Prairie Anglicans take major step

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This article was published 06/07/2024 (774 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Reconciliation happens in various ways. Sometimes it involves grand actions that garner a lot of attention, like Pope Francis issuing an apology on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church to Indigenous people in Canada or the city of Winnipeg changing the name of Bishop Grandin Boulevard to Abinojii Mikanah.

But other times it’s about things that are quieter and happen mostly out of sight — but which are also significant.

That’s what happened in late May when the Anglican Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert’s Land, which includes ten Anglican dioceses in Manitoba, Northwestern Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Arctic, changed its name to the Ecclesiastical Province of Northern Lights.

A bit of explanation for non-Anglicans: The Anglican Church organizes itself into local church communities, called parishes. These parishes cluster together in a diocese, overseen by a bishop. A group of dioceses is known as a Province. In Canada, there are four Provinces; in addition to Northern Lights, there are the Provinces of Ontario, British Columbia and Yukon, and Canada (Quebec and Atlantic Canada).

The former name for the Province of Northern Lights goes back to Canada’s colonial past. In 1670, England’s King Charles granted a charter to his cousin, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, to exercise control over the entire drainage basin of Hudson’s Bay through what became known as the Hudson’s Bay Company.

That area, called “Rupert’s Land,” continued to be under the control of the Company until the government of Canada purchased the land in 1870.

When the charter was given to the Hudson’s Bay, nobody was thinking about the Indigenous people who lived there; they weren’t consulted. They also weren’t asked their opinion when the Anglican Church of Canada adopted the Rupert’s Land name for its Ecclesiastical Province in 1849.

But things have changed over the past few decades. Today, Canadian Anglicans recognize their role in colonizing and oppressing Indigenous people, including through residential schools. This is something the Archbishop of Canterbury apologized for in 2022, acknowledging the “terrible crime” of the schools and other “grievous sins” that Church had committed against Indigenous people.

With that in mind, Anglicans on the prairies decided it was time to replace the old name of their Province.

As Iain Luke, principal of the Anglican College of Emmanuel & St. Chad of the University of Saskatchewan wrote: “It no longer made sense for the church to refer to its provincial jurisdiction as Rupert’s land. Even as a historic marker, this name undercut the inherent rights of Indigenous people to be acknowledged in their own lands, as well as the church’s commitment to be an active partner in the work of healing and reconciliation.”

This time, a decision about the name change was done in consultation with Indigenous people. With their input, the name “Northern Lights” was selected due to its tie to the land and because the Northern Lights are spiritually significant for many Indigenous people — they are seen as the “dancing spirits” of those who have come before.

Other reasons, according to Luke, include how “light is a central image in the Christian story” and because Christians are called to bring light to the world.

Geoff Woodcroft is bishop of the Diocese of Rupert’s Land, which takes in everything east of Portage la Prairie to northwestern Ontario, including Winnipeg. For him, the name change shows how the Anglican church in western Canada is “letting go of its colonial past” and showing “respect for Indigenous spirituality.”

At the same time, it brings something to Anglicans that “we have missed, a gift to us from Indigenous people that can help make us whole,” he said.

As for whether the local Diocese will also change its name, “conversations have started,” he said.

For Bishop Isaiah Larry Johnson Beardy, who serves the church in northern Manitoba, the Province’s new name is significant because of the way Indigenous people were included in the decision.

“We were never consulted about the old name,” he said, noting the name change is a way to educate Anglicans in Manitoba about the history of colonization and its impact on Indigenous people. “It’s a good step towards reconciliation.”

Beardy, a member of the Tataskweyak Cree Nation, especially likes how the name reminds Anglicans of how “the Creator is looking over us with our ancestors, cheering us on.”

According to Ryan Turnbull, who directs discipleship ministries for the Diocese of Rupert’s Land, the change to Northern Lights for the Ecclesiastical Province “will open up some new conversations for us here,” in the Diocese of Rupert’s Land.

As part of that conversation, the Diocese also wants to consult with Indigenous and Métis people before making a decision about a new name, he said, adding that it could “open up a broader discussion about reconciliation and what it means.”

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