My writings - and those of others.
Gratitude
These closing words from Robin Walls Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass seem appropriate for this Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend
“The moral covenant of reciprocity calls us to honor our responsibility for all we have been given, for all that we have taken. It’s our turn now, long overdue. Let us hold a giveaway for Mother Earth, spread our blankets out for her and pile them high with gifts of her own making. Imagine the books, the paintings, the poems, the clever machines, the compassionate acts, the transcendent ideas, the perfect tools. The fierce defense of all that has been given. Gifts of mind, hands, heart, voice, and vision all offered up on behalf of the earth. Whatever our gift, we are called to give it and to dance for the renewal of the world.
In return for the privilege of breath.”
8 Key Issues
These are the eight key issues for indigenous peoples in Canada according o Bob Joseph’s Indigenous Relations blog. He notes that they are all connected and the challenges seem to hamstring all those in governments at all levels who try to deal with them
Poorer health than that of other Canadians; causes relate to income levels and social factors. People have higher degrees of respiratory problems and infectious diseases. Heart Disease and diabetes are on the rise.
Lower levels of education. These are affected most by colonialism’s sorry legacy of the residential schools and the experience of attempted assimilation. About 36% of indigenous people have not completed high school compared to 18% of the rest of the Canadian population
Inadequate and crowded housing. Close to half those living on reserves live in dwellings that need major repairs.
An income gap. Indigenous people earn about 25% less than other Canadians
Unemployment rates remain high
Incarceration. Nearly half those incarcerated are indigenous, and women are incarcerated more than men.
Higher death rates among children and youth due to unintentional injuries such as drowning. These are three or four times higher than those of other Canadians of the same age.
Higher rates of suicide among youth. “Suicide and self-inflicted injuries are the leading causes of death for First Nations youth and adults up to 44 years of age.” (A Statistical Profile on the Health of First Nations in Canada for the Year 2000, Health Canada, 2003).
What to do? Pressure governments on areas that you know and care about from your own level of expertise or experience. Donate to those organizations working to deal with the issues. Learn historic first nations values that may save us from our own flawed ones.
A shameful history
All countries like to celebrate their achievements. So do people on social media these days, who seem to assume that their meals, children’s graduations, hair styles and the like merit interest and praise from the rest of us. I am surprised that some people I know do this so often. We’re much less apt to cite our failures - as individuals or as nations. That would reveal how vulnerable we really are behind these facades of achievement.
But is time to come to terms with reality. As Canadians we thought that people who had been here fourteen thousand years earlier needed to be taught how to live, how to dress, what language to speak and how to worship their creator. We took young children from their parents and placed them in residential schools where we abused them physically and sexually, transmitted our diseases. starved them and buried them in unmarked graves. We left a legacy to the generations that followed them. many who are still among us.
In answer to all the “Buts” and “What Abouts” of Canadian history, the best response is to pause and look at the current realities - as both individuals and institutions where we have connections. What have we to learn from a suffering people? What do they have to teach us now?
The recommendation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission are here. It’s time for temperature taking and further action. Suffering takes time to heal. But denying the changes that need to happen doesn’t even allow healing to start. Not all actions are our personal responsibility - but both as individuals and institutions, some clearly are.
Honoring the Four Directions
On this National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada, there is no better way to spend it than to watch this video:
It is especially worth seeing while remembering Ginny Doctor, the Executive Producer who also appears in the film. She died recently. May she rest in peace. To know and understand the Doctrine of Discovery and its impact on all our lives is necessary and she could not have left us a better legacy for reflection and action.
A prayer for people of all faiths - or no faith:
Come Great Spirit, as we gather in your name.
We face East:
To your symbol colour Red, the hue of revelation;
To your animal symbol the Eagle, strong and nurturing;
To your lessons calling us to the balance of your Spirit in Harmony with brothers and sisters;
To invoke your wisdom and grace, the goodness of the ages, We pray: COME HOLY SPIRIT, COME.
We turn to face South:
To your symbol colour Gold for the morning star.
To your symbol Brother Sun that enlightens our intellect and brings light on our path to live responsibly;
To your lessons calling us to balance of Mind in the Spirit of humility;
To invoke your spirit of illumination and far sighted vision;
Help us to love you and one another with our whole heart, our whole mind, and our whole soul, We pray: COME HOLY SPIRIT, COME.
We turn to face West:
To your symbol colour Black, still and quiet.
To your animal symbol the Thunderbird;
To your symbol the Thunder mighty and purposeful;
To your lessons calling us to balance our emotions in the spirit of Gentleness and Honesty;
To invoke your spirit of introspection, seeing within; Give us your strength and the courage to endure, We pray: COME HOLY SPIRIT, COME.
We turn to face North:
To your symbol colour white of clarity and brightness.
To your animal symbol the swan which brings us in touch with Mother Earth and growing things;
To your lessons calling us to balance of our Body in the spirit of a good sense of humor;
To invoke your spirit of innocence, trust and love; Help us to open our eyes to the sacredness of every living thing, We pray: COME HOLY SPIRIT, COME.
(Note: There are several interpretations of the colours of the medicine wheel. A Cree adaptation is used here.)
Arguments
Thanks to Jonathan Haigt for this one:
“Once people accept the case for why you need to be exposed to people who disagree with you, and who challenge your ideas, then the question is, how do you do it? And here I have two recommendations. One, the one that worked for me, that really helped me, because I was an arrogant argumentative teenager and young adult, is reading Dale Carnegie's book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. And it's so easy once you read it. It's a great book, it's a really fun book. And what he teaches you is, don't come out saying, “You're wrong and here's why.” Come out saying, “Oh, that's very interesting. I think you're right about that one thing there.” Or, “We have this in common.” Or, “I can understand why you're saying that,” or, “Here's something in my experience that confirms what you said.” And once you start by agreeing on something, then you can pivot to, “But now on the other hand, it seems to me that...” and then you can raise your point. And then you're much more likely to persuade the person ... If you're a Homo sapien, you evolved for group combat, you evolved for confirmation bias and motivated reasoning. We're not really evolved to be academics or scientists searching for truth in an unbiased way. We evolved to basically CYA, and win in social competitions. But if you learn some skills, you can actually be very effective as a teacher, as someone who persuades, as someone who changes people."