honouring the declaration
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Honouring the Declaration
Church Commitments to Reconciliation and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
edited by
don schweitzer and paul l. gareau
© 2021 University of Regina Press
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Printed and bound in Canada at Imprimerie Gauvin. The text of this book is printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper with earth-friendly vegetable-based inks.
Cover art: “Rock Dove (Columba livia) with wings raised in flight, in monochrome” by Panu Ruangjan / iStock
Cover design: Duncan Campbell, University of Regina Press
Interior layout design: John van der Woude, jvdw Designs
Copy editor: Ryan Perks
Proofreader: Alison Strobel
Indexer: Patricia Furdek
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Title: Honouring the Declaration : church commitments to reconciliation and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples / edited by Dr. Don Schweitzer and Dr. Paul L.Gareau.
Names: Schweitzer, Don, 1958- editor. | Gareau, Paul L., editor.
Description: Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20210232897 | Canadiana (ebook) 20210236779 | isbn 9780889778337 (hardcover) | isbn 9780889778320 (softcover) | isbn 9780889778344 (pdf) | isbn 9780889778351 (epub)
Subjects: lcsh: Reconciliation—Religious aspects—United Church of Canada. | lcsh: United Nations. General Assembly. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. | lcsh: Civil rights—Religious aspects—Christianity. | lcsh: Race relations—Religious aspects—United Church of Canada. | lcsh: Indigenous peoples—Civil rights—Canada. | lcsh: Indigenous peoples—Legal status, laws, etc.—Canada. | lcsh: Decolonization—Canada.
Classification: lcc bt738.27 .h66 2021 | ddc 261.8—dc23
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University of Regina Press, University of Regina
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, s4s 0a2
tel: (306) 585-4758 fax: (306) 585-4699
web: www.uofrpress.ca
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program.
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. / Nous reconnaissons l’appui financier du gouvernement du Canada. This publication was made possible with support from Creative Saskatchewan’s Book Publishing Production Grant Program.
Contents
Acronyms
Foreword by Don Schweitzer and Paul L. Gareau
Introduction by Sandra Beardsall, Sa’ke’j Henderson, and Don Schweitzer
CHAPTER 1
The Indigenous Imperative: The Role of Seminaries in the Realization of Reconciliation and Indigenizing by Sa’ke’j Henderson
CHAPTER 2
What to Do with All These Canaanites? A Settler-Canadian Reading of Biblical Conquest Stories by Christine Mitchell
CHAPTER 3
Restructured Feelings: Pitfalls of Settler-Christian Turns to Education by Lynn Caldwell
CHAPTER 4
The Declaration and the Indigenous Ministries of the United Church of Canada by Adrian Jacobs, Keeper of the Circle, Sandy-Saulteaux Spiritual Centre
CHAPTER 5
“Not Alone in This Struggle for Justice”: Project North and the United Church of Canada, 1975–87 by Sandra Beardsall
CHAPTER 6
Storied Places and Sacred Relations: Métis Density, Lifeways, and Indigenous Rights in the Declaration by Paul L. Gareau
CHAPTER 7
The Power and Practise of Indigenous Christian Rituals and Ceremonies by HyeRan Kim-Cragg
CHAPTER 8
Justification by Grace as a Spiritual Resource: Non-Indigenous Christians Adopting the Declaration as the Framework for Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples in Canada by Don Schweitzer
CHAPTER 9
The Declaration and the Common Good by Jennifer Janzen-Ball
CHAPTER 10
Working from the Heart: Considering Reconciliation/Mīnwastamātowin through the Lenses of Miýo-Wāhkōtowin, Miýo-Pimātisiwin, and Gender by Iskwewuk E-wichiwitochik/Women Walking Together
Afterword by Sa’ke’j Henderson and Don Schweitzer
Appendix A: An Ecumenical Statement on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 48
Appendix B: Statement on un Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as the Framework for Reconciliation
Acronyms
ancc: All Native Circle Conference
crgb Models: Culturally Relevant Gender Based Models of Reconciliation
djsrc: Doctor Jessie Saulteaux Resource Centre
dmc: Division of Mission in Canada
fstc: Francis Sandy Theological Centre
gce: General Council Executive
ibnwt: Indian Brotherhood of the Northwest Territories
icpond: Interchurch Project on Northern Development (Project North)
ie: Iskwewuk E-wichiwitochik/Women Walking Together
mmiwg2s: missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirits
ncc: Northern Coordinating Committee
nib: National Indian Brotherhood
nimmiwg2s: National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirits
nwac: Native Women’s Association of Canada
sps: Saskatoon Police Service
sssc: Sandy-Saulteaux Spiritual Centre
trc: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
ucc: The United Church of Canada
undrip: United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Foreword
On November 23 and 24, 2017, the contributors to this volume gathered at St. Andrew’s College in Saskatoon, located on Treaty 6 territory and on the Métis Homeland. We congregated to present and discuss the outlines of our chapters and talk about the possibility of bringing them together into an edited collection. This meeting decisively shaped what you are now reading in several ways. We m...