Strawberry Communion in the Manner of the Longhouse
By Henry de Young

In the longhouses of the Iroquois, when people assembled they sat in rows facing each other. And so, on a hot Sunday afternoon, on the second day of this summer in the height of first-fruits strawberry season, four members of the Committee for Contact with Government (CCG) of the Christian Reformed Church joined First Nations people and others to sit, facing each other, in the small Faith Victory Church in Ohsweken, in the lands of the Six Nations of the Grand River. Not without significance, Ohsweken is a short distance west of Caledonia, Ontario, on the south bank of the Grand River.

As in the long house, Pastor Adrian Jacobs, a tall, distinguished-looking man of the Cayugas of Six Nations, did not enter a pulpit or stand behind a lectern, but stood by the pews and led the congregation. We prayed to the Great Creator, sang songs, enjoyed the artistry of First Nations dancers, and in the words of the invitation, "faced the reality of our broken world and the hope offered by the good news of Jesus Christ . . . and in preparation for Communion, examined our own hearts and anything that tears relationships apart". The communion elements were bread and strawberry juice.

To understand, at least somewhat, you have to meet, and you have to listen. This we did in a program that stretched into early evening. As Pastor Jacobs explained, among First Nations people, the idea of meeting isn't to finish by some arbitrary set time. The purpose is to achieve understanding and, if possible, consensus.

What we heard that afternoon was not all soothing. A speaker told us of some of the history and traditions of the Iroquois confederacy, including an explanation of the deep significance of strawberries for the Peoples of the Six Nations. We heard wise and passionate words, and also an undercurrent of anger.

In 1784, to compensate Iroquois loyalists who had been dispossessed by the United States during the American Revolutionary War, the British government gave Joseph Brant and his followers a huge tract of land. The Haldimand Grant, "which them and their posterity are to enjoy forever", was a tract 2,824,035 acres (1,150,131 hectares) in size, six miles ( 10 km.) deep on each side of the Grand River beginning at its mouth at Lake Erie to the source of the river.

How this large area came to be reduced to a reserve of 184.7 square kilometres (45,640 acres) is at the heart of the land claims dispute centred in, but not restricted to, Caledonia.

We, the members of the CCG, cannot and will not judge the merits or justifications of the land claims. We have a lot of listening to do. The historical record shows that complaints and disputes about loss of land have been made by Six Nations peoples, with varying degrees of intensity, from the beginning of land sales and cessions. It's obvious that quick or easy resolutions of the disputes cannot be expected.

What will be required is a lot of conversation, listening, good will and patience—all in the manner of the long house.

Henry de Young is a member of the CCG's Aboriginal Justice team, and a retired lawyer. He is a member of Stratford Christian Reformed Church in Ontario.

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