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

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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. 

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Singers from many different choirs across the city gathered at Christ Church Cathedral Ottawa on June 14 for a workshop with renowned composer and director Andrew Balfour. Together,  they filled the Cathedral with music that beautifully mingles choral works with Indigenous perspectives and language.

Balfour directed the composite choir through two of his original compositions and two of his arrangements of 16^th century music by Thomas Tallis and Orlando Gibbons.

The workshop coincided with the tenth anniversary of the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report, and Balfour spoke about his experience of being one of thousands of children who suffered the systemic abuse of being taken away from their Indigenous families in the 60s Scoop. “I was taken away from my medicine, my language, my blood mother, my brothers and sisters and connections,” he said.

“However, I landed in a wonderful, loving family. My father was an Anglican priest at All Saints Anglican Church in Winnipeg,” he recounted as he introduced himself. His adoptive family was also a very musical family, which is how Balfour was exposed to a very broad range of music as a child, including choral music as a choir boy.

There were early indicators of his passions and talents. As a child, he would play at being a conductor. Hearing the opening of Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion was when he was eight or nine was “mind-blowing,” he shared. “I learned the codes,” he added, “how to make music, when I was six or seven years old.” That opened the door to his career as a singer, composer, conductor and sound designer that has taken him to across Canada and the world.

Along the way, there was also a difficult journey to reconnect with his Cree identity.

Balfour found a way to unite the two worlds musically. In a description of his album Nagamo, he explained that “by taking the choral music of the Elizabethan masters and other later choral music, I have reshaped the thoughts behind the texts, by changing the Latin to Ojibway or Cree perspectives. These are not direct translations of the sacred texts, rather a more Indigenous perspective of spirituality, but keeping the beauty of the polyphony intact.”

Ispiciwin (Journey) combines Cree text with the 16^th century music of Orlando Gibbons’ ‘Drop, Drop Slow Tears.’

Four Directions brings Ojibway text together with 16^th century music from Thomas Tallis “Te lucis ante terminum” (To thee before the close of the day), a hymn written to be sung at Compline, the last service of the day. Four Directions calls for the singers to add bird song into the piece at times, evoking the peacefulness of evening.

Qilak is Balfour’s original composition inspired by a trip he made to Baffin Island and is a collaboration with Iqaluit folksinger and songwriter Madeleine Allakariallak with English and Inuktitut text. Balfour told the singers at the Cathedral that when he arrived on Baffin Island, far north of the tree line, he was struck by the immensity of the land and the sky, which inspired this work.

Ambe is also Balfour’s original composition based on and inspired by an original song in Ojibway gifted to Balfour and the University of Manitoba Concert Choir by traditional drummer and singer Cory Campbell. The notes with the score say that Campbell describes the song as “a call to the people to the ceremonial way of life or the red road.” Balfour explains that “the steady beat throughout represents the heartbeat of Mother Earth and the lyrical first soprano melody that emerges from this rhythmic texture at measure seven conveys the powerful totem of the eagle which represents the teaching of love, wisdom and strength.”

Andrew McAnerney, associate music director for Christ Church Cathedral, said he was really grateful to Balfour for coming to Ottawa. “As was apparent to everybody, he’s a very accomplished musician. He’s a great director and artist,” he said, noting that he is in high demand and working on many projects.

McAnerney was delighted that the workshop drew singers from 15 to 20 different choirs. “That was tremendous work to get those 70 plus people together and singing those works… There was a range of difficulty. The Ispiciwin piece was relatively straightforward, whereas the Ambe piece with all its sorts of rhythms and syncopation was quite a challenge, especially because he didn’t take it slowly at all. He went full speed from the start.” Most of the singers participated in a pre-workshop rehearsal with McAnerney and were helped by having the music to study in advance, he said.

McAnerney said that singing the songs in the three different Indigenous languages “opened a window for us.” Balfour generously helped to bridge the gaps and open “a connection to a different world of music making. That was really special to have him there to explain it.”

The morning workshop also included a conversation with the Cathedral’s Dean Beth Bretzlaff asking Balfour some questions. He spoke about his love of Bach’s music and that first time hearing St. Matthew’s Passion and his memories of first travelling to England as a choir boy and singing in a cathedral that was 1,000 years old.

When she brought up the tenth anniversary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report, Balfour shared his admiration for the commission’s chair, Murray Sinclair, who passed away last year. He recalled listening to testimony at the TRC hearings in 2012 from 12 grandmothers, who were in their seventies and eighties at the time. “I suddenly saw them as young, vulnerable children. How is it possible, that just down the street, the master of the universe, John A. MacDonald, and all of those racist people made decisions to send those children away?”

