Residential Schools: An evening with our Bishop
Residential School revelations: an evening with +Riscylla
+Riscylla calls us to do our homework, to listen, to learn and to put what we learn into
action. She said that the Calls to Action numbered 71-76 are the places to begin.
Residential School revelations: an evening with +Riscylla
+Riscylla calls us to do our homework, to listen, to learn and to put what we learn into
action. She said that the Calls to Action numbered 71-76 are the places to begin.
The shock of recent revelations concerning unmarked graves at Residential Schools and the part the Church took in the Residential School system was the motivation to gather with our Area Bishop, The Right Rev’d Riscylla Shaw (+Riscylla). The intent of the time together was to share openly about feelings, concerns, thoughts, questions, to listen and to learn. People spoke movingly from the depths of their hearts. The sharing and listening time spanned a full two hours. It could easily have continued.
There was a broad range of perspectives, some previously not widely known. Perspectives ranged from those of us with limited direct experience, to the perspectives of some with close Indigenous roots, to those from other identifiable groups, to an OPP constable and former Manitoba Emergency Services worker, to a former physician who also served later as clergy in the Arctic, to a retired leader from Children’s Aid, to a former member of the Six Nations Health Advocacy Group, to an amazing Grade 10 young woman who was visiting her grandmother with her family from Alberta. An extensive breadth of perspectives for sharing and listening.
Whether the truth about Residential Schools was entirely new and unexpected, or whether a person had some form of prior awareness, people shared from whatever perspective they brought to the virtual circle. What each person shared was clearly from the depths of their hearts. People listened and learned from the hearts of others. They listened intently when +Riscylla shared her own experience and insights from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings that she was ableto attend across Canada.
In response to questions about what we can do, +Riscylla referred often to two booklets she held in her hands: one was The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Report: Calls to Action, the other was the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (1948!). (Background articles and links to these and other documents and resources are on the parish website home-page for easy access. More will be added.) +Riscylla called us to “do our homework” and to use what we learn to find an authentic way to do our part, as individuals and as a parish, in responding to the Calls to Action.