Today we celebrate Truth and Reconciliation Sunday.

The TRC’s report was published 10 years ago in 2015 on  

Canada’s residential schools.

The system lasted over a century, about 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children attended 

about 139 institutions.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission documented at least 3,200 student deaths in the schools and highlighted widespread practice of unmarked graves and missing records.

Testimony and settlement processes showed pervasive abuse: 

roughly 32,000 sexual/ or serious-abuse claims.

The Commission concluded that the residential school policy 

amounted to cultural genocide—

a deliberate attempt to eradicate Indigenous languages, 

cultures and family ties .

Cultural genocide refers to actions intended to destroy the cultural, spiritual, and social foundations of a group 

without necessarily killing its members. 

It targets language, religion, traditions, institutions, 

childrearing practices and other forms of cultural expression 

so that the group can no longer reproduce its identity and way of life.

Examples include forbidding language use, 

closing schools or places of worship, banning ceremonies, 

or separating children from families to erase cultural transmission.

Steven Charleston writes: P6-7 “over time, our children were taken from us. They were taken to boarding schools where they suffered physical and sexual abuse. 

They were forbidden to speak their language or wear their cultural styles of hair or clothing. 

The animals on which they relied for food were systematically slaughtered and left to rot. 

Racism made us objects of derision and scapegoating. 

Even our ways of prayer and worship were outlawed. 

We were left in poverty and isolation, 

with the expectation that our genocide would soon be complete.”

The Truth and Reconciliation commission also highlighted the

lasting intergenerational legacy. 

The TRC documented profound, ongoing effects t

hat lasted beyond the survivor’s generation: 

intergenerational trauma, loss of language/culture, 

higher rates of addiction, suicide, mental-health crises 

and social marginalization in Indigenous communities — 

and thus they issued 94 Calls to Action to address these harms.

The TRC urged all faith groups such as churches

 to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP),

This UN Declaration establishes Indigenous peoples' rights to self-determination, lands, resources, cultures, languages, and institutions; 

It requires free, prior and informed consent for activities affecting them; 

It protects traditional knowledge; 

ensures non-discrimination, redress for historical injustices, 

and supports revitalization of Indigenous legal, social, and cultural systems.

A further call was for clergy and church staff 

to be educated on Indigenous history, spirituality, 

and the harms of spiritual violence;

With a focus on repentance which must be matched by sustained, Indigenous-led action to repair relationships and support cultural renewal.

—

In our Gospel reading this morning, Jesus tells a story of two men:

A rich man dressed in expensive clothes who enjoyed fine dining,

And at his gate, a poor man, named Lazarus, 

who was hungry and ill.

Both died, and Lazarus was taken to be with Abraham, 

and was comforted,

While the rich man was in agony and cried for help.

The tables were turned. 

The rich man begged for messengers to be sent to warn his family,

But Abraham denied the request, 

reminding him that they had Moses and the prophets already,

All the information was at their fingertips…

if they wouldn’t listen, 

then sending someone else was pointless.

We should know better, 

not to mistreat those at our gates. 

We have all the knowledge.

Those at our gates are our responsibility,

How is it that we can close our eyes so easily 

to our neighbour right at our doorstep?

Of course it is a coping mechanism, 

with a dash of selfishness.

What do Moses and the prophets say?

Take care of the widow, orphan, stranger, 

don’t torment them,

But treat them like you would want to be treated.

The Poor, the ethnically marginalized, the indigenous,

Treat them with basic human dignity.

Yet what we did in the Residential Schools 

was to strip the children of all indigenous identity 

to make them quote “white and good”

Because most thought:

white was the only real race that was truly Canadian.

The first nations were treated as subhuman,

Forced to assimilate into the wider culture.

Churches played a large role in this system, 

which didn’t just occur in the distant past,

the last residential school was still operational 30 years ago, 

closing in 1996. (Gordon’s).

I see a real connection between the story of the rich man and Lazarus, 

and the story of indigenous colonization: 

Settlers became wealthy through the acquisition and theft of land, 

and first nations, the poor man at the gate, 

declined further and further into poverty and illness.

We all know the basic problems

Facing Indigenous peoples in Canada:

Systemic racism:

overrepresentation in Child-welfare and Criminal-justice: 

Suicide rates at multiple times the non-Indigenous rate;

The Education, health and life-expectancy gap:

All these are known, but we, like the rich man, 

look down at the gate and mutter…

but what is there to be done? 

And go about our normal business.

Well, one concrete call to action 

was for clergy to get educated about indigenous spirituality, 

and that’s precisely what I did this summer, 

reading this wonderful and relatively easy-to-read book

 We Survived the End of the World—Lessons from Native America on Apocalypse and Hope,

 by Steven Charleston, published two years ago.

—=

Steven Charleston, an Indigenous US author

describes as an apocalypse 

the experience of Native Americans over the past 400 years.

It was an experience of near-total destruction 

that Indigenous peoples endured, faced… and survived. 

It is a mystery and miracle of survival.

Charleston explains stories of hope and lessons learned 

that can be applied to today’s challenges as well.

By looking at 4 important historical indigenous leaders in history - 

and charting their experience, and their prophetic wisdom, 

he examines learnings for today.