He said that he sees hope in education and the fact that young people in Canada are learning about that history now, and in the work of Indigenous artists as a force for change and healing.

He added that the word reconciliation is misleading because there never was a time of peace and good relations to return to, but he echoed Sinclair’s words that “Reconciliation is an ongoing journey, not a destination.”

There were many compliments from the singers who attended. Susan Johnston, whose children are part of the Cathedral choirs, told Perspective that she came out of curiosity and an appreciation for seeing an act of reconciliation through music.

Loutchka Prophete, a parishioner at Christ Church Cathedral, said: ‘Singing together brings us together.” She compared it to Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing pottery using gold to join the broken pieces. “We must find the link, common ground, and these activities give us that common ground.”

The next day, Christ Church Cathedral’s Sunday Choral Eucharist marked the National Indigenous Day of Prayer as well as Trinity Sunday. Balfour was a guest director, and the Cathedral choir sang Ispiciwin and Ambe. That service was lives-treamed and can still be viewed on the Cathedral’s YouTube channel.

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As a professor (Sarah) and a PhD candidate (Josh) in the Faculty of Theology at Saint Paul University, we learned about the feather through our relationships with the diocese. Both of us became interested in how the reception of these sculptures could provide a unique window into how local congregations are engaging with truth and reconciliation.

During the spring and summer of 2023, we conducted our research. Travelling more than 500 kilometres, we visited 17 parishes—west to Petawawa, east to Hawkesbury, north to Wakefield, and south to Manotick. We photographed 32 feathers and 38 church buildings and interviewed 26 people, including 15 priests and 11 lay people.

Our conversations started from the simple statement, “Tell us about the feather.” Together, we discovered how parishes decided what to do with the feather, where they placed it, how they speak and feel about its significance, and whether it is connected to other actions related to Indigenous justice. We discussed how parishes relate more broadly to matters of truth and reconciliation, such as through land acknowledgements and other liturgical practices, opportunities for learning, strengthening relationships with Indigenous peoples, and advocacy and social action. We also explored the place of the feathers in church buildings, discussing the space and other significant objects. Beyond visits to parishes, we met twice with the All My Relations circle to learn about their perspectives on the feathers and their responses to our research.

Our research on the reception of the ceramic feathers in parishes across the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa prompted us to develop a theology of “germinal ritual.” This understanding of the feathers emerged in conversation with the diocesan All My Relations circle. Although they do not use the term “germinal ritual,” they describe the feather in related ways: “[The feather] was a really good initiative to spark something, and to move things forward,” said Larry Langois, a Huron-Wendat member of the circle, “It started people to ask questions. …I think it just got a ball rolling.” Installing a work of art like the feather in the worship space, voicing a land acknowledgement, and singing a song with connections to Indigenous communities are all examples of germinal rituals that might be part of an Anglican liturgy.

Our theology of germinal ritual is inspired by research on the ceramic feathers, botanical science, ritual theory, and especially the parables that Jesus tells about seeds. We understand germinal rituals to have four characteristics. First, these ritual acts are small beginnings, like a mustard seed (Luke 13:18-19), and we cannot expect them to accomplish very much right away. Second, germinal rituals yield varied outcomes depending on context, like seed scattered in different types of soil (Luke 8:4-8), and do not guarantee certain results. Third, germinal rituals coexist with contradictory rituals, like wheat growing up alongside weeds (Matthew 13:24-20). Fourth, germinal rituals depend on human action while operating beyond human awareness, like a seed growing in secret (Mark 4:26-29), and may flourish in ways beyond human understanding and control.

Feathers occupy many different places in church buildings: inside and outside the worship space; in connection with altars, fonts, and pulpits; in relation to Indigenous symbols; and with or without written explanations. In some parishes, feathers remain in storage. Most feathers are stationary, displayed on a stand or in a frame or shadow box. At St. Thomas the Apostle Anglican Church, the feather is processed forward each Sunday in a box, held up during a land acknowledgement, placed on a stand in the chancel, and processed out at the end of the liturgy.

Studying the reception of the feathers across parishes reveals that there are a handful of parishes that both place the feather more centrally and regularly undertake action associated with truth and reconciliation such as educational events, relationship building with Indigenous people, and land-based practices like maintaining reconciliation gardens. The most active parishes are not necessarily the largest or most well-resourced parishes. But the most active parishes often have an advocate in the community for whom Indigenous justice is a priority (either a lay person or a priest), and this advocate involves others through the creation of a local leadership team. Feathers that were received in communities with this type of structure—or feathers that fostered the emergence of this type of structure—seem more likely to be linked to broader and longer term reflection and action.

