National Day for Truth and Reconciliation | Trinity Talks Podcast

Hello everyone and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity Talks.

I'm so glad that you are here joining me today.

And today I'm going to be sitting down with Rochelle, who is a member of our congregation

here at Trinity.

And we're just going to talk a little bit more about the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation,

which is coming up on September the 30th.

And we're just going to talk about what does this mean for us as individuals, as Canadians,

and especially as a church family that is striving to live and love more like Jesus.

And so Rochelle, welcome to the podcast.

Thank you so much, Kyla.

I'm very happy to be here.

Yeah, we're happy to have you.

So maybe Rochelle, could you just take a moment and introduce yourself?

Tell us a little bit more about who you are and your background.

For sure.

So my name is Rochelle.

I've been going to Trinity for a couple of years now.

And a bit about my background.

So I am mixed Anishinaabemowin, which is the traditional name for Ojikri or Severingkri.

And so my mother is Ojikri and grew up on a reservation called Muscret Dam First Nation,

which is in northern Ontario.

And her family still lives up there.

And so we visit when we can, but it's way, way up in the north.

And my father is Swiss German.

And so his family actually grew up in the Kitchener Waterloo area.

They're settlers that came from Pennsylvania and before that over from northern Switzerland.

So I'm a mix.

And yeah, my parents, they have a really cool story about how the two of them met, but that's

for another time.

But I think what's relevant to say here is that they've really impacted my life and they've

spent the last 30 years working alongside indigenous communities as counselors.

And they work in areas of grief, addiction, trauma, abuse, and they've been walking alongside

First Nations communities for a long time.

And so seeing the work that they do and the partnership that they have has really impacted

me.

And I think it's really fostered this desire in me for justice and truth telling.

And to also be someone who helps break down barriers and build bridges between non-indigenous

people and indigenous people.

Yeah, that's great.

So as I said, September 30th is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

And that day in particular is quite new in Canada.

But of course, the history and the reasoning behind that day is much, much longer.

It comes out of this long history of colonialism and discrimination and in particular, the

history of residential schools.

And we know that some Canadians, we're starting to hear about this a little bit more, starting

to uncover some of those stories.

But maybe it's not widely known, or maybe there are some folks listening who are just

sort of hearing about this for the first time.

And so I'm wondering if you can just tell us a little bit more about why we have this

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and why it's important for us to observe it.

Absolutely.

Yeah, so you're right.

September 30th, 2021 was the very first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which was

a really significant day for all indigenous people in Canada.

Because it was Canada taking a national stand to say we honour and we support the First

Nations, Métis and Inuit children who never returned home from residential schools, as

well as the survivors of those that went to residential schools and their affected communities

and their families.

So to speak to the residential school system a little bit, it was implemented by the federal

government and run by various church denomination groups.

And they basically took young children from the ages four to six, and they were taken

forcibly from their homes, separated from their parents, their sibling, their cultures,

their community.

And it was all in an attempt to assimilate them into civilized culture.

And the scope of this is, I think, important to understand that there were over 130 residential

schools that ran in Canada between the years of 1831 and 1996.

So not that long ago, the last school closed and an estimated 150,000 children were sent

to these schools.

And another thing I think that is really important for people to note who are just beginning

to learn this, that the survivors of these schools are still, many of them are still

alive and they're elders in our communities.

And many of these elders are my relatives.

I have aunts and uncles and family members who were taken to residential school as young

children.

And you asked why is it so important for Canadians to observe.

And I think as Canadians, our truth lies in knowing our history and the impacts that it's

had on the people who live here.

And if we're to be in good relationship with one another, I think it's really important

that we know the story of this land and the people that we share it with.

And then I'll just speak to a bit about the origins of the National Day for Truth and

Reconciliation and how that all began.

And it was because one survivor told her story of surviving residential school and this woman's

name is Phyllis Webstad.

So she's still alive today, but at six years old, Phyllis was taken to residential school.

And when she got there, she was wearing an orange shirt and it was customary that when

you were sent to residential school, they took all of your personal belongings, they

stripped you of all your cultural elements and belongings.

And so she showed up to school and they took her orange shirt and this first act of having

this precious item taken from her really scarred her.

And then of course, her whole experience at residential school was very, very challenging.

They were not great places.

And so for a long time into her adulthood, she couldn't wear orange.

And so for the very first time, Phyllis told her story in 2013.

And from there on out, people started to wear orange on September 30th to honor Phyllis's

story, but also all the other children who didn't survive and then the survivors who

did come out of it.