The book stresses resilience and hope: 

How Indigenous spiritual practices, communal care, 

and moral imagination offer practical ways 

to move from fear toward collective healing. 

Charleston reminds us that 

“Our Native culture is not some dusty matter for historians and anthropologists to study. The Native religious world view is an ongoing, contemporary, modern expression of human spirituality—a religious tradition like Islam or Buddhism or Hinduism."

—

The book’s second chapter, which I’ll focus on today, 

describes the life and work of Ganiodaiio [gah-nee-oh-DAY-oh]

In English translation his name means Handsome Lake.

(There’s a image of him on the music stand)

He was born into the Haudenousaunee Confederacy in 1735 

as part of the Seneca Nation.

The confederacy was a remarkable, thriving civilization.

One of the hallmarks of the Haudenousanee culture 

was the status of women which was so revered that rape was virtually unknown. (P22)

In the 18th century a Haudenousanee woman could vote 

and divorce her husband…. (P46-47) 

The confederacy acted as a buffer between French and English colonies.

but declined in importance after the 7 years War between 

England and France.

The American Revolutionary War was especially traumatic, 

and the American Armies in 1779 systematically burned  (p23) villages, destroyed crops, massacred men, women and children 

and mutilated corpses to sow a sense of terror.

At the Treaty of Big Tree in 1797 the Senecas gave up 95% of their territories to American settlers; the confederacy was thus basically destroyed.

Ganiodaiio [gah-nee-oh-DAY-oh,]

was an alcoholic, with poor health, 

but one day he had a

near-death experience with a vision 

to carry a message to his people: 

“let go of 4 evil practices: whiskey, witchcraft, charms and abortion.”

Take personal responsibility for your bad actions in these 4 areas.

Bad things were happening, because the nation had lost its way, and

(P26) the apocalypse of their social collapse could only be reversed 

by a spiritual reawakening that began with the heart of each individual. 

Ganiodaiio’s series of visions included one where he met Jesus 

still bearing the marks of the crucifixion. 

Jesus told him not to follow the ways of the white man 

or they would become lost.

Soon after Ganiodaiio led people in a new dance, the Worship Dance.

His teachings are collected into a single text called Gaiwiio (GUY - WE- YO) 

Which means good message -or- good word.

The prophet even met with President Thomas Jefferson and sought to convert him to an indigenous vision of equality between Native people and the American settlers.

Ganiodaiio died in 1815.

He helped his people survive the apocalyptic events of his time,and his teachings helped to preserve the ancient tradition.

What lessons can be learned from Ganiodaiio? 

He lived between two worlds; 

he borrowed images from his white neighbours (such as Puritanical Christianity), as well as traditional teachings from his own culture.

As a reformer he was criticized by whites and natives alike.

But he was successful: his prophecy worked - he did save his people.

His focus on individual responsibility, 

making his followers accountable for their own actions 

was a profound adjustment of culture that rejuvenated his nation.

He shifted people’s spiritual focus from the communal collapse 

they saw all around them. 

He turned their gaze from the breakdown of the many 

to the redemption of the individual. 

He replaced their internal grief with hope for positive change. 

Through confession, either public or private, 

he gave them a path back to wholeness.

By balancing the communal with the individual responsibilties, 

he released a healing power among his people.

Now today’s society [esp. in the US] is a far cry from the Haudenosaunee culture where Ganiodaiio grew up, with its extreme focus on collective rights.

Today we are far too individualistic:

Society (esp. US Society)

P43:likes heroes who can go it alone and role models who make their own rules.

 It disparages collective action as a herd mentality and prefers individuals with the right to do as they choose. 

For millions of people, individuality has evolved into individualism:

 a cult of personality in which they are the personality.

We are therefore in the West to varying degrees a “me” society.

All of society revolves around “me” and “my needs.”

We need to shift from the “me” to the “we”,

To strike a balance between individual and communal 

rights and responsibilities.

We need to teach indigenous history of the Americas, 

and we can draw lessons from the

quasi- communistic culture of the Haudenosaunee.

Today the religion of Ganiodaiio is still practiced among the Haudenosaunee. 

The Handsome Lake Code: or Longhouse religion, 

Gaiwiio (GUY - WE- YO) 

Is still an important part of spiritual and communal life of the local Six Nations of Grand River  The code is proclaimed publicly twice a year: 

In late January and again in September.

—

When we study history we see the good, the bad and the ugly.

By studying apocalypses, traumatic events of the past (esp. in indigenous history which has been so neglected) we gain insights for huge challenges that face us.

Learning other people’s stories 

Such as the story of the Residential schools and of Ganiodaiio. 

can depress, but also challenge, and inspire us.

Events such as the Feather and Cross book study,

Or the “Remember Me Walk” on Tuesday at 10 on Frederick St.,

Give us new energy to consider the Lazarus at our doorstep,

Following Christ’s example,

To discern what our words and actions to neighbours, 

indigenous and non-indigenous can be —

How we can build a longer table 

And break down walls.

I believe celebrating TRC Sunday does precisely that 

by removing prejudice and ignorance 

brick by brick.

*Hymn of the Day 1062 (see page 6) “Build a Longer Table”