Dance the reconciliation dance
By Harold Roscher

It wasn't until I was thirty-five that I experienced my own, personal moment of truth and reconciliation. It was then that the government of Canada formally told me I was an Indian.

Harold Roscher

Though Native Canadian by birth, I was adopted by an immigrant family from the Netherlands. I saw myself, and was treated by friends and family, as a dark-haired little Dutch boy. Even today, I speak better Dutch than Cree.

But despite my adopted context, there was no doubt I had a different heritage, a different story than many of my loved ones. In October of 1995, news came that would change my life: I was now considered an Indian, placed on the government's official registry as having Cree descent. Suddenly I had two stories for myself: one that was obvious, and one that required unearthing. I was a Dutch boy raised in the Christian Reformed Church (CRC), but I was also a Cree man with a rich Native Canadian heritage. So began my own journey of reconciliation.

I am not journeying alone. On June 11, 2008, a similar, but corporate journey began for all Canadians:

On behalf of the government of Canada and all Canadians, I stand before you . . . to apologize to aboriginal peoples for Canada's role in the Indian residential schools system . . . You have been working on recovering from this experience for a long time, and in a very real sense, we are now joining you on this journey.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper stood in the House of Commons and apologized for the government's policy of assimilation towards First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in Canada. It was a historic moment of reconciliation, long awaited and much deserved by the Native Canadian community.

I am proud of the courage and humility displayed by our Prime Minister. And I'm even more grateful for the grace with which our Aboriginal leaders accepted the apology, urging Canadians in turn to embrace the honour we bring to each other when are defined by love, not by difference.

No doubt many Canadians were previously unaware of the assimilation policies of the past, or at least unaware of the extent of its damage. In some ways, this corporate apology represented a vindication for me, after arguing with family, friends and church communities about government policies that have held our people captive. Even more satisfying will be the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission, set to travel across Canada hearing the many stories of hurt and pain caused by the residential schools.

I hope that Canadians will listen intently to the stories this Commission will uncover. It is in listening that the burdens of survivors and their loved ones will be released, and the healing will begin. I also hope we listen for the positive stories of nuns and priests nurturing young children to become all they were created to be. Our actions as churchgoers and as citizens can extend hands of help and of hope to the damaged.

It has been ten years since I discovered I was Cree, and my own reconciliation process continues with each new thing I learn about my culture and ceremonial life. In the same way, the apology from the government is the starting point on our broader journey of reconciliation. It reminds me of the Snake Dance (known also as a 'unity dance'), where we dance in a single line, then separate into two single lines (signifying the shedding of skin), then come together again in a single line as a new creation, ready to reflect the Creator's glory.

In our ritual and ceremonial lives we as aboriginal peoples dance as a reminder of our covenant relationship to the creator. So I invite you—members of the CRC in Canada, government leaders, and all readers of Mobile Justice—to dance the reconciliation dance with my people right across Canada in friendship and peace as a reflection of our covenant relationship with Christ. When we share each others' burdens and joys, the Creator's glory shines brighter for all to see.

Harold Roscher is the Director and Chaplain of the Edmonton Native Healing Center, a ministry of the Christian Reformed church in Canada, working to "develop and maintain a Native self-sustaining, self-governing, Christian working and worshipping community." Visit www.indigenousworship.ca.

For more information on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and on general Indian and Northern Affairs, click to www.rememberingthechildren.ca and www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/rqpi.

© 2008 Committee for Contact with the Government. All rights reserved.

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