, on the other hand, had to live with the reality of being part aboriginal in a racist environment each and every day.
My brother-in-law was a little shocked when my niece, as a young adult, wanted to apply for her Metis card. As my niece began to learn more about her heritage, it gradually instilled a new pride in him and, surprisingly, he eventually got his own card, joined the local Metis Association, became an elder in that community and wore his Metis sash with pride. In his later years he could often be found manning the Metis Information Table down at the park during Aboriginal Days. What a difference 50 years can make!
Moving from shame to pride made him a different person. One of the favorite memories his grandchildren hold of him, is when he taught them all how to find the perfect willow branch and how to make a bow. Even today, as young adults, they still cherish them.
The first step in healing and reconciliation is for the offending parties to acknowledge that the abuse occurred and they were complicit as institutions and individuals in that abuse. That has now happened. All four of the Christian Denominations who managed Residential Schools for the Canadian Government have acknowledged that not only are they sorry for their involvement but that the survivors of that system are; TELLING THE TRUTH.
To be believed, is NOT the end of the journey, but it is an important first step, as hopefully, we journey together to a time of greater healing and mutual respect. It has been a long time coming, but to me it feels like that, as a nation and as a Christian people who follow in the way of Christ, we have taken that hardest of all the steps on a journey – the first one!
Amen,
Wayne