Co-sponsored by Kateri Native Ministry and St. Joseph’s Parish, this event gave the more than 200 attendees the opportunity to learn about “respectful dialogue and relationship-building.” Donna Naughton, executive director of the Kateri Native Ministry of Ottawa introduced Sinclair, who began by referencing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action #61, one of four calls addressed to churches.

Acknowledging that “there will never be an end to some actions,” he pointed to increased awareness of what reconciliation means, referencing the 50 percent of Canadians who now own Orange Shirts.

He then challenged the audience with the question “What can YOU do?”  Referring to justice as “the most important part” of the TRC’s work, he identified the five Calls to Action that specifically address the roles of churches: (1) Define ‘Truth and Reconciliation’; (2) Offer the gift of space; (3) Challenge indifference; (4) Act with integrity; and (5) Become allies in the Spirit.

Define Truth and Reconciliation 

Affirming that Truth comes before Reconciliation, Sinclair referred to the deaths of children at residential schools as undeniable. Nowadays, he stated, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people are talking about love, even though new stories are emerging. Finding the children is worth the search, he asserted, and the search has begun.

Offer the gift of space

Acknowledging that sharing space is complex, Sinclair referenced the visit of Canadian Indigenous leaders to the Vatican. Interestingly, Pope Francis met the visitors in the picture gallery, where some paintings depict the Doctrine of Discovery. Calling this a first for the Vatican, he noted that the guests, clad in traditional regalia, presented the Pope with two pairs of children’s moccasins. A visitor asked, “Can you carry them?” Responding that he would try, he later declared in Alberta “I have the moccasins.”

Sinclair then challenged the audience with a question: “The cross in a church is beautiful: how do Indigenous People feel about it?”

Challenge indifference 

Sinclair observed that while the 2022 Papal Apology targeted indifference, the Pope affirmed that indifference leads to violence and harm. This, he explained, was the result of not speaking up. He challenged the audience to remember Stephen, stoned by those who were indifferent. (Acts 7:54-60). Jesus, he pointed out, continuously espoused love, saying that all are welcome and all deserve to eat. Describing the indifference of some students who mocked their Indigenous classmates, he affirmed that “This cannot be the order of the day.” In closing, Sinclair challenged the audience with this question: How does our church respond to indifference?

Act with integrity

Sinclair applauded Governor General Mary Simon for speaking truth to power when she addressed the Pope. Referring to water as “the great teacher of connection,” Sinclair said that for Jesus “All things are bent towards the flow of creation… (and) we need to go to places where we are all connected.” He added, “God is in the land. There is no need to take children away from it.”

Become allies in the Spirit 

Observing that the Pope said little when he visited the Canadian North, Sinclair pointed out that the Pontiff chose to focus instead on listening to the people. Once back on the plane for his trip home, he responded to a journalist’s direct question with, “Yes, I use the word genocide.” One month later, reported Sinclair, the Canadian government issued a statement acknowledging the Vatican’s decision to rescind the Doctrine of Discovery, describing it as “racist, colonial concept.”  He noted that despite the closure of many churches, (some) people continue as communities of faith and allies. “What will happen if we don’t care enough about ‘being Church?” he challenged.  “If we do enough, we might change the world…but that is only if we commit to love and pain and suffering and stop indifference.”

Concluding his presentation on a lighter note, Sinclair asked the audience: “What would Jesus say about Orange Shirts? The answer: Jesus would ask: “Do you have my size?”

— Janet Allingham and Karen Luyendyk are members of the diocesan All My Relations Episcopal Panel

A time for reconcili-action

May 5 is Red Dress Day, a National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Two-Spirit People.

Red Dress Day is followed by National Indigenous History Month in June, a time for Indigenous Peoples, non-Indigenous, and new Canadians to reflect upon and learn about the history, sacrifices, cultures, contributions, and strengths of First Nations, Inuit and Métis.

