Mennonite event to explore action beyond land acknowledgements, reconciliation statements

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This article was published 08/11/2023 (1057 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

IT is common in many places of worship today to hear a land acknowledgement before the start of a service.

But some members of local Mennonite churches want to take it a step further. What would it look like to put those acknowledgments into action through reparations?

Finding an answer to that question is the goal of “Returning Wealth: Land Reparations and the Church,” a day-long gathering Saturday at Fort Garry Mennonite Fellowship.

The event, which runs from 8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m., is sponsored by the Mennonite Coalition for Indigenous Solidarity and is open to people from all denominations.

“Everyone who is interested in reconciliation with Indigenous peoples is welcome,” said organizer Kerry Saner-Harvey, adding it will be a day of conversation around healing relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, along with exploring ideas for land repair and land return.

Saner-Harvey, who co-ordinates the Mennonite Central Committee Indigenous-Settler Relations program, commends churches that make land acknowledgments and have issued statements about the need for reconciliation.

“Now we need to talk about action, about taking it to the next step,” he said.

For him, that could include things such as churches imposing a voluntary tax on the value of their property or their yearly budgets and donating it to Indigenous groups. Or if a congregation closes a building, it could be donated to an Indigenous group or the proceeds could be directed to Indigenous causes.

“There are different things that could be done,” Saner-Harvey said. “Those are things we want to talk about.”

But it’s more than just about money or land, he noted.

“It’s about transformation and healing of relationships, not just a transfer of commodities,” he said. “It’s about engaging with Indigenous people in a way that is redemptive and grounded in relationships.”

Currently, there are no good models to do that for places of worship in Canada, Saner-Harvey said, adding, “We need to rethink about the way we view and share land.”

Sarah Augustine is a keynote speaker at the event. For her, it’s about “trying to reframe the narrative.”

Augustine, who lives in the state of Washington and is Indigenous, is executive director of The Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery. She also believes it’s time to move beyond a transactional model of land and relating to Indigenous people to one that talks about repairing relationships, one that could involve returning land to Indigenous people, or other forms of reparations.

She believes a new view of land is needed. “We need to not think about land as something that can be sold or bought, but as a relative that is in our care,” she said. “We need to see the land as something that is life-giving… can we find our way back to sharing its abundance?”

Cost for the event is $10 for students, $25 for others and $15 online. Indigenous people can attend free. For more information or to register, go to http://wfp.to/63B.

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