Dear editor,
We are never too old to learn.
Has that ever hit home in the last few years for me.
The term ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ was alien to me until I heard Mr. Robert Horton speak at the Metis Hall a couple years ago. It was so totally new to me that I could hardly believe it! It stayed in my mind but, without warning, moved into my heart level when, just last year, our Canadian heritage/history became part of our mandatory training at my (non-Indigenous) workplace. Was this for real? And was MY church compliant in all this?
Thanks to Covid restrictions my husband and I have been lucky enough to find an inclusive catholic faith community that makes environmental and Indigenous issues a priority. Heaven will take care of itself, but we can and do have a responsibility for alleviating as much Hell on Earth as possible for our planet, sisters and brothers.
So I have been asking questions for the past several months. I have found out that all the schools, in our area, anyway, include the Land Acknowledgement in their morning exercises. Churches, on the other hand, are not doing so well. To date I know of only two churches that prelude their worship with the Land Acknowledgement.
Last year I consulted the bishop of Thunder Bay about this. He deferred my question to the Ontario Council of Bishops. When I contacted him after that meeting he said that they, the Ontario Bishops, agreed that it would be inappropriate to do that before worship because ‘all land belongs to God.’ Really?!
(Side note…in Saskatchewan and even before a funeral in Alberta yesterday, the Land Acknowledgement was read.)
On my own I have brought up the subject in conversation. Most folks don’t know what I am talking about so I direct them to google “ Doctrine of Discovery” themselves. In conversation with one friend, she said: “Oh Jackie that would get so boring and repetitious!” HELLO! Our worship services are repetitious for a reason….that eventually we might not just hear the words, but FEEL them….words like “do not steal” “do not cheat” “do not kill”.
All this was sparked by the article in last week’s bulletin, March 24….”Reconciliation was possible…”
The last sentence “We can’t talk about reconciliation if forgiveness is off the table.” And that means forgiveness from both sides. Nothing hurts more than making a sincere apology and having it not acknowledged or received.
-Jacklynne Guimond
