The Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (and a word about our response)

Seven years ago I posted an excerpt from a paper written to give a theological response to the legacy of residential schools in Canada and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) that had recently been initiated. Click through if you want to read that post, entitled The Prince of Peace Smokes a Peace Pipe.

Today after several years the TRC produced its report, including a document called What we have learned: Principles of truth and reconciliation. This document is well worth reading. It includes a brief review of the history and an assessment of the legacy still felt by Aboriginals. It also includes a number of very insightful and challenging statements such as these:

"Reconciliation requires constructive action on addressing the ongoing legacies of colonialism that have had destructive impacts on Aboriginal peoples’ education, cultures and languages, health, child welfare, the administration of justice, and economic opportunities and prosperity" (p. 3).

"To some people, 'reconciliation' is the re-establishment of a conciliatory state. However, this is a state that many Aboriginal people assert never has existed between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. To others, 'reconciliation,' in the context of Indian residential schools, is similar to dealing with a situation of family violence. It is about coming to terms with events of the past in a manner that overcomes conflict and establishes a respectful and healthy relationship among people, going forward. It is in the latter context that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada has approached the question of reconciliation" (p. 113).

The report also includes 94 recommendations for everything from justice to education to sports and recreation in a document called Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Calls for Action. This is worth reading as well. I have skimmed it this evening myself, and highlight just a few items here:

HEALTH

"18. We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to acknowledge that the current state of Aboriginal health in Canada is a direct result of previous Canadian government policies, including residential schools, and to recognize and implement the health-care rights of Aboriginal people as identified in international law, constitutional law, and under the Treaties."

JUSTICE

"41. We call upon the federal government, in consultation with Aboriginal organizations, to appoint a public inquiry into the causes of, and remedies for, the disproportionate victimization of Aboriginal women and girls. The inquiry’s mandate would include:

i. Investigation into missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls."

ROYAL PROCLAMATION...

"45. We call upon the Government of Canada, on behalf of all Canadians, to jointly develop with Aboriginal peoples a Royal Proclamation of Reconciliation to be issued by the Crown. The proclamation would build on the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and the Treaty of Niagara of 1764, and reaffirm the nation-to-nation relationship between Aboriginal peoples and the Crown. The proclamation would include, but not be limited to, the following commitments:

i. Repudiate concepts used to justify European sovereignty over Indigenous lands and peoples such as the Doctrine of Discovery and terra nullius [nobody's land]."

SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT PARTIES...

"48. We call upon the church parties to the Settlement Agreement, and all other faith groups and interfaith social justice groups in Canada who have not already done so, to formally adopt and comply with the principles, norms, and standards of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a framework for reconciliation. This would include, but not be limited to, the following commitments: ...

iv. Issuing a statement no later than March 31, 2016, from all religious denominations and faith groups, as to how they will implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples."

CHURCH APOLOGIES AND RECONCILIATION

"59. We call upon church parties to the Settlement Agreement to develop ongoing education strategies to ensure that their respective congregations learn about their church’s role in colonization, the history and legacy of residential schools, and why apologies to former residential school students, their families, and communities were necessary."

EDUCATION...

"62. We call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments, in consultation and collaboration with Survivors, Aboriginal peoples, and educators, to:

i. Make age-appropriate curriculum on residential schools, Treaties, and Aboriginal peoples’ historical and contemporary contributions to Canada a mandatory education requirement for Kindergarten to Grade Twelve students."

It is interesting that when the second commandment says not to "make for yourself an idol" -- i.e., european civilization -- or to "serve" it, the commandment then gives us that rather famous line that the "iniquity of the fathers" will be visited "on the third and the fourth generation".

Whatever this means (and I acknowledge this requires further exegetical and theological reflection), we should at the very least recognize in this story a pretty compelling example of how Christians might bear responsibility for that which we've inherited, and give humble testimony to the hope that "love will be shown to a thousand generations".

Click here to read and/or watch "Residential school
survivor and Anglican couple forge 'unlikely' friendship"