For many Canadians, the history of Indigenous peoples and Canada was, until recently, unknown. Generations of Canadians have lived their lives without knowing about residential schools, the historic and ongoing impacts of the Indian Act, the significance of treaties, or the contributions of Indigenous peoples to the mosaic that is Canada. With gratitude for the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, non-Indigenous Canadians, governments and churches have been given a guide to what we can do to learn and to promote healing more broadly: the Calls to Action! https://nctr.ca/about/truth-and-reconciliation-commission-of-canada-calls-to-action/

Parishes are invited to explore ways of honouring and celebrating National Indigenous Peoples Day and the National Indigenous Day of Prayer; in 2026 these two days coincide, on Sunday June 21!!

It is our hope and prayer that acknowledgement, reflection, celebration, discomfort, and remorse lead to actions towards reconciliation, relationship, and right relations.

Not sure what to do?  Here are some resources to get you started:

Video resources that you can include in your service on Sunday June 21 were created in 2021 with the diocesan All My Relations Panel (AMR)

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjbS6tqPW5bAf1HXOI0aHo5ycFEQVNYHN

Anglican Church of Canada resources:

Indigenous Ministries https://www.anglican.ca/im/

Bible Readings: consider using the First Nations New Testament https://firstnationsversion.com/book/first-nations-version/

Prayers of the People

Litany from the National Church video can be used with attribution. This has an Indigenous voice and a non-Indigenous voice https://www.anglican.ca/wp-content/uploads/LITANY-We-are-still-here.pdf

Remembering the Children prayer https://www.rememberingthechildren.ca/tour/documents/prayer.pdf

After June 21 and Indigenous History Month have passed, stay involved in the journey by watching the diocesan AMR website for events and opportunities. https://ottawa.anglican.ca/indigenous-justice

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and the Legacy of Hope Foundation of Canada provide resources of all kinds, check them out to start or continue on your journey of healing and reconciliation!

Email allmyrelations@ottawa.anglican.ca with questions and ideas about next steps or to share your events with other parishes in the Diocese.

A time for reconcili-action

May 5 is Red Dress Day, a National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Two-Spirit People.

Red Dress Day is followed by National Indigenous History Month in June, a time for Indigenous Peoples, non-Indigenous, and new Canadians to reflect upon and learn about the history, sacrifices, cultures, contributions, and strengths of First Nations, Inuit and Métis.

For many Canadians, the history of Indigenous peoples and Canada was, until recently, unknown. Generations of Canadians have lived their lives without knowing about residential schools, the historic and ongoing impacts of the Indian Act, the significance of treaties, or the contributions of Indigenous peoples to the mosaic that is Canada. With gratitude for the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, non-Indigenous Canadians, governments and churches have been given a guide to what we can do to learn and to promote healing more broadly: the Calls to Action! https://nctr.ca/about/truth-and-reconciliation-commission-of-canada-calls-to-action/

Parishes are invited to explore ways of honouring and celebrating National Indigenous Peoples Day and the National Indigenous Day of Prayer; in 2026 these two days coincide, on Sunday June 21!!

It is our hope and prayer that acknowledgement, reflection, celebration, discomfort, and remorse lead to actions towards reconciliation, relationship, and right relations.

Not sure what to do?  Here are some resources to get you started:

Video resources that you can include in your service on Sunday June 21 were created in 2021 with the diocesan All My Relations Panel (AMR)

Anglican Church of Canada resources:

Indigenous Ministries

Bible Readings: consider using the First Nations New Testament

Prayers of the People

Litany from the National Church video can be used with attribution. This has an Indigenous voice and a non-Indigenous voice 

Remembering the Children prayer

After June 21 and Indigenous History Month have passed, stay involved in the journey by watching the diocesan AMR website for events and opportunities. https://ottawa.anglican.ca/indigenous-justice

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and the Legacy of Hope Foundation of Canada provide resources of all kinds, check them out to start or continue on your journey of healing and reconciliation!

Email allmyrelations@ottawa.anglican.ca with questions and ideas about next steps or to share your events with other parishes in the Diocese.

