Canada's History of Cultural Genocide : Is There Hope?

Bent-box - Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Last Sunday friends gathered in a park in Ottawa to discuss their experience of the closing session of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. You will remember that this commission was set up in 2008, travelled all across Canada to gather the witness of survivors of Indian Residential schools. These schools, 160 of them, existed in Canada for over 150 years with the stated objective of destroying their identity as indigenous people.

The question we were asked as we gathered was “What gives you hope?” I offer three items for reflection:

1  1 )      The Idle No More movement has mobilized young Aboriginal people from every indigenous culture. It has, in particular, touched the lives of young Aboriginal people livings in cities, off-reserve. This is the majority of Aboriginal people in Canada, over half a million, the first generation, if you will, not to have attended residential schools since they were born after the last school closed in 1996.  It has been the focus for a recovery of Aboriginal culture among young people. It is a great sign of hope.

2  2)      At this point in our collective history, Christians have a huge challenge to free their religious tradition from the stain of having participated in what the Truth and Reconciliation commission has called cultural genocide. The voice of the Churches has, in some ways, been rendered unacceptable to a portion of society that finds it difficult to discover the underlying gift of religion in the history, structures and dogmas of Catholicism in particular. On the other hand, I have repeatedly seen Aboriginal elders, some Christian and other not, speak publicly of the Creator and engage in prayers and ceremonies of thanksgiving and of healing. From what I can see, the Aboriginal people in Canada are the only ones who can speak publicly of the Creator, of the Path and celebrate their ceremonies without apology. This is, for me, a graced event. God works in mysterious ways that humble and teach us.

3  3)      As I mentioned, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission called the story of the residential schools, and indeed of the whole history of the relationship of Aboriginal people with the European settlers since the early 1800s as cultural genocide. Genocide is a strong word. Some recoil in horror at the suggestion; others try to mitigate its implications. For me it is a sign of hope. Because the reconciliation sought by the Commission is rooted in truth and only the truth can set us free. Accepting humbly the truth of genocide can mark a new beginning and an momentous process of healing. When the word genocide was invented in 1944, it was an attempt to give a name to what happened to the Armenians at the beginning of the 20^th century and what happened in Germany in the middle of the same century. The populations implicated in these events had great difficulty accepting the reality. It took generations for Germans to come to term with it. However, in the end, today, I think we can say that the process has helped their societies become more inclusive and humble. (This in spite of the rise of neo-Nazism in Europe in response to immigration.) For me, the accusation of genocide is a call for us to examine the truth, become more humble, open and compassionate. This is a sign of hope.