There are magnificent traditional stained glass windows in Bridge St. United Church which are worth a gander from both inside and out. We tend to associate stained glass with churches, but there is a new window in the House of Commons which is worth noting. It commemorates the 2008 apology to Canadian Aboriginal peoples by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on behalf of the government. Harper did a good job of apologizing for our sorry national history of abuse and cultural genocide in the residential schools. Many Christian denominations, including the United Church of Canada, were collaborators in the school system and we too have apologized. Along with the spoken and written words, the United Church set up a Healing Fund, paid reparations to many survivors, and has done its best to develop "right relations" with First Nations communities. Is this enough? It's hard to imagine it ever could be, but it is a beginning.
I do hope that the government apology was not a hollow gesture, and there have been situations in the past five years which lead us to believe that it might have been more talk than action.
It would be worthwhile for us all to ponder the story represented in the window and ask whether we have come full circle toward peace and reconciliation, as the bottom images suggest, or if we engage in an endless round of broken promises.
What do you think of the window? What about the apology and what it has or has not produced?
Please take a look at my Wonky Vegetable blog entry at Groundling today
http://groundlingearthyheavenly.blogspot.ca/2013/06/wonky-vegetable-day.html
I think the window is amazing, and I had no idea it even existed! Wow!
ReplyDeleteI read about this window a week ago - it is wonderful... I hope we can realize the results in real life, as they are portrayed in the window . Not too many of us have much direct contact with aboriginal people, on a day to day basis, so it is difficult to say how that would look in real life....
ReplyDeleteThanks to both of you. It is remarkable. A field trip to see it, perhaps?
ReplyDeleteYou are right about our lack of contact with aboriginal people Judy. I had a long chat with a band office staffer at Tyendinaga recently. He was humorous in describing how the non-Native population perceives them. Cheap cigarettes and gas!
I pipe in a little late on this one but I just finished Indian Horse from the CBC reads list, about a young fellow growing up after his experience in residential schools. The book club I belong to was reading it and not likely would I have read it on my own, but was grateful to turn my mind to that tragic time in the lives of our aboriginal neighbors caused by people like me, white Christians. ...hmmm, I have some responsibility in this.
ReplyDeleteSome young folk from Bay of Quinte Conference are spending time with aboriginal neighbors this July on a mission awareness trip right here in Ontario experiencing aboriginal life with both rural and urban neighbors. Awareness is a good starting place for us all.
Thanks for heads up on this significant window....will look for it this summer on our travels.