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At our gathering, we heard about new and ongoing projects that many of you are engaged in and we all shared the challenges of competing priorities, diminishing resources and not knowing how to get started.  We also talked about how the All My Relations Episcopal Panel could support parishes/congregations wherever you’re at with learning opportunities, guest speakers, workshops and by sharing stories; an AMR newsletter was suggested as well as a more visible and accessible AMR webpage on the Diocesan website.

In response to the excellent presentation at Synod about the ceramic feathers gifted to parishes at the conclusion of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and in light of our discussions at the Circle Gathering about honouring and integrating them into parish life, the AMR Panel is considering how we might support this across the diocese in 2026.

Everyone who attended expressed a desire for another virtual Circle Gathering in the new year and then an in-person meeting once winter is over. So, stay tuned!!

We hope all of you will join us as we continue to live out the commitment of our Diocese and the Anglican Church of Canada to this vital and deeply meaningful work, and we invite you to be in touch with us if you have questions or simply want to check in for a conversation about something.

Contact us at: amr.workinggroup@gmail.com

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In his 2020 autobiography, What I Remember, What I Know: The Life of a High Arctic Exile, Larry Audlaluk exposed this Qallunaaq to the life-threatening lies and promises the Canadian government told his family, friends and community, forcing them to relocate, survive and thrive in a foreign environment, known as Grise Fiord, now Aujuittuq (Inuktitut for “place that never thaws”) 2,200 kilometers northeast from their home in Inujjuak.

While Larry was only three at the time of their forced exile in the 1950s, the collective memories and stories from living witnesses provide some of the weathered material for his early childhood experiences. The seven families from Inujjuak who were forced into exile were victims of a multi-purposed, inhumane, experiment: to populate an area against the invasion of Greenland hunters’ to “rehabilitate” the Inuit to become less dependent on government handouts by moving them to less populated areas to “follow the native way of life”; “to determine if Eskimos can be induced to live on the northern islands”; to use them as human flagpoles for Canadian sovereignty.

The human flagpoles became thin and battered in their desolate new environment. Given empty promises of “a land of plenty” and provisions to be provided, they arrived to a stark reality of a barren land and no provisions. They lacked basic necessities: food, shelter, heat. They arrived in August in a land that lacked some of their usual food sources. On their first day, three large families and at least six dog teams had to survive on one harp seal some of the men caught. The only shelter they had were tents because they were expected to build igluit, but the snow required to build them does not arrive until December in that region. Due to the lack of vegetation, they had to heat with moss they collected kilometres from the site. They weathered their first winter wearing their clothing day and night. That winter of near-freezing survival led to lifelong arthritic problems for some of the displaced people.

The aptly named “Prison Island” chapter of his autobiography recounts the imposed incarceration of Larry’s family in the new environment. They lacked medical services. Tuberculosis and starvation plagued them. If, due to hunger, they foraged for leftover scraps in the base dump at the Department of Transportation six kilometers away, they were reprimanded. Despite the government’s promises to return the deportees back to their homes from where they were taken, if requested, after two years, multiple requests were repeatedly denied. In addition, the northern bureaucrats lied in their reports to their southern counterparts about what a positive success the relocation was, in accounts generally being accepted by the exiles.

By the 1960s, the deportees were coping and surviving. Larry says they were the best years of his childhood, and in general, those of his whole family. Their homemade shacks were replaced with houses from the south. Radio and television were enabling them to experience new sounds and sights, even in their Inuktitut language. Although he wrangled with the notion that “the world is much smaller now,” due to the report of the new Russian and American space race, he enjoyed listening to musical shows such as The Max Ferguson Show, Gilmour’s Albums, Wolfman Jack, Kalaallit (western Greenlandic comedy).

I felt in step with Larry, for we were born but 10 days apart. As he grew in his teens, we shared similar experiences of teen crushes, taste in music, hairstyling, clothing. But he was torn being in two worlds, forced from his family to attend distant boarding school and abandoning the hands-on learning of his traditional life skills.

