In 1986, in Sudbury
Ontario – the then Moderator of the United Church of Canada Robert Smith spoke
the following words:
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.
In 1988, the apology
was acknowledged, but was not accepted. Instead the representatives of the All
Native Circle Conference of the United Church of Canada took the courageous
step of asking simply that the apology be LIVED out as we move together into
the future. Representative Edith Memnook addressed the assembled Church at the
General Council meeting in Victoria in 1988 by saying:
The
Apology made to the Native People of Canada by The United Church of Canada in
Sudbury in August 1986 has been a very important step forward. It is heartening
to see that The United Church of Canada is a forerunner in making this Apology
to Native People. The All Native Circle Conference has now acknowledged your
Apology. Our people have continued to affirm the teachings of the Native way of
life. Our spiritual teachings and values have taught us to uphold the Sacred
Fire; to be guardians of Mother Earth, and strive to maintain harmony and
peaceful coexistence with all peoples.
We only ask of you to respect our Sacred Fire, the
Creation, and to live in peaceful coexistence with us. We recognize the hurts
and feelings will continue amongst our people, but through partnership and
walking hand in hand, the Indian spirit will eventually heal. Through our love,
understanding, and sincerity the brotherhood and sisterhood of unity, strength,
and respect can be achieved.
The Native People of The All Native Circle Conference
hope and pray that the Apology is not symbolic but that these are the words of
action and sincerity. We appreciate the freedom for culture and religious
expression. In the new spirit this Apology has created, let us unite our hearts
and minds in the wholeness of life that the Great Spirit has given us.
Today, 26 years after
our first apology, the United Church of Canada has continued to live the
apology, and struggle with First Nations Communities across Canada as they seek
healing and wholeness … I have been blessed to live and minister in a First
Nations’ community in the early years of my ministry, and I feel deeply blessed
to continue to count amongst my friends folks from that community who have
continued to share with me the struggles and achievements they face as a people
and a proud First Nation.
And that is the heart
of what started in 1986 – the planting and nurturing of a seed … a seed that
gave rise to the Healing Fund, All Native Circle Conference, the Native
Ministries of BC, and an awareness of the work needed to be done by ALL of us
within the umbrella of the United Church as we live our faith journey of
wholeness, healing and justice.
The relationship with
the First Peoples of Canada remains a contentious issue that can quickly draw
battle lines and bring division to a gathering … yet, it is also an issue that
can bring profound wisdom into almost any debate or discussion …
The environmental
impact of oil and gas exploration takes on a different dimension when a native
elder speaks of the damage being done to the traditional hunting grounds and
the animals they’ve depended upon for centuries for food … the stories of
pollution effected fish in rivers that once ran clear and pure in the north
remind us that our decisions here have far reaching effects … the Native
Protesters remind us that the land is something precious that we are merely
stewards of …
We may not agree with
the native protesters about a particular issue, but we do need to think beyond
this moment and consider the impact our decisions may have on future
generations and on the other partners in creation …
Ultimately, living
the apology – repairing the relationships with the First People, and being
faithful in our witness to the past as we journey forward is about story …
hearing, sharing, and most of ALL listening to the stories of our fellow
pilgrims on the way … IN Bella Coola the term used to speak of the collective
stories of the people is Smayusta – story, mythos, legend, the collective oral
traditions of the people that vest meaning in the land, the water, the people
and that tell of the relationships between the people and the creation in which
they live. Smayusta are the sacred stories of creation and the mythic beings
that are part of their traditional tales, but they are also the wisdom the
elders pass on through their lives. Smayusta simultaneously informs, defines
and inspires the people.
Looking back at my
time in Bella Coola, I can honestly say the most meaningful moments – those
beautiful glimmering moments of holiness, that I had in my ministry there, were
moments when stories were being shared with laughter, tears and love …
Sitting in the back
of the Church after Sunday night worship and having folks gather over tea and
cookies to swap stories, left us breathless with laughter, and wiping away
tears of both sorrow and joy … I heard stories about pranks and practical
jokes, encounters with grizzlies, whales and even sasquatch, stories of how and
where ancient legends had happened, and gut wrenching remembrances of loss and
tragedies … I remember vividly sitting on the river bank one sunny evening with
one of the town troopers.
