Mennonites learn about First Nations worldview

In preparation for next September’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Christians in B.C. gathered to learn about the First Nations worldview. Brander McDonald, Mennonite Church B.C.’s Indigenous Relations Coordinator, led an all-day seminar on Nov. 24 with more than 50 participants in order to educate them as a part of a two-session preparation plan and the start of a long-term commitment to reconciliation.

Participants found that the seminar could help them in their everyday interactions and understanding of Canadian First Nations peoples as a supremely relational people group.

Sophie Tiessen-Eigbike, the provincial service program coordinator for Mennonite Central Committee B.C. attended the seminar, along with four International Visitor Exchange Program people and three service workers from Germany in order to help facilitate “opening and awareness building,” she said.

Martin Harder from Bielefeld, Germany is a service worker at Communitas Supportive Care Services in Abbotsford and attended because of his interest in other cultures.

“You grow up in your own culture,” he said, “This helps you rethink your own values.”

Throughout the day, McDonald, who is Cree from Manitoba, explained the various facets of the Canadian First Nations peoples in a broad sense, recognizing that bands are different and they have unique traits from reserve to reserve.

This was illustrated through a cultural questionnaire where participants were asked to choose what statement was closest to their own worldview and then guess what they thought would be closest to a Native worldview.

McDonald then explained how these would play out in everyday life and participants followed up with questions.

“These are value systems that seem so opposed to each other, however we can see that there are commonalities,” McDonald said.

While many Canadians have an individualistic worldview, First Nations people have a collective worldview.

According to Darryl Klassen of the Aboriginal Neighbours Program for MCC B.C., their community-focused worldview “is a value that’s brought to everything else. It’s in their DNA.”

“Everything is done with the view of serving everyone. We are all one in the family of God,” McDonald said.

The First Nations relational worldview even impacts the way they tell stories or speak publicly. What may seem like inconsistencies to non-Native people who believe things are black and white, for Native people, it is an attempt to be inclusive of all beliefs.

Something that helped the participants understand one of the issues that plague some Aboriginal people is their understanding of time and opportunities. They came to understand that issues like addiction, which is a huge issue in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side and on some reserves, First Nations peoples believe in grace and understanding, that the process of healing is as important as being clean and sober and that people don’t just have one opportunity to heal.

According to McDonald, the Aboriginal understanding of time is not commodified or linear like it is for non-Natives, it is cyclical. In this sense, opportunities are likely to come around often, including opportunities for healing.

Time, relationships, and healing all go hand-in-hand for First Nations people, McDonald said. When it comes to the death or the pain of a loved one, “getting over it” isn’t what the mourning period is about. It is more about honouring the memory of that person by remembering them for the rest of one’s life.

The seminar also involved talking about the sacredness of the land, respect for elders, a view of relational justice, body language and differences in communication. All of this was important in order for participants to break down their pre-conceived notions about First Nations, to understand how to build relationships and bridges, and to take the tenets held by Indigenous peoples to heart in order to help them find healing for their own faith walk.

According to McDonald, Mennonite Church B.C. is called to the ministry of reconciliation. This is why they’re working to educate Mennonites in B.C. about the First Nations worldview so that they can participate in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“We’re going to be here for the rest of the life of MC B.C.,” he said.

The second part of the education plan, which is set to take place in March, involves a primer on the Indian Residential School experience and the purpose of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.