Larry had to endure loneliness and separation from his family, not only leaving for school but also numerous times for medical treatment, crossing swaths of the country and staying in new cultural settings. He had an adventurous spirit, which allowed him to marvel at his new encounters, yet he missed his family, country food and being on the land. The notes he wrote on his experiences provided the wealth of material for this autobiography.

Larry’s family’s story of forced deportation, separation, death, survival, adaptation and resilience is as well-sculpted as the sculptures he and his father have produced. Their sacrifices have enabled this Qallunaaq to live in peace in the sovereign nation of Canada.

Nakurmiik Larry!

kamiik—a pair of seal/caribou boots;

Qallunaaq—a white person

igluit—snow houses [previously mispronounced and spelled “igloos”]

nakurmiik—thank you in one of the Inuktitut dialects

The post Reading Larry Audlaluk’s What I Remember, What I Know: The Life of a High Arctic Exile appeared first on Perspective.

Think Indigenous: Native American Spirituality for a Modern World by Doug Good Feather
This insightful work, authored by a Lakota elder, offers readers a way to connect with their own innate spirituality. Doug Good Feather explains the difference between appreciating and appropriating cultural practices and describes the Native American Medicine Wheel teachings for the seven directions and their related virtues. He also offers suggestions for those who wish to apply these concepts to the challenges we currently face in the modern world. The book addresses conscious living, mindful consumption, and living in community with others.

Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Monique Gray Smith (Adapted from Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass)
This book combines Indigenous teachings with scientific understanding, focusing on the relationship between humans and the natural world. The author’s deep respect for plants and their teachings is a beautiful reminder of the importance of reciprocity and interconnectedness – key themes for reconciliation and environmental stewardship. The discussion of the Windigo offers a perspective on reconciliation that encourages us to seek a deeper kind of love and connection that is not always emphasized in dominant cultural narratives. Adapted for young people with illustrations and highlighted comments and questions, this book speaks to readers of all ages.

Permanent Astonishment by Tomson Highway
A deeply personal and moving account of growing up in a Cree family in northern Manitoba, this memoir is a beautiful exploration of how Indigenous culture persists in the face of adversity. Tomson Highway paints a vivid picture of his childhood, rich with spiritual connections, humour, strong family bonds, and a deep relationship with the natural world, while also confronting the enduring impacts of the residential school system.

21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act by Bob Joseph
This book is essential reading for anyone looking to better understand the legal framework that has shaped the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Canada. Bob Joseph explains the historical and current impacts of the Indian Act in a clear and accessible way, offering insights into the systemic injustices that persist today.

The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew

A powerful and endearing memoir that reflects on the author’s relationship with his father, a respected medicine man, and his own journey as a political leader and advocate for Indigenous rights. Wab Kinew explores themes of family, reconciliation, and cultural healing, sharing his struggles with addiction, stories of personal growth, and the impact of his father’s legacy.

Affiliated with the All My Relations Circle at the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa, the Journeying as Allies reading group welcomes readers of all backgrounds. Meeting four times a year, both in person and online, we discuss a mix of fiction, non-fiction, and young adult titles by Indigenous authors. These conversations deepen our understanding of Indigenous cultures, histories, and the challenges facing communities today, while helping us become better allies and advocates for reconciliation. To learn more or to join our mailing list, contact allmyrelations@ottawa.anglican.ca. 

The post Reading for reconciliation appeared first on Perspective.

Those who came to St. Margaret’s on this September 30 listened to and watched a recorded message from National Indigenous Archbishop Chris Harper to Anglicans across Canada as the homily.

“It is a day that many churches across this land will pause and have special services. It is a day when many [at]… municipal gatherings will reflect and tell stories and will share the history that all of us have inherited in the residential experience. But that experience is felt in different ways, especially for the Indigenous people — how many were traumatized…. And it is them that we also need to uphold in prayer and honor their stories….”

He said he likes the new variation of the word reconciliation that has emerged: reconciliaction. “It’s something that we do together.” … September 30th is a day “for all of us to first listen to the truth of the other and the Indigenous experience and what they live in every day. I ask that you listen with an open heart and a prayer that we together may seek reconciliation together. Check your hearts for the fences and the gates of defense that may hinder you from the shared journey of healing and hope.”

