Let us renew our commitments to truth and reconciliation

This June will mark 10 years since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its final report on genocide against Indigenous nations in the Residential School system. Ten years since survivors released the 94 Calls to Action as a pathway to healing, justice and revitalization. Ten years since the courageous voices of survivors shook the world and broke through the silence of denialism. “What can I do to advance reconciliation?” the late Hon. Murray Sinclair would often hear as he spoke to Canadians, to which he would respond, “We have given you 94 Calls to Action.” Yet after a decade, only 14 Calls to Action have been completed. The federal government claims that 85 per cent of the 94 Calls are underway, yet Indigenous scholars and auditors have demonstrated how unsubstantiated this claim of near completion is.

Right Relations ministries and the Bishop’s Collaborative for Right Relations have undertaken an audit of our diocese’s progress on our responsibilities to the 94 Calls to Action. This work is being carried by dedicated members of the Diocese of Toronto, including clergy, lay people and survivors of Residential Schools and intergenerational survivors. Of the 94 Calls to Action, 13 specifically name and call upon the Church. We encourage all parishes to study the Calls and use them as a framework for spiritual renewal, advocacy and discipleship.

The 94 Calls to Action are a pathway to healing and reconciliation that requires the participation of all of us and every sector of society. Chief Dr. Wilton Littlechild, commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, teaches that the Cree word for reconciliation is “wītaskīwin,” meaning restoring good relations through respect. Christian colonialism has been unmasked of its heresies by the testimonies of thousands of survivors whose bodies bear the scars of abuse by religious leaders. The journey of restoring good and right relations is a spiritual practice that requires courage, humility and commitment. Truth leads us to freedom and transformation. Jesus’ life, death and resurrection testifies to God’s boundless solidarity with the wounded and oppressed, while promising hope and new life. In this 10^th anniversary of the 94 Calls to Action, let us not despair or sink into apathy. Let our spiritual renewal in Christ energize us to participate in the work of new creation in our midst, where the Spirit is speaking to the Church and calling us to greater authenticity to the faith we hold. The 13 Calls to Action that name the Church call us to enact our values through solidarity and healing from false doctrines of Christian colonialism. They call upon the Church to transform our relationship with land, Indigenous nations, power and theologies of European supremacy.

Calls to Action #45 and #49 call for the repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery and theologies that justify European sovereignty over Indigenous lands and peoples, and a renewal of the treaty relationship that is built on mutual respect. The Doctrine of Discovery gave religious and legal justification for the forced enslavement of non-Christian people and the theft of their lands. This dehumanizing doctrine is the bedrock of the Residential School system, where Indigenous children were subject to forced labour. Many survivors have likened their experience of exploitation to concentration camps. The treaty process contrasts this culture of violence against children and dehumanization, calling on all people on this land to live with respect and responsibility to all life. Call to Action #45 illustrates how renewing treaty relationships is a remedy to the destruction of the Doctrine of Discovery. To honour this Call, Right Relations ministries is studying our relationship with land, displacement of Indigenous peoples and land acquisition in this territory.

Responding to Call to Action #45 and #49 in your parish:

• Review your roots. How was your parish established? Review records and documentation relating to how your parish acquired land, local history of Indigenous displacement (by Indigenous sources), and local treaties. Share what you have learned or ask for support from Right Relations ministries by emailing [email protected].
• Learn about the Doctrine of Discovery. Though the Doctrine of Discovery was repudiated by General Synod 2010, it continues to be the foundation of Canadian society and the ongoing denial of Indigenous sovereignty. As a parish community, commit to watching the award-winning film by Anglican Video, “Stolen Lands, Strong Hearts” and utilizing its powerful study guide at www.anglican.ca/primate/tfc/drj/doctrineofdiscovery.

Responding to Calls to Action #71-76:

Calls to Action #71-76 speak to the painful reality of missing children and unmarked burials associated with Residential Schools. Sites of Truth, Sites of Conscience: Unmarked Burials and Mass Graves of Missing and Disappeared Indigenous Children in Canada states that:

“[In Residential Schools] Thousands of Indigenous children were subjected to violence, abuse, disease and neglect in these institutions, and many of them died. Their death rates were far higher than those of non-Indigenous school-aged children. When they died, government and Church officials often did not return the children to their families and communities for burial. They were buried instead in cemeteries at the institutions, often in unmarked and mass graves that were sometimes dug by other children. Many of these cemeteries and burial sites are neglected, abandoned and unprotected. Families were provided with little information about what happened to their children.”

The federal government has discontinued funding for the National Advisory Committee on Residential Schools Missing Children and Unmarked Burials. This funding is essential to continue the sacred work of honouring deceased Indigenous children and fulfilling Calls to Action #71-76. Here is what you can do:

• Engage with truth. Dignified burial and honour of the deceased is a Christian value. Read the Special Interlocutor on Missing Children and Unmarked Burial reports in a study group in your parish. Visit www.osi-bis.ca/osi-resources/reports.
• Advocate that the federal government restore funding for the Indigenous-led “identify, locate and commemorate” missing children program.
• Fundraise to support the Survivors’ Secretariat’s ongoing search of the grounds of the Mohawk Institute, an Anglican Residential School. Visit www.survivorssecretariat.ca.

How is your parish, family and community honouring our sacred obligations to the 94 Calls to Action, survivors and the children who never returned home from the Residential Schools? As we reflect on our journey of the past 10 years, let us all renew our commitments to truth and reconciliation.

“I urge all Canadians to not be bystanders. Each of us must stand up and speak out. We must insist that these missing children, who were abused and neglected during their lives, now be treated with the respect and human dignity they deserve. We need to work together as we move forward. Let us honour and support all the survivors, Indigenous families and communities leading this sacred work and keep the Spirits of the children foremost in our hearts and in our minds.” (Independent Special Interlocutor, “Sacred Responsibility: Searching for the Missing Children and Unmarked Burials,” Interim Report, 2023, page 4.)

Amen.