Practical reconciliation
Spiritual covenant and strawberry Thanksgiving.
In September, Canadians mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. If only one percent of your church’s operating budget was shared with your local First Nation, you would be making progress towards healing.
On Saturday, July 6th more than 160 people from 52 congregations representing 11 Christian denominations, plus almost a dozen other organizations, came to Oshwekenin southern Ontario to learn how a simple commitment to honour an historic treaty can make meaningful progress towards healing.
We gathered in the Grand River room of the Six Nations Polytechnic where I, alongside staff from the Mennonite Central Committee, welcomed people to my home territory with the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address.
The event centered on a proposal initially conceived in 2007 by Haudenosaunee knowledge keeper and elder Rick Hill. Rick was encouraged by the fact that churches do not pay property taxes, which means they are less entangled in the land registry system. He said, “Wouldn’t it be great if we had a Spiritual Covenant with the churches? They could pay a token lease payment, continue their spiritual work, and, if they ever decommissioned a church, the land could revert to Six Nations.” This proposal would fulfill Six Nations’ original intentions for the Haldimand lands according to the original Haldimand Treaty of 1784, and would begin to provide tangible reparations for the way this treaty has not been upheld.
Shortly afterwards, in my role as Community Liaison for the Aboriginal Neighbours South Program of the Mennonite Central Committee, I took Hill’s idea to the Mennonite community, since they had 26 churches located in the 950,000 acres of the original Grand River Tract. Since then, the idea has expanded to include all other denominations on Grand River lands. Joining this discussion offers a significant opportunity for churches to explore practical ways to engage with and begin to undo crucial injustices in relationships with First Nations. If the governments of Canada and its provinces are slow to provide justice for historical wrongs, then the church can assume its role as “conscience of the country” by moving forward with tangible efforts toward justice.
The first covenant
As part of my July presentation, I reminded everyone of the first covenant made by my Haudenosaunee people and the Dutch in 1613. The Mohawk people found the Dutch cutting down trees and building structures on the shores of the Hudson River in what is present-day New York State. We came to them and asked them what they were doing. We learned that they wanted to establish a trading relationship with our people. They had brought items to trade with us for things they wanted from us. However, we wanted more than just trading partners. We wanted friends.
For centuries before, we had established covenantal or treaty relationships with other Indigenous nations, and we knew that this could work with the Dutch newcomers. The Mohawk counseled with the other nations of our Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca) and decided on a more fulsome relationship with these newcomers. This is the origin of the Guswentah or Two Row Wampum covenant. A covenant in our understanding is a sacred agreement between peoples under the witness of the Creator and creation. We say it is for as long as the grass grows, the rivers flow, and the sun rises and sets.
We recorded our understanding of this relationship in a wampum belt sewn with purple and white tubular beads fashioned from quahog shells. The white band of beads represents the common river of life (literally the Hudson River). Two parallel purple bands of beads represent the two nations traveling this common river of life in their vessels of state. The Dutch traveled in their sailing ship with their technology, leaders, language, and ways. We Haudenosaunee traveled in our canoe of state with our technology, our leaders, our language, and our ways. These vessels were not to interfere with the operation of the other.
There were three rows of white beads separating the two vessels to describe the principles and values of the relationship. The first row is the desire for peace and friendship. The second row is the respect that is at the heart of true peace. The third row is the good mind that establishes peaceful relations and results in a strong relationship. Our Haudenosaunee people had learned how to covenant together to establish healthy peaceful relationships between our Haudenosaunee nations. Our history of treaty-making assured us this could work with the Dutch newcomers.
A VERY OLD TREATY
“…Six Miles deep from each side of the River beginning at Lake Erie and extending in the proportion to the Head of said River, which Them and Their Posterity are to enjoy forever.”
– Haldimand Treaty, October 25, 1784
A silver reminder
For a time, the relationship did prove fruitful. But we noticed a tendency for the newcomers to forget. We also noticed the newcomers used iron chains to anchor their boats. We saw that the relationship was good and so, to strengthen it, and to remind our covenant partners of our original Two Row Wampum, we told the newcomers we wanted to anchor their ship with a second chain connected to Kanata Kowa (big village), our capital at the Onondaga Nation, at Onondaga Lake, NY. However, instead of iron links we would use three silver links representing the three rows between the two vessels. We called it the Silver Covenant Chain. As silver tarnishes and becomes black over time it needs to be periodically polished. Silver can shine so brightly that you can see yourself in it. Repolishing the chain is a way to deal with forgetfulness through renewal.