Individual Anglicans and parish groups honoured the day in various ways, including wearing orange and reflecting on the history of Indian Residential Schools and colonialism in Canada during worship services on Sunday, Sept. 29.

A group of parishioners from St. Bartholomew’s in Ottawa accompanied Incumbent the Rev. Canon Catherine Ascah on a reconciliation walking pilgrimage through Beechwood Cemetery, reflecting on the history of residential schools as they visited the graves of Nicholas Flood Davin, an architect of the residential school system, and Duncan Campbell Scott, the superintendent of the Department of Indian Affairs from 1913-1922. They also visited the grave of Dr. Peter Bryce, who was hired by the department to report on health conditions in the residential schools. His highly critical report called for major changes at the schools but was buried by the government at the time. He was forced to retire but later self-published his report. So many people leave messages of thanks at his grave that a mailbox has been placed there. They also paused at a plaque dedicated to Métis historian, journalist and author Olive Dickason, a key figure the study of Indigenous history in Canada. Other Anglicans took part in historical tours offered by Beechwood Cemetery and attended its screening of the film Spirit Bear: Echoes of the Past.

In Almonte, the Rev. Jonathan Kouri and parishioners from St. Paul’s attended and helped out as volunteers at a community event Reconciliation Through Art, which included an exhibit of works from Indigenous artists.

Kathryn Fournier, an Indigenous member of the diocesan All My Relations Circle (AMRC) led 15 people from her hiking group and AMRC co-chair Gwynneth Evans on a walk on the Chief Pinesi Portage Trail, which offers historical information about the Algonquin chief whose traditional hunting area surrounds the trail near the confluence of the Ottawa, Gatineau and Rideau rivers.

Fournier told Crosstalk the broad interest in September 30 is encouraging, but she thinks it is important for Canadians to know that residential schools were only one of the tools in the toolkit created to “eliminate the ‘Indian problem,’ which was seen as an impediment to the creation of Canada.” She mentioned The Indian Act as an example. “I hope that we use September 30, as well as June, Indigenous People’s History Month,… as times to better inform ourselves about the whole picture that goes way, way beyond residential schools.”

Related reading:

Holy Trinity reaches out with Quilts for Survivors

The post A day to stand in solidarity appeared first on Perspective.

Members of the circle were graced with an afternoon of the archbishop’s time while he was in Ottawa for a meeting of North American deans. During conversation and prayer, words of welcome and introduction in the languages of Inuktituk, Plains Cree, Cree (from northern Quebec) and Cherokee were heard around the room.

When asked about the self-determining Indigenous Church, the archbishop explained that more hard work lies ahead. After presenting the guiding documents The Covenant and Our Way of Life at General Synod in 2023, the Indigenous leadership is moving on to the development of elements of governance, policies and procedures, liturgy and prayers. He asked for our prayers as this work goes forward.

He spoke about how Indigenous people are struggling for their own identity and often feel like transients in their own lands. Treaties, lands and territories are still not being honoured and efforts to diminish Indigenous peoples are ongoing. 

He described the many challenges the Indigenous church faces within the traditional colonial church. One of the purposes of the Indigenous ministry in the Anglican Church is to be a voice for Indigenous peoples. Challenges lie in the multitude of Indigenous languages and cultures and the vast geography of Canada.

He sees the self-determining Indigenous Church as ‘pivotal and paramount’ and added, ‘We are at a crossroad, and we need to decolonize the way things are done in the Church.” 

As part of his many responsibilities Archbishop Chris is also connected internationally. Episcopal and Anglican bishops and clergy in other countries such as the US and Australia are contacting him to ask how the Indigenous Church got started in Canada and to ask that the Indigenous self-determining church share its experience. He will travel to Australia later this year.