And so it's honestly a very impactful action.

It's very small.

It's a small gesture, but the message is so loud and clear.

I know for myself, whenever I see people wearing orange on September 30th, it actually is quite

emotional because it's people saying, hey, we care.

We know this story and we care and we know that this has happened in our country.

And so it's a really small gesture with big impact.

Yeah, for sure.

And so you shared a bit about the history of residential schools and how that was something

that was sort of instituted by the Canadian government, but it was also something that

was often done in partnership with churches and denominations, including the Anglican

Church of Canada, who was involved in running some of these residential schools.

So back in 1993, the Anglican Church of Canada actually issued an official apology for their

role in the residential school system in Canada.

And if any of the listeners are interested in reading that apology or learning more about

it, there'll be a link in the description of the video where you can go and see that.

But so that happened back in 1993, which is a bit recent, but it can feel far away.

And so I guess what would you say if there are folks who are saying, well, this happened

in the past.

This happened.

It's not happening now.

So why does it still matter?

Why is this something we still need to talk about?

And perhaps in particular, why is this something that still matters for us as followers of

Christ?

Yeah, absolutely.

I think I can start by maybe summarizing some of what colonization has done and why that

still is relevant today, specifically as a direct result of the doctrine of discovery,

which is a legal and religious concept that was actually used for centuries to justify

Christian colonial conquest.

It advanced this idea that European peoples and their culture and their religion were

all superior to others.

And it provided religious authority for Christians' empires to invade and subjugate non-Christian

lands.

It also allowed them to impose Christianity on these populations and claim their resources.

So in the Canadian context, this led to things like the seizure of indigenous lands, the

displacement of indigenous peoples from their traditional lands, which is where they called

home.

And it disrupted the entire way of life and culture.

And it was led by Christians, by people who claimed God's name over their actions.

And so I say all this because I think it's important that as Christians, we understand

the weight that this carries for indigenous people today.

And it still has very real impacts, even though it feels like this really long ago thing that

happened, it's still affecting indigenous people today.

And so I think as Christians, we also need to let that help us understand the divide

that that creates for indigenous people and Christianity.

And I think if we don't have that understanding, it really prevents us from moving towards

healing and harmony.

Again as Christians, we know that the foundation of our truth rests in who God says He is,

who He says we are, and how we can follow His way.

And we see in Exodus that God says this about Himself.

Then the Lord called out His own name, Yahweh the Lord, the God of compassion and mercy.

I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.

I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations.

I forgive iniquity, rebellion and sin, but I do not excuse the guilty.

And so as image bearers of God were called to be these things, compassionate, merciful,

slow to anger, filled with empathy and love, faithfulness, forgiving, but also not without

conviction.

And so to summarize, I truly believe that this means that we need to care about the

impact that Christianity has had on indigenous people so that we can pursue this ongoing

journey of reconciliation.

Yeah, for sure.

Yeah, I think that point that you made there about God's compassion, but also the conviction,

I think is something that's really important, right?

That we continue to walk with compassion, but that we don't let that compassion mean

that we do nothing.

Exactly.

And I think too, like looking at the life of Jesus, He was someone who was constantly

seeking justice and doing the hard thing and speaking out when there was something not

right.

And so we see that over and over again in scripture, right?

And Jesus was just, He was not apathetic to matters of injustice.

And so I think as Christians, that needs to be a high calling of ours.

Yeah, for sure.

I'm wondering, because you have some experience working with indigenous communities, if you've

seen any examples of churches or Christian groups that have sort of walked in this way

really well, if you have any examples or stories to share.

Yeah, absolutely.

I think just being almost a fly on the wall with what my parents have been doing for my

whole life really, I've seen not only my dad being a settler, I've seen his consistent

commitment to walking with, befriending, learning, listening, and entering into communities,

specifically my mom's community and being part of what's going on there and saying,

Hey, I don't have the answers.

It's not what I'm here to do.

I'm here to help and to walk alongside.

What can you teach me?

And then because they're in mission work, they have churches and groups that support

them.

And so through that, I've also been able to witness different church groups partner with

communities.

They come in and they run like a week long camp.

And I've also seen other community, sorry, other groups come in and do like sports week

or like, you know, so there's been Christian groups.

Christian groups that come in and then also non-Christian groups that have come in and

just say, Hey, like we want to partner.

We want to walk alongside.

How can we help you?

