The path towards reconciliation

June 20, 2012 | Young Voices
Lauren Harms | Special to Young Voices

Travelling to another country has a way of creating a new lens on life with a vivid new focus, but not in the way that I had expected. As I discovered more and more about South Africa during the three months I was there, I began to see my home in Canada with new eyes.

Along with a group of 33 others from Canadian Mennonite University’s Outtatown program, I soaked up as much of South Africa as I could. We learned about the struggle and oppression people experienced under apartheid and how that horrible system was actually based on Canada’s “success” with first nation communities. Many of us were quite shocked to realize that our country had inspired South Africa’s pain-filled history.

We gained an even deeper perspective when Piet Meiring came to talk to our group about his experiences and involvement with South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. That commission was a way to bring healing to the majority of the country’s population that had suffered under apartheid, but it also gave a chance for perpetrators to apply for, and hopefully be granted, amnesty.

How could victims and oppressors move forward and suddenly walk side by side as fellow citizens without at least attempting to create some basis of understanding one another?

After Meiring told his stories, I asked him why nothing like this was happening in Canada for our own Indigenous Peoples? Attending public school in Calgary, I learned about the plight of Indigenous Peoples and the effects of colonialism for as long as I can remember. The atrocities committed in the Indian Residential Schools had been burned into my brain.

Meiring gently revealed my ignorance when he told me that Canada did indeed have a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and that it was actually happening right now. After that embarrassing moment of learning about Canada while I was in another country, I wondered how many other Canadians were like me. How many others are clueless to the existence of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission? I wondered if our churches knew it was happening and if they were getting involved?

The attitude, I fear, is one of indifference. This attitude says, “Residential schools happened so long ago, why does it matter?” or, “I wasn’t personally involved, so I don’t need to get involved now.”

I hope people begin to realize that residential schools have had a lasting impact on our country, especially for those families that were torn apart. The schools were run by the church and encouraged by government to be used as a way of assimilating indigenous cultures. Children were forced out of their homes and told that the only culture they ever knew was the wrong one, and this was done in the name of Jesus. The last residential school was closed in 1996, which is a hauntingly fresh date.

In the spirit of Jesus, I want to encourage everyone to spread the word and get involved. The TRC is happening right now in Canada, and our brothers and sisters from indigenous families are telling their stories. As the TRC Canada website says, “The truth of our common experiences will help set our spirits free on a path towards reconciliation.”

Please get involved.

Lauren Harms attends First Mennonite Church, Calgary, and is a summer intern at Mennonite Central Committee Alberta. She will begin her second year at Canadian Mennonite University in September.

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