Over the past week many of us have been reflecting on the discovery of the remains of 215 children on the grounds of a former residential school in Kamloops BC. In the words of Charlie Mashinter (Executive Director of BIC Canada), “The travesty of Residential Schools and the immeasurable pain caused to so many indigenous families requires us to pause, lament and commit ourselves to bringing restoration and healing. As followers of Jesus the pain is also compounded by the fact that much of the pain was visited upon innocent people by those who represented the Christian faith.”
A common sentiment seems to be that many of us don’t know much about this chapter in Canadian history. With this in mind, we thought that we would share some of the resources including some statements that our denomination has had a part in putting together. We hope that you will find these resources both helpful for understanding as well as to equip us to engage our Canadian society as followers of Christ.
Statements
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action
- Mennonite World Conference Declaration of Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples
- Statement of Anabaptist Church Leaders Truth and Reconciliation Commission Hearings
Books
- The Inconvenient Indian
- 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality
- I am Not a Number – Children’s Book
Talks
- What Non-Indigenous Canadians Need to Know – Eddy Robinson is an educator on Indigenous issues
- BIC Canada Fall LEAD Event with Cheryl Bear
- The Two Canadas – A message by Cheryl Bear at South Ridge MB Church in St. Catherines
Other
- Documentary – We Were Children (available on Amazon Video)
- Blog – This Nish White Woman: One woman’s writings on race, culture, family, spirituality, history and identity.
- First Steps with First Nations: An Introduction to Engagement with First Nations People – A resource containing a summary of the Residential School system in Canada
Local Resources