Honouring the Declaration

Church Commitments to Reconciliation and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Don Schweitzer, Paul L. Gareau, Don Schweitzer, Paul L. Gareau

• Publisher: University of Regina Press
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9780889778351
• Topic: Teologia e religione
• Subtopic: Politica globale

Honouring the Declaration provides academic resources to help The United Church of Canada and other Canadian denominations enact their commitment to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and offers a framework for reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada.
 
Featuring essays from scholars working from a range of disciplines, including religious studies, Indigenous legal studies, Christian theology and ethics, Biblical studies, Indigenous educational leadership within the United Church, and social activism, the collection includes both Indigenous and non-Indigenous voices, all of whom respond meaningfully to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action.
 
The texts explore some of the challenges that accepting the UN Declaration as a framework poses to the United Church and other Canadian denominations, and provides academic reflection on how these challenges can be met. These reflections include concrete proposals for steps that Canadian denominations and their seminaries need to take in light of their commitment to the Declaration, a study of a past attempt of the United Church to be in solidarity with Indigenous peoples, and discussions of ethical concepts and theological doctrines that can empower and guide the church in living out this commitment.
 

honouring the declaration

University of Regina Press designates one title each year that best exemplifies the guiding editorial and manuscript production principles of long-time senior editor Donna Grant.

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

All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyrights hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical—without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any request for photocopying, recording, taping, or placement in information storage and retrieval systems of any sort shall be directed in writing to Access Copyright.

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

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

University of Regina Press, University of Regina
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, s4s 0a2
tel: [phone] fax: [phone]
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...

Table of contents

• Honouring the Declaration interiors-FINAL-epub