Troopers in Bella
Coola were a crew of men and a couple of women who together trooped around town
collecting empty cans and bottles, then they trooped to the store to redeem
them, and then trooped to the liquor store to make their purchases and trooped
home to consume them … they were among the first people I got to know in town
when I arrived one hot July day.
I quickly learned
that they loved to tease and be teased. Anytime I saw them walking past the
house I would shout out the front door – “Don’t forget the 10% for the Church!”
Which was ALWAYS met with a roar of laughter and the same response – “If you
want ten percent, come and help collect with us!!” Then they’d head off down
the street giggling … Some time later, I was going to visit one of the elders
who had just been in the hospital and the troops were sitting on the step of a
house enjoying a sunny spring morning. One of them hefted the bottle they were
sharing and said – “Hey we’ve got the wine, if you bring the bread we could
have that communion thing …”
The time I went to
visit Daisy I tucked a tiny homemade loaf of bread in my coat pocket before I
left the house. As I passed the house I was met with the same laughter and the
same challenge – “hey, we got a bottle of wine, if you have bread we could have
communion …” I stopped and smiled and pulled out the loaf of bread and said
“Sure …”
We had a wonderful
communion that day on the steps of the house – a communion service full of
laughter and a profound holiness …
That holiness extended
to the evening when on the banks of the Bella Coola River, one of the town
troopers shared with me his personal experiences at Port Alberni Residential
School … the conversation began with Cougar saying quietly “I was there you
know …”
“where?” I asked.
“Alberni …” he never
looked at me, he watched the icy blue water flow past as he shared the horrors
that he endured at the hands of the dorm supervisor who had recently been
sentenced for similar crimes to OTHER boys at Alberni …
I was then, and I
remain to this day, almost 20 years later, stunned into silence at the horrors
Cougar endured as a young boy … months earlier, when Cougar’s father had died,
I marvelled at the beautiful pictures of him as a young boy … now, decades
later Cougar shared with me his STORY – the reason his life had descended into
the bottle … he kept saying over and over, “I just want to forget …”
After that evening,
my relationship with Cougar changed … I saw him in an entirely different light,
and welcomed the trust he extended to me by sharing his story – a story he had
never told anyone else … it was later that fall when Hannah was born that I
took great delight in introducing my newborn daughter to Cougar and watched as
his rugged worn face lit up in a HUGE smile as he cradled her in his arms … and
the last afternoon we were in Bella Coola, it was Cougar who stopped at the
back fence to say Good bye … we wept as we hugged each other and I wished him
well and offered a heart felt “God Bless you my friend”
A few short months
after moving from Bella Coola, Cougar died. When the news reached me, I cried.
But I also found myself smiling despite the tears because I KNOW in my heart
that Cougar – Robert by Baptism – had found the peace that had eluded him in
life … he found wholeness in the very presence of God.
And it was the power
of Story that not only revealed the breadth of who this man was, but
dramatically altered the relationship between us … and that is perhaps the
strongest lesson we can draw from living out the apology of the United Church
of Canada to the First Peoples of our land … to share, listen and celebrate the
stories – the life experiences – the faith journeys that have not only brought
us here, but that have DEEPLY affected us and transformed us as Children of
God.
The seed was planted,
and it continues to grow …
Oh, and in those last
Sunday night Services we had together at Emmanual United Church with the
Nuxalkmc congregation, the troopers came – Cougar sat beside me – the first
time in years he had darkened the door of the Church, and then one night when
the offering was presented the troopers got up and walked to the front of the
church and dumped handfuls of dimes on the collection plate … and one of them
turned and said with a mischievous grin – “there’s your ten percent!!!”
The power of Smayusta
– the power of a HOLY story told and shared unleashes the Spirit and transforms us and the
world around us …
May it be so – thanks
be to God … Let us pray …
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