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How can dialogue with Indigenous Canadians create peace in Canada? -…
How can dialogue with Indigenous Canadians create peace in Canada?
Text to Faith; Why is Dialogue important for Canadians and Indigenous Canadians?
Dialogue between Canada's Indigenous and non-Indigenous people is extremely important when it comes to building a strong nationwide community. As Jesus calls for us all to care for one another as we would care for him, as mentioned in the Gospel of John 21:15-17. When we open a dialogue with Indigenous people and work towards reconciliation, we help to fulfill our promise with God by treating his creations as our own family. (1)
As well, the Church also had a big part in taking Indigenous children away from their families and forcing them to attend residential schools, I think that even now, it's important for the Church to apologize and move towards reconciliation. By taking accountability, correcting their wrongs and offering reparation fees as mentioned in the '94 Calls to Action' article by CBC. (2)
As number 61 states: "We call upon church parties to the settlement agreement, in collaboration with survivors and representatives of Aboriginal organizations, to establish permanent funding to Aboriginal people..." (Mas, 2015). (3)
On another note, the Indigenous spirituality also calls for an appreciation of nature that would be vital in Canada's efforts to prevent more additives to climate change. When paired with the Pope's teaching as listed in the Laudato Si, we would be able to come together and face our common threat, pollution. (4)
As Indigenous spirituality focuses on nature and the living spirit that inhabits all of creation, the Pope's letter focuses on bringing attention to the world's climate crisis and how as brother's and sister's of the earth we must come together to fix it. Specifically it states, "The human environment and the natural environment deteriorate together; we cannot adequately combat environmental degradation unless we attend to causes related to human and social degradation." (Francis, 2015) (5)
The quote refers to the fact that in order to combat climate change we must first overcome our differences and make amends this those we have wronged. This quote also helps us understand the importance in creating dialogue between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. (6)
Through creating a healthy dialogue and resolving Canada's own internal problems, we would be able to stand proudly as a country in solidarity against the imposing threat of climate change. (7)
If we focussed on creating a healthy dialogue between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians, we would be able to unifying Canada as a whole. By working over our issues and correcting our behaviours, we would be able to stand together in solidarity as one people. We would be able to overcome our issues and face climate change together, as one united country. (8)
Text to Text; What Connections can I make to my Faith? (Lent and the Sweat Lodge)
To many Indigenous peoples, the Sweat Lodge ceremony is used in efforts to purify and cleanse a person's body and soul. The ritual aims to restore relationships with others, the Creator and all of creation. The Ceremony acts as a means of reconnecting with the Earth and the energy of nature. (1)
As written in a 'How Stuff Works' article, it explains the significance of the Sweat Lodges, "Within the Native American culture, sweats may be used to give thanks, to cleanse, to heal, to celebrate or to mourn." (Hunter, 2009) (2)
In Catholicism the practice of lent is a 40 day fast in order to commemorate the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert. The practice helps Christians honour their relationship with God and Jesus just as the Sweat Lodge acts as a means to aid Indigenous people in strengthening their relationship with the Creator. (3)
The two ceremonies both work as a means of reconnecting people with their relationships with the divine. Working to strengthen people's connections with their faiths. (4)
The Catholic Lent connects Christians with God as they're able to relate and connect to the experience Jesus went through, and by doing so we're able to strengthen our spiritual connections each Lenten season. Whereas the Sweat Lodge helps reconnect Indigenous people with the spirit of nature and helps to purify them, similiar to how the Catholic reconciliation helps us cleanse ourselves from sin. (5)
By acknowledging and understanding the similarities in faith between these two groups of people, non-Indigenous and Indigenous people, or more specifically by understanding the similarities between rituals we're able to find common ground and develop a sense of kinship in one another. (6)
Through understanding one another on a spiritual level, as Canadians we're able to develop peace under the basis of a faith centered dialogue (the dialogue of theological exchange), helping us understand that the differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people aren't as great as they seem. (7)
Sweat Lodge is as shown above (Hunter, 2009)
Text to Self; How Can We Dialogue with Indigenous People in our Schools and Cultures?
I think that through our schools we can work to intoduce more Indigenous based learning, as the history of Canada also includes the history of Canada's Indigenous people. (1)
As well I believe part of educating about Indigenous people and their experiences means listening from an Indigenous perspective. I think it would be incredibly helpful to introduce Indigenous written textbooks and articles into classrooms instead of white-washed textbooks from decades ago. (2)
To encourage dialogue between non-Indigenous and Indigenous Canadians I think we must start by educating non-Aboriginals about some of the hardships that Canada's natives have had to face. (3)
The school board could definitely make an effort to introduce more Indigenous speakers at our schools. Giving Indigenous people a platform to talk to young people and share their own opinions on the 'Indigenous Canadian Experience'.(4)
We can also include dialogue about Indigenous people in our own cultures by bringing it up with family members and making an effort to inform those who may not be aware of some of the issues facing Indigenous people, demonstrating a supportive allyship. (5)
Through educating non-Indigenous people in Canada we would be able to foster peace through a dialogue of understanding, by creating a more tolerant and inclusive country. Through making people informed and aware enough to make changes in the future, so that we can stand in solidarity to our Indigenous brothers and sisters. (7)
I found out through talking with my parents that a huge portion of ignorant Canadians are just uninformed or oblivious to the issues that Indigenous people face and have faced in the past. Educating our communities could have a lasting impact by simply making them away. (6)
Text to Canada; What are some examples of People in Canada who Dialogue with Indigenous Canadians to Bring Peace?
One person in specific who helped create a dialogue with Indigenous people in Canada was Gord Downie, the former lead singer of the All-Canadian band 'The Tragically Hip' (1)
Towards the end of his life Gord Downie made some significant contributions to creating a dialogue between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada. (2)
Once Mr. Downie discovered that he had brain cancer in the late fall of 2015 he dropped all his plans of travel and worked on "a fifth solo album to raise awareness on the story of Chanie Wenjack" (Kalvapalle, 2017), a young Indigenous boy who lost his life in an effort to return home after escaping a residential school in Northern Ontario. (3)
A small video series called 'The Secret Path' was made in order to illustrate the story of the young man's journey as he tried to return home during a harsh winter. (4)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za2VzjkwtFc
This is the first video from the series, labeled 'The Stranger' (GordDownieVideos, 2016)
Gord Downie made some huge contributions to Indigenous people in Canada's effort to reconciliation, he kickstarted a fund for Indigenous people in Canada with a hope of bringing a spotlight to the situation. (5)
Gord Downie sadly passed away in late October of 2017, but made significant steps forward for Indigenous reconciliation throughout Canada, using his platform as a celebrity to inform millions of Canadians about the devastating effect of Residential schools.(6)
Gord Downie was one of the first people to emphasize the importance of dialogue of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people of Canada, he showcased the importance of Canadian solidarity and how as a community we would need to face issues of such magnitude to create a peaceful Canada going forward. (7)
