An Invitation from the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) reflection group on Indigenous Justice
By Mary Kay Hunyady, RSCJ, Associates Leadership Team
A few years ago, some of us may have joined one of the province’s JPIC groups formed the year before the international meeting in the Philippines, where the document Artisans of Hope in Our Blessed and Broken World was promulgated. Four years later, one of those JPIC groups is still meeting; it’s the group that came under the umbrella of anti-racism and specifically focuses on Indigenous Justice. This group has continued to do work together, study together, and present content together.
Below, you will see a letter that the group sent to the RSCJ in the province. The Associate Leadership Team wants all of us to have this letter as well. So, we extend the invitation to all Associates to consider participating in the suggestion given below.
Additionally, the Associate Leadership Team shares this information:
The Canadian government designated September 30 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, beginning in 2021. This responds to Truth and Reconciliation Call to Action 80, which states that the federal government will work with Indigenous people to establish a statutory day to “honor Survivors, their families, and communities, and ensure that public commemoration of the history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process” (irshdc.ubc.ca; cited, September 27, 2021).
While in the U.S., October 11th (second Monday in October) is still the federal holiday called “Columbus Day,” at least 55 cities celebrate “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” instead. Advocates for the switch to Indigenous Peoples Day argue that Columbus did not “discover” America in 1492 but instead began the colonization of it. For decades, Native American activists have advocated abolishing Columbus Day, which became a federal holiday in 1937 (time.com; cited, September 27, 2021).
August 2021
Dear Sisters,
As a province JPIC Reflection Group on Indigenous Justice we wanted to plant a seed for your consideration. Some communities and individuals already do what we suggest. For those of us who haven’t yet thought about it, we want to bring it to your attention for reflection.
We know that the land on which we live was once lived on by the Indigenous peoples who inhabited what came to be called North America. We know, too, that some of the tribes/nations have no land “of their own” now. Indigenous peoples are trying to “purchase” land for their communities. The people who lived on this land before the Europeans came and took the land from them had a mutual relationship with the land and never considered it their own but rather their “relative.”
We invite you to consider an annual donation to a local Indian tribe or nation which is trying to gain purchase for land of their own. This would entail you doing some research about the tribes/nations near you, their hopes and their goals with regard to land. That can be done on the internet, and some tribes have donation buttons on their websites.
Just as we had decided a couple years ago to begin meetings by recognizing on whose land we stand (https://native-land.ca/), this “land tax” would be a next step.
Sophia House (our community in Berkeley, California) has been donating a “land tax” to a local Indigenous group for several years now. They offer this web site for your interest: https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/.
We also would like to point out the attitude of Indigenous peoples when they give a gift: they give “without strings attached.” Perhaps you would like to adopt this attitude in your giving, also, that even though you give as a “land tax,” you hope the recipients can use the gift in whatever way they choose and need. (In actuality it is merely small “recompense”, in view of past history…).
Gratefully,
Province JPIC reflection group on Indigenous Justice:
Molly Arthur, Associate
Maria Cimperman, RSCJ
Ginny Dennehy, RSCJ
Mary Kay Hunyady, RSCJ
Suzanne Lasseigne, RSCJ
El MacLellan, RSCJ
Deanna Rose von Bargen, RSCJ