For us, interpreting the feathers through a theology of germinal ritual helps push back on two common and problematic tendencies. First, it recognizes the limitations of ritual. Ritual is but one small step in a much larger transformative process. Second, it recognizes the value of ritual as one meaningful step toward social change. Ritual is not the final solution to all social issues, but neither is it irrelevant. In this way, a theology of germinal ritual can help us avoid putting either too much or too little weight on these practices. Germinal rituals should neither be abandoned nor trumpeted, but rather nurtured gently and persistently in hope.

In anticipation of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, consider how your parish may revisit the ceramic feather in new ways. Kathryn Fournier, Pinaymootang First Nation member of the All My Relations circle, said: “Maybe it’s never too late: even those congregations that got their feather—and then within a month or two it was up on the wall somewhere—and that was it, and it stayed ever since and people haven’t delved into that more.” She wonders if it is time for “Feather 2.0: What does it mean now?”

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Kimberly Breen-Johnson, St. John’s Indigenous engagement co-ordinator, said the group started their visit sitting inside a tipi with a fire, listening to a knowledge keeper’s teachings about Indigeneity, particularly focused on Ojibwe or Anishnaabe culture. “He drummed us in, in ceremony, and then he taught us. It was very interactive because of our group were asking him questions and he was very open to our questions.”

Using paintings from an Indigenous artist, the knowledge keeper taught the group about Spirit horses, which are a now rare breed of horse. He told them that this the only breed that is indigenous to Canada, and they are sacred to the Indigenous peoples, but they were hunted almost to extinction during European colonization. The population was down to only four registered horses, but efforts to protect and breed them have brought that back to about 150 horses. The St. John’s group enjoyed seeing some of these beautiful animals as a part of their trip to the farm and learning more about Indigenous cultures. — LA Williams

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Editor’s note: This story has been revised to include changes to events on June 14. A Saturday afternoon event marking the 10^th anniversary of the conclusion of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been cancelled. The 10:30 am worship service on June 15, focusing on the National Indigenous Day of Prayer, will take place as planned at Christ Church Cathedral, Ottawa.

Prominent Cree composer Andrew Balfour will help the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa mark National Indigenous History Month and the National Indigenous Day of Prayer on June 14 and 15 by bringing his music to a workshop for singers, a public event, and a special service at Christ Church Cathedral.

Andrew McAnerney, associate director of music at Christ Church Cathedral, shared his excitement about the Juno-nominated composer’s collaborative visit. “He’s a great talent,” he said. “And he’s a really interesting voice, not only about Anglican church music, which he knows well because he was a chorister, but also because of his identity and his background and … his own journey that he shares as a discovery of music and culture.”

Balfour was taken away from his Cree mother as a part of the Sixties Scoop. He was adopted as an infant by a Winnipeg family with Scottish roots and a love of music. His mother was a violinist and his father was an Anglican priest, who encouraged his interest in choral music.

As a young man, however, he struggled with questions about his identity, and later with poverty, alcohol, and a brief incarceration. Along the way, however, he reconnected with his Indigenous heritage and then found his path as a musician bringing Indigenous and classical choral music together in innovative ways. He is now known as a composer, conductor, singer and sound designer with a large body of choral, instrumental, electro-acoustic and orchestral works.

Balfour has been commissioned by the Winnipeg, Regina and Toronto Symphony Orchestras, Ensemble Caprice, Groundswell, the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, the Winnipeg Singers, the Kingston Chamber Choir, Roomful of Teeth, Tafelmusik and Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. He is the founder and artistic director of the innovative vocal group Dead of Winter (formerly Camerata Nova), now in its 25th year of offering a concert series in Winnipeg. With Dead of Winter, he writes that he specializes in creating “concept concerts,” many with Indigenous subject matter (​Wa Wa Tey Wak ​[Northern Lights], ​Medieval Inuit​, Fallen​)​. These works “explore a theme through an eclectic array of music, including new works, arrangements and inter-genre and interdisciplinary collaborations.”

In March, Balfour was slated to debut at Carnegie Hall in New York City, conducting selections from his work Tapwe: Songs of Truth with the Amabile Choirs, but due to an error in the paperwork for his stay in the U.S. and rigorous border security, he was denied entry into the U.S. and had to return to Canada.

“That whole concert at Carnegie was all about truth and love and compassion. So, I guess it’s kind of ironic that I get turfed,” he said in an interview with the Winnipeg Free Press.

He will be warmly welcomed at Christ Church Cathedral.

McAnerney outlined the plans for three events on Saturday, June 14 and Sunday, June 15.

