Clergy including the Rev. Maria Nightingale, the Rev. Canon Rhondda McKay, the Rev. Canon Aigah Attagutsiak, and the Rev. Colin McFarland gathered after a special worship service at St. Margaret’s, Vanier in Ottawa on Sept. 30.

People from across the Parish of the Valley  gathered at Holy Trinity Pembroke on Sept. 28, its 100th anniversary. The  congregation was awash in orange. During the service, 41 quilts and quilt tops, and 35 quilt blocks made with love by quilters in the parish were blessed before being packed up for the journey to Timmins, Ont. where the Quilts for Survivors organization distributes the quilts to survivors of Indian Residential Schools. Marie Cheesman says the outreach project is near and dear to the hearts of the quilters in the Valley, adding her thanks to Jean and Byron Ostrom who volunteered to deliver the quilts to Timmins again this year.

“These quilts are a symbol of support, respect and love for those who have undergone the trauma of attending a residential school, and the need is vast; additional items are always welcome,” she wrote in a parish newsletter. She added that  the cost of shipping quilts to survivors continues to be a significant financial pressure for QFS. Anyone interested in supporting their efforts can find more information on their website: www.quiltsforsurvivors.ca

The Rev. Rosemary Parker took this photo of St. Aidan’s parishioners Lois Wynn and Lise Gervais at Parliament Hill. The long red banner carries the names of thousands of children who did not live to return home from Indian Residential Schools.

Parishioners from St. Bartholomew and the Rev. Canon Catherine Ascah followed a reconciliation pilgrimage walk at Beechwood Cemetery. Some also walked in the labyrinth behind the church that evening. They were invited to pick up a stone from the pile in the centre and carry it with them as a symbol of what they were going to carry with them into the coming year by way of reconciliation.

The Ven. Rhonda Waters said that members of St. Helen’s who are either residential school survivors or the children of survivors spoke about their experiences and what it means for them to share their stories in church. “We displayed the Survivor Flag sign during the service and prayed that it would serve as an ongoing prayer of commitment and solidarity before placing it in our Quiet Garden. The stones along the Quiet Garden are placed by parishioners in memory of loved ones who have died, making it a site of remembrance and honour as well as contemplation.”

All Saints’ Westboro placed a heart underneath the survivors’ flag in front of the church. The Ven. Kathryn Otley explained that when the heart went out, there were no ribbons on it, but a bin with ribbons was placed beside it. Each person who passed by for the whole week was invited to pin a heart with a prayer for those children who never returned from residential school and also to take a ribbon and pin it on their heart. The bin was replenished throughout the week. From September 28 to October 4, we remembered and honoured those children.

Elder Louella (centre front) offered teachings about the Medicine Wheel at St. John the Evangelist in Ottawa.

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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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Kichi Zībī means great river and is the Algonquin name for what would later be called the Ottawa River.

Mīkan is an Algonquin word meaning road or path, and it is the name many Algonquin groups called for and that Dumont said would be appropriate when he spoke to the crowd at the march on the parkway last year.

“Changing the name of the parkway was the right thing to do,” Dumont told Crosstalk. “To me, the parkway is as a trail running parallel to the Kichi Zibi. No other name is more suitable. Long live the Kichi Zibi Mikan!”

The name of the road was changed from the Ottawa River Parkway to the Sir John. A. Macdonald Parkway in 2012. Macdonald was the first prime minister of Canada and his government was largely responsible for creating the system of residential schools for Indigenous children.

Dumont is Algonquin advisor to Bishop Shane Parker of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa, who also spoke at last year’s march, and commented this year that “Our march together helped to produce the right result.”

— LA Williams

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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.

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Red dresses have come to symbolize this national critical issue of missing and murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) and 2SLGBTQQIA (Two-spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex and Asexual) people.

The symbol of the red dress originates in Métis artist Jaime Black’s art installation the REDress Project, in which red dresses of all sizes and designs hang empty on display. The artist sees the installation as “A platform for voices that are often silenced.” She explains on her website that she hopes the red dresses “draw attention to the gendered and racialized nature of violent crimes against [Indigenous] women and to evoke a presence through the marking of absence.”

The National Arts Centre honoured the lives of MMIWG2S+ on May 5, 2021  by hanging red dresses in its lobby. https://nac-cna.ca/en/stories/story/honouring-mmiwg2s-red-dress-day

In 2019, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, released its final report Reclaiming Power and Place. It provides contexts to help our understanding of the colonial violence against First Nations, Inuit and Métis women, girls and Two-Spirit+ people. The report contains 231 Calls for Justice for all levels of government, industry, institutions, services and all Canadians to recognize and take action to stop the violence and address root causes. Among the Calls for Justice, #15.2 calls on all Canadians to: Decolonize by learning the true history of Canada and Indigenous history in your local area. Learn about and celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ history, cultures, pride, and diversity, acknowledging the land you live on and its importance to local Indigenous communities, both historically and today.

So many cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls remain unsolved. On Sept. 5, the Most Rev. Chris Harper, National Indigenous Anglican Bishop, and the Rev. Canon Dr. Murray Still, co-chair of the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples (ACIP), joined leaders of three other major church denominations to visit Camp Morgan, at the Brady Landfill outside Winnipeg. These faith leaders stood in solidarity with those calling for justice and an end to the violence against Indigenous women, children, and Two-Spirit people and for the landfill to be searched for the remains of Indigenous women.

The Rev. Paul Johnson, dean of the Diocese of Rupert’s Land and part of the Anglican delegation at the landfill, spoke about the role churches should play in the process of reconciliation.” As Christians, we need to be standing in support of the oppressed, marginalized, those who are suffering, and clearly listening to folks inside the wigwam here,” Johnson said.  “There’s intense suffering related to this issue.”

May we join our hearts and minds with Indigenous peoples as they call for truth, justice and compassionate solidarity.

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