A prayer for June 14, 2021
In just one week, Canada will recognize National Indigenous Peoples Day. As I want to celebrate and recognize this day, I continue to do so in education – learning more about what generations of indigenous folks have experienced.
Today, I thought I’d share a “did you know”. This is an informal list that has much more information than what is given and are things I have merely learned along they way. This is not an extensive list by any means but something I hope will help as we learn and grow together:
The top 8 Indigenous Issues that exist today: https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/8-key-issues-for-indigenous-peoples-in-canada
A prayer for us today:
O Holy One, firstly, I give thanks for the safeties and securities I have been privileged with in my life. I thank you that I have the freedom to come and go as I wish with little to fear. But God, that is not the experience for all our brothers and sisters. As we are challenged to unlearn and relearn history, help us to keep open hearts and minds. Help us to acknowledge anything within us that is not love or empathy or compassion. If we have the time and the mental energy, challenge us to look at the timing of our own lives and our education and see what things were different for us vs. them and how our lives have differed as a result. God, it is my prayer that even as we look at the negatives of all the things our brothers and sisters have experienced, that we can come together and celebrate with them that are being heard and we are learning and growing with them in our own way. Help us to discover what we can do to support and walk with all your people in this world.
As we begin our week, keep our world in your loving embrace, healing and protecting us within the pandemic and living into hope that things are getting better. Guide us in every hour. Encourage us to live with purpose. And help us to reach out to each other. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
In just one week, Canada will recognize National Indigenous Peoples Day. As I want to celebrate and recognize this day, I continue to do so in education – learning more about what generations of indigenous folks have experienced.
Today, I thought I’d share a “did you know”. This is an informal list that has much more information than what is given and are things I have merely learned along they way. This is not an extensive list by any means but something I hope will help as we learn and grow together:
- Diseases were intentionally spread throughout Indigenous communities
- Government takes authority over land
- Treaties were signed under false pretenses
- The Indian Act was introduced to assimilate Indigenous people
- Residential School System = cultural genocide (“destruction of those structures and practices that allow the people to continue as a group.”)
- The Mohawk Institute was the first school to accept boarders in 1831. About 80 schools ran at the peak of the system. The last school closed in 1996.
- Removal of children from their families and communities and was mandatory
- School staff were often poorly trained or
- Destruction of their language and practices
- Isolation from siblings
- Included scientific research experiences on children without their knowledge or any consent (nutrition, vaccines and studies on extrasensory perception, amebicides, isoniazid, hemoglobin, bedwetting and dermatoglyphics)
- Malnutrition and neglect
- Abuse (sexual, physical, cultural, mental)
- Advertisements/documents presented on TV back in time of their existence included false promises of food and better treatment if they presented themselves well and happy
- Buildings, programs, etc. were often under-funded and in great disrepair
- Parents wishing to visit their children in the schools was strictly controlled (similar to the prison system) and access to their children was not guaranteed, especially if parents did not speak English
- Goal was assimilation, vocational training and social skills but many came out failing in both areas – often learning vocational skills (like farming) they would have learned at home and learning to read, write and speak English was poorly done
- Mortality rates may never be known accurately. It is written that at least 30%-60% of students died each year. (This number rose after students left the schools)
- Parent protests that continued for years started challenging change
- Indigenous people to served in WWI were denied benefits
- Indigenous Women ceased to be “Indian” if they married a non-Indian or a non-treaty Indian but was amended in 1985 – but status still is determined on lineage
- Sixties Scoop – large-scale removal of over 20,000 Indigenous children in Canada
- In July 1960, Status Indians would receive the right to vote
- Murdered & Missing Indigenous Women
- Forced sterilization of Indigenous women
- Lack of clean water – 73% of First Nations’ water systems are at high or medium risk of contamination
The top 8 Indigenous Issues that exist today: https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/8-key-issues-for-indigenous-peoples-in-canada
- Poorer health
- Lower levels of education
- Inadequate housing and crowded living conditions
- Lower income levels
- Higher rates of unemployment
- Higher levels of incarceration
- Higher death rate among children & youth due to unintentional injuries
- Higher rates of suicide
A prayer for us today:
O Holy One, firstly, I give thanks for the safeties and securities I have been privileged with in my life. I thank you that I have the freedom to come and go as I wish with little to fear. But God, that is not the experience for all our brothers and sisters. As we are challenged to unlearn and relearn history, help us to keep open hearts and minds. Help us to acknowledge anything within us that is not love or empathy or compassion. If we have the time and the mental energy, challenge us to look at the timing of our own lives and our education and see what things were different for us vs. them and how our lives have differed as a result. God, it is my prayer that even as we look at the negatives of all the things our brothers and sisters have experienced, that we can come together and celebrate with them that are being heard and we are learning and growing with them in our own way. Help us to discover what we can do to support and walk with all your people in this world.
As we begin our week, keep our world in your loving embrace, healing and protecting us within the pandemic and living into hope that things are getting better. Guide us in every hour. Encourage us to live with purpose. And help us to reach out to each other. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.