On the morning of Saturday, June 14, there will be a music workshop for singers. McAnerney explained that participants don’t have to be choir members, and there is no fee. Anyone who wants to participate just needs to rregister on the Cathedral website https://www.ottawacathedral.ca/

The morning workshop will also include a moderated conversation with Balfour about his music, about his art, and about being a Cree composer brought up in the Anglican choral tradition, McAnerney said. “Andrew was a boy chorister himself. That’s not a comfortable story. It’s a story that’s going to talk about that intersection of Indigenous identity and the Anglican Church because he lived that. He was adopted from his family by an Anglican priest, so we’re going to have a conversation with him about that.”

Turning back to the music itself, McAnerney explained: “We’re going to be singing four pieces, which Andrew has created. Two of those are his own composition. One is called Ambe, and that’s based on a text about welcome for all things walking on two legs. There’s Qilak, which is in Inuktitut, and it’s a piece that’s inspired by travels on Baffin Island. It’s a piece about the views, about the skies, about the snow.”

The other two pieces are fusions with choral music from the 16th and 17th centuries. Ispiciwin [Journey] sets Cree words to music by English composer Orlando Gibbons. Four Directions is an Ojibway text set to music by English composer Thomas Tallis. “There are bird songs. There are ideas of the natural world combined with this ancient English piece of polyphony,” he said.

McAnerney noted that he will offer a rehearsal for participants on June 10 at the Cathedral between 7 and 8.30. “If people want to come and learn the music before the workshop, they can do that with me. And that will be lots of fun. We’ll also have resources on the event page for the text and for learning in advance,” he said. “We recommend if people want to participate, that they do that work in advance because they’ll get more from the workshop and more from Andrew if they’ve taken some time to be familiar with the music and pieces.”

On Sunday, June 15, there will be a special worship service at 10:30 am focused on the National Indigenous Day of Prayer. Balfour will lead the music, including William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices as well as his own compositions Ispicwin and Ambe, with the Cathedral choirs.

McAnerney added that Balfour is well-acquainted with Ottawa, having brought one of his choirs to the city last year to perform from his Juno nominated album, Nagamo. “I’ve been a big fan of his work and his art,” McAnerney added, mentioning that a professional choir he directs in Montréal is commissioning a new work from Balfour that he hopes the choir will be able to perform at the Cathedral next year.“

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Formerly located in Timmins, Ont., in early September Quilts for Survivors moved across town into a new studio location in South Porcupine. When the Anglican Church of Canada learned that the organization needed a new space it offered them a deconsecrated church, formerly St. Paul’s Anglican Church, free of charge for five years. This relieves a significant question of where and how this not-for-profit will exist for the coming years.

As it happens, our former Primate, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, who is helping our Metropolitan and Interim Primate Anne Germond, Archbishop of Algoma and of Moosonee, was the driving force behind the deal. He understands that truth and reconciliation is an ongoing commitment, something doesn’t happen overnight, and was both honoured and excited to commit to the work being done by Quilts for Survivors.

Hats off to Vanessa for accepting the offer despite the church’s history. The Anglican Church of Canada ran about three dozen residential schools between 1820 and 1969, but she sees being gifted this new home as a profound step along the path of reconciliation and a testament to the apologies that have been given by the Anglican Church and by Archbishop Fred. When it comes to healing and reconciliation, “It’s one thing for the church to talk the talk,” Hiltz said, “It’s another thing to walk that talk and the church needs to be very diligent in that kind of work. So, here’s such a wonderful, wonderful opportunity”.

Last year our congregation fully embraced this important new Truth and Reconciliation outreach, and this year Holy Trinity stepped up again. Early in the spring our quilters and their friends once again began sewing lap quilts, quilt tops, and quilt blocks. Our ACW very generously committed to raising funds to help with the cost of shipping quilts to individual survivors (a significant need) through the coffee hour free will offerings. And our congregation’s generosity was on full display: the $600 fundraising goal was not only met, but exceeded, raising over $700 in record time!

At the end of September on Truth and Reconciliation Sunday, the items made by our quilters were blessed before Jean and Byron Ostrom take another road trip north to deliver them. We expect our delivery to include at least 10 quilts, 13 quilt tops, 24 quilt blocks and 591 metres of binding. The funds raised will buy 23 pre-paid shipping boxes.

QFS is closing in on having shipped 6,000 to residential school survivors. With still over three months left in the year, they’ve almost matched the number of quilts they made last year. Additional items are always welcome. And, as mentioned, the cost of shipping continues to be a significant financial pressure for QFS so if you or your congregation are interested in supporting their efforts, more information is available on their website: www.quiltsforsurvivors.ca.

Related reading:

A day to stand in solidarity

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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

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