The archbishop also described his involvement in the Anglican Indigenous Leadership Initiative (AILI) which is focusing on how current Indigenous leadership can raise up the next generation so that they are prepared to ‘take up the banner.’ The ALI uses a worldview to advance Te Oranga Ake, a term in Māori meaning flourishing for all peoples.

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Audrey Lawrence and Karen Luyendyk from the diocesan All My Relations Circle facilitated. “We all benefited by Austin Ward’s participation as our Indigenous witness,” Luyendyk told Crosstalk. Ward started the day with a Smudge and teaching about smudging. He also spoke about his experience in a residential school. “Austin is in his early forties which truly brought home the legacy of discrimination and how recently the institutions were in operation,” she said. “We also benefitted from Austin’s young son Jaylen’s enthusiastic participation. When we went round the circle at the end, Jaylen expressed with great energy and a huge smile his pride in his Indigenous heritage and his excitement that all of us were there and that we are all learning about his heritage. I for one had tears when he shared, and I’m sure others did too.”

Reflecting on the exercise Eleonore Brunelle, commented: “I don’t think it’s necessarily true that the stories of Indigenous people are excluded in the academic curriculum many high school students are learning from textbooks, but they are definitely…filtered.”

Sydney Sharpe said the mapping exercise “gave me new information about the First Nations people and taught me some history that I didn’t know, like the Doctrine of Discovery and the population of Canada before colonization. I feel like it was beneficial to have this experience, so I have a better understanding of some of the struggles of Indigenous peoples.”

—Staff with files from Donna Rourke

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University of Ottawa Chancellor Claudette Commanda put out a call for participants in the Indigenous Memory Mural walk on Saturday’s NTR ceremony on Parliament Hill. It was an emotional experience to say the least, seeing First Nations people look for names they knew, often in tears. The atmosphere in the moment was one of great respect and reflection. As we left the stage, we were able to look back at the remaining mural and realize how incredibly long it was! We were honoured to be able to help carry the weight (physical, emotional and spiritual) of the mural.

We are both settlers, though arriving here at very different times in history. Our public school education told us nothing of the Indigenous cultures that had been injured as a result of the forming of the nation of Canada. We learned that from friends and volunteer organizations. By then, we both had a number of learned prejudices to overcome.

My parents emigrated from Europe when I was four after the Second World War. Our education in Quebec did not address any of the First Nations issues we have today, rather the culture promoted racism between English, French, Protestants, Catholics and “Indians.” Subsequently my university days never introduced us to any of this. We learned of that “great” Canadian poet, Duncan Campbell Scott but never heard about his desire to get rid of the Indian problem [as the Deputy Superintendent General of Indian Affairs in the 1920s].

I am thankful that my children were able roam about St. Thomas Anglican Church in their childhood: accepted, loved and encouraged. Our grandchildren do the same in the Parish of the Valley. As we walked this mural with all the names on it up the stage on Truth and Reconciliation Day in Ottawa, we could only wonder what life would have been like had we been taken from our homes, stripped of our identity, forced to learn a new language or never come home again. We are humbled by the thought and acknowledge that our placement in life is a gift given to us, not something we earn. We hope to be sensitive caretakers of what has been freely given to us.

The post Remembering the Children appeared first on Perspective.

Speaking on behalf of the Mississippi Mills All My Relations Group, John Coderre told the more than 200 people gathered that the circle of seven stones and animal carvings represents “the work of a creative team that included both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people working together— true model of what truth and reconciliation can be,” he said. “The installation is a reminder that although Mississippi Mills is only 200 years old, the Algonquin have used this land and that waterway for thousands of years. The Seven Gifts is not only a great work of art, but it provides a sacred space in our community and a continuing opportunity for everyone to learn and seek healing with one another and with the land.”

Seven large stones donated by the Tatlock Quarry are arranged in a circle in Almonte’s Riverfront Park. Artist Deborah Arnold was commissioned to carve the stones and provide a place on each for a spirit animal carving. Algonquin artist Nish Nabie was commissioned to carve seven spirit animals. The eagle represents love; the beaver, wisdom; the turtle, truth; the buffalo, respect; the wolf, humility; the raven, honesty; and the bear, bravery. His carvings were then cast in wax by Darlene McLeod and then into bronze by Almonte sculptor Dale Dunning.

