by Wendy Turpin
I was talking with an aboriginal friend the other day and was asking her how she felt about last week’s apology. She expressed what I think a lot of the First Peoples are feeling, and that is, that she is happy the apology has been made but will be “waiting to see how it is walked out of its darkness.” I could tell that she was tentatively hopeful.
Interestingly, she also said that she was waiting to see how the average Canadian responds. She went on to relate a story about how, after the apology, she was with her aunt when they met a woman from Guyana who has lived in Canada for 17 years. This woman came to her aunt and apologized on her own behalf for never really taking notice of First People’s issues. This was a very moving moment for both women and her aunt said, as a result, that she felt proud “to be Indian” for the first time in her life. Her aunt is 85 years old. That’s a long time to live ashamed of who God has created you to be. When I heard this story, it was as if I could see light suddenly blazing into a darkness that had not been pierced for centuries.
Healing the wounds of the First Peoples is a big issue and it’s not going to happen overnight; but, I feel, at least, that for all aboriginal and non-aboriginal citizens of Canada, the apology is a positive step forward toward that healing. June 21, 2008 is National Aboriginal Day. If you’re aboriginal – God bless you! If you aren’t, please take the time to thank God for every aboriginal person you know and pray a blessing upon them. And while you’re at it, ask the Lord how you can, like this woman from Guyana did, move the healing forward. Then do it.
If you have about six minutes, take some time and watch this post. It’s National Chief Phil Fontaine’s response to the apology in the House of Commons.
Tags: aboriginal issues, Add new tag, AFN, First Nations, First Peoples, healing the land, Inuit, Metis, National Chief, Phil Fontaine, prayer, residential schools, the apology