So yeah, I've seen groups like that go in and then there's nonprofits that partner with

communities to just bring practical resources and practical help because a lot of reserves

are quite isolated.

So they don't have the same access to everything that we have.

So yeah, I've been able to witness a lot of cool partnerships over the years.

Yeah, that's great.

And so as we think about now, perhaps for some folks listening, this is a lot of new

information.

Maybe for other folks, this is things that they've heard before, but they don't necessarily

know, okay, what's our next step?

So I'm wondering, what would you recommend?

Yeah, I think if you're just starting this journey, it can feel really overwhelming to

be like, I don't know what book to read or I don't even know what to do.

Because as soon as you Google, you know, there's lots of resources for books and movies and

all that stuff.

But to kind of narrow it down a little bit, I think specifically around the National Day

for Truth and Reconciliation, it has its own organization and it's called Orange Shirt

Day.

Sorry, their website is orangeshirtday.org.

So you can go there and they really truly have like lots of resources for people to

click on videos.

And that specifically really looks at understanding the effect of residential schools.

So if you want to feel a little more prepared heading into the National Day for Truth and

Reconciliation, I would definitely check out their website.

You can also look at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report, which is online.

That is a bit more like intense.

But if you just want to like familiarize yourself with that, you can absolutely check that out.

In terms of books, again, there's so many books, so it can feel really overwhelming.

But one that I always recommend people is 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian

Act by Bob Joseph.

And it's not a huge book and it goes through 21 things that you didn't know.

And I came along this book when I was in my adulthood and really just learning for myself

all this stuff.

And it was really eye opening because you really get an inside look to just how profoundly

the Indian Act affected indigenous people in Canada.

And a lot of people don't know about it.

And it still exists today.

There's laws and regulations that it lays out for indigenous people in Canada.

So that I would recommend.

There's some novels, Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga, which is a true story.

And it follows the lives of seven young indigenous teens who died over their 11 years and they

were attending school in Thunder Bay.

And so that gives a really, really sad insight into more of the current state of the challenges

that young indigenous people have right now in Canada of leaving their home to go to school.

And then you can read the 94 Calls to Action, which sounds really daunting, but some of

them are one-liners, some of them are a few sentences.

And then you can kind of get on track with where Canada is promising it's going and how

it's on this journey.

I have like some movie suggestions.

Is that helpful?

I know people are on Netflix for love documentary on Netflix.

That more focuses on indigenous people sharing their stories about the child welfare system.

So that will give like a little bit of insight.

We Were Children on Amazon Prime.

Indian Horse is a book and also a movie.

Jordan River Anderson, there's something in the water.

If you're more into documentaries, you could Google documentaries and there's like lots

of options.

So yeah.

Yeah, no, that's a really great point.

Yeah, for sure.

And we'll make sure to include that list and some of the links and stuff in the description

of the podcast as well so folks can sort of follow along.

And I would say, so you mentioned the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, like their

reports and then also the TRC 94 Calls to Action.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I would agree with you that the report itself is quite daunting.

It's a lot of reading.

But if folks are looking for some really sort of specific like, okay, what does this mean?

Like what are indigenous folks actually asking us to do?

I would definitely recommend sort of starting with those 94 Calls to Action.

Agreed.

And they're super helpfully also broken down into things for schools, things for churches,

things for government.

Yeah.

And so even just looking at what can we as a faith community, what can we as a church

sort of be doing for this?

That's right.

Yeah.

That's really great.

Yeah.

And I think as a faith community, again, for anyone who's new to this, it is definitely

overwhelming.

And there's a lot to take in.

So I would say start small.

And I think even this like having this lead to maybe another conversation.

And I think I really believe the more we learn about each other and the more we learn about

people who are not like us or have lived a different experience, the better we can be.

And I really believe that most often that leads to empathy and understanding.

And I really hope for anyone who is just starting this journey or who's on this journey that

you can start with those two things, empathy and understanding, because that will truly

pave the way for healing and reconciliation.

Without those two things, there can be a lot of just anger and hurt.

And that's not a good place to start.

Sure.

Yeah.

No, I think that's an excellent place to end.

Empathy and understanding.

Yeah.

So thank you so much, Rochelle.

Thank you for sharing your story and your wisdom with us.

Yeah.

And I hope that folks have found this to be a helpful place to sort of start and to engage.

And yeah, I look forward to hearing from you about what are some of the things that you're

learning?

What are some of the ways that you are engaging with this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation?

So thank you for joining us for this episode of Trinity Talks.

And we'll see you again next week.