Together, the stones and animals, “celebrate the Seven Teachings brought to a child from the Seven Grandfathers of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg,” a sign at the circle explains, encouraging visitors to “Come, with hearts open and full of child-like wonder” and contemplate the meaning of each gift.

Anglicans were key supporters of the project. The Anglican Diocese of Ottawa provided a grant of $10,000 through its All My Relations Circle, and the Anglican Foundation of Canada provided another grant of $15,000.

Sue Evans, co-chair of the Mississippi Mills All My Relations group, offered a land acknowledgment that also acknowledged injustices in local history as Mississippi Mills marks its bicentennial year. “For the past several hundred years, we, as a society, have been oblivious to the harm our people have caused to both your people and to this land. Two hundred years ago, not long after the War of 1812, with your people’s help, we were able to prevent the takeover of this land by the Americans. Then we moved into this territory, forgetful of your tremendous contribution, and took it over to make it our own. We pushed you either onto a reserve, or if you chose not to go, deeper into the woods to try to survive however you could,” she said. “We know from the graves we’ve discovered on a hill in Pakenham that many of you died from diseases we had brought with us from our homeland. We confess that we have destroyed the original trust that once existed between us. We seek then to do what we can to grow in our understanding of these truths, to revise the history we tell ourselves, and to renew friendships with you if you are willing.”

Nish Nabie sang an Algonquin song at the ceremony, and he spoke about his mother’s suffering as a survivor of residential school and losing him as an infant in the Sixties Scoop when many Indigenous children were taken away from their families. Nabie spent 20 years as a First Nations police officer and only began carving after he was injured on the job and had to stop working as an officer. He thanked the Mississippi Mills All My Relations Group for recognizing him as an artist.

He thanked his wife Lona for her encouragement as he worked on the carvings. “I had to give it everything I have, all my soul, my spirit, in those carvings, so that when you go and look at that, you would know that my carvings come from love. I’m very honoured that they’ll be here,” he said. “It’s so important that we all understand what those those animals, those totems are all about. Reconciliation. Reconciliation stands for so much for us as human beings.”

Nabie remarked on his surprise that during the process of creating the installation, he became friends with the Rev. Jonathon Kouri. Priests had always been a reminder of his mother’s suffering in a residential school, and Kouri is the Incumbent at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Almonte. He is also a member of the Mississippi Mills All My Relations Group and shared this reflection with those gathered:

“In 1993,… Archbishop Michael Peers, who was the leader of the entire National Church of Canada, offered a public apology for the church’s role in the residential school system….When the apology was given, there was a recognition that the apology was just a beginning. It was something that needed to be lived into because anyone can get up and offer words, but those words need to be backed up with concrete actions. For 30 years now, the Anglican Church … has been living into that apology in various ways. Archbishop Peers passed away this past summer, but the work that he inaugurated through that apology carries on. It carries on here in Almonte.”

Kouri added, “This is but one step on the wider journey of healing and reconciliation…. The Seven Gifts’ opening doesn’t mean we can be complacent and sit down and forget about this, because the injustices that Indigenous people have faced are ongoing…. It’s incumbent upon all of us to stand together with our Indigenous brothers and sisters and to work for a better future for all people.”

He also read a letter from Bishop Shane Parker:

“The land you stand upon is ancient, and the first voices to speak on this land were those of Algonquin Anishinaabe people. An important part of reconciliation is to hear and respect the wisdom that creator gave to those who first spoke on this land. A wisdom that continued to flow through generations of Algonquin Anishinaabe, despite egregious attempts by non-Indigenous people to erase them. The Seven Gifts provides a place to lift up the ancient wisdom Creator gave to the first human beings who lived on this land. And it is a place to strive for right relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, so that we can celebrate our common humanity as creatures made in the image of our Creator. We are made from love, and we are made to love. I offer warm congratulations to your community for bringing this sacred place into being.”

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