At the July event, I reminded people in attendance of this agreement and of my desire to repolish the Silver Covenant Chain. The reason such an event or repolishing is necessary is because of the theft of land from Six Nations. Not only was land taken inappropriately, monies that should have been held in trust for Six Nations have been taken and not used for that purpose.
Shared communion
But don’t think that this was a despondent group of people. We shared communion and we shared food together, featuring strawberries, which pay tribute to the first fruits in Haudenosaunee country and symbolize renewal and gratitude. Good, tasty food is like laughter – it is good for the soul. In any hard life journey, you need to sprinkle a little sugar to make the medicine go down. Justice Murray Sinclair, who presided over the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, said that the journey up the mountain of reconciliation is a hard one. In order to make it up this tough trail we will all need to pack a mountain trail picnic, and include some sweet treats. So we did!
During the event, a member of Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church, in Kitchener, ON, presented a cheque for $4,000 made out to Six Nations Polytechnic as their first move toward the Spiritual Covenant. This amount represents one percent of Stirling’s annual operating budget. Six Nations Polytechnic is a non-partisan post-secondary educational institution that serves all of the Six Nations community and contributes to the revitalization of culture and language. Stirling sees this as a first step in considering all the components of the proposal.
Hearts Exchanged participants of the Christian Reformed Church in Canada were especially invited to this event so they could consider this idea as a next step in their personal and collective journeys of reconciliation. Hearts Exchanged is an eight-month learning journey that goes into deep work to wrestle with how our churches can become places of belonging and can embrace God’s call to reconciliation with Indigenous neighbours. Seven different CRC congregations were represented at the event.
“The idea of a spiritual covenant for a church is wonderful, and it’s important for homeowners to also consider their roles in reconciliation.”
– David Wonder, Caledonia, ON
“I participated in the Hearts Exchanged program led by Adrian Jacobs, which helped me understand Indigenous culture and history better,” said Daniel Zylstra, a pastor at Meadowvale Community Church in Mississauga, Ont. “The concept of the spiritual covenant with churches really resonated with me. Today’s event reaffirmed that while the journey towards reconciliation may be long, it’s worth it. It’s okay to take smaller steps if that’s what your community needs, and there is a potential path towards land justice that the church can actively participate in.”
“My wife and I took the Hearts Exchanged course at our church, which was a great opportunity to make connections,” said David Wonder, a resident of Caledonia and a member of Meadowlands Christian Reformed Church in Ancaster, ON. “The storytelling today was very meaningful, sharing history and teachings in a way that resonated deeply with me. Living in Caledonia, I’ve experienced much of (the conflict over Haldimand Tract lands) that Adrian shared. The idea of a spiritual covenant for a church is wonderful, and it’s also important for homeowners to consider their roles in reconciliation.”
Cheryl Tigchelaar, another Meadowlands CRC participant at the July event, appreciated the continuity of her personal journey towards reconciliation. “After retiring, I wanted to continue my journey towards understanding and appreciating First Nations peoples,” she explained. “The Hearts Exchanged program and today’s event helped bridge my understanding and made me feel comfortable asking more questions.”
And the CRC community is going beyond personal actions. Judy Miedema of Meadowlands shared her church’s ongoing efforts. “Adrian has been part of our church’s journey toward reparations. We recently had him lead a Thanksgiving service, which was very enlightening,” she said. “What struck me today was the patience and generosity of Indigenous people as they wait for us to learn and act. Our church group did Hearts Exchanged together, and one of our initiatives was to include an Indigenous-led organization in our offertory schedule. This idea of financial responsibilities in terms of reparations is something we can build on.”
The Spiritual Covenant with Churches has developed over 17 years of conversation, with the idea expanded beyond the original Six Nations Haldimand Tract and Mennonite churches, to the rest of Canada and churches everywhere. In Winnipeg, three Mennonite congregations where I spoke about the Spiritual Covenant with Churches asked me how they could engage with this in their city. I told them to consider the nearest of the four urban reserves in Winnipeg and begin dialogue there. Each of these churches has also stepped forward with a one percent commitment of their annual income to the Indigenous communities in Winnipeg.
If there is a will for justice, the churches can find a way!
Six Nations Polytechnic
Rooted in the values of Ga’nigohi:yo:/Kanikoriio (Respect and the Good Mind)
– Campuses located in Brantford, ON and Six Nations, ON
– Offers university degrees, college diplomas, certificates, and advanced qualifications
– Politically non-partisan
– A recognized post-secondary institution
– Home of the Haudenosaunee Knowledge Centre
– Will direct the use of the lease payments from Spiritual Covenant Churches
– Will issue charitable donation receipts
– Will provide annual updates on the use of funds
