Why this title?Well, I thought about the Indigenous Peoples of Canada. I thought about the Naskapi Cree from Northern Ontario/Quebec. My people. Naskapi means the people from beyond the horizon. The symbolism of that resonates with me. I've always been one who wondered, "What's over that next hill? Around that next curve in the path, the road, or the river?" Its a part of me, a part of my ancestors identity. As I look at the history and the future of Indigenous people in Canada, I have to look at the past. To know. Where I came from, where we as a country have been. How we are connected. And yet, as has been said by so many, "where do we go from here?" One might ask in the context of the Indigenous Peoples of Canada, of the Seventh-day Adventist Christian faith, and together, how all our relations listen, look, and move, beyond the horizon? I am excited! Through this website we are going to explore what it means to be an Indigenous person in Canada. There will be guest contributors to help us with that. We will seek a greater awareness of the First Peoples of Canada; their rich culture, knowledge, and spirituality. We will seek to educate ourselves about the horrific history of an intentional effort to eradicate a nation of people by forced, government-directed, assimilation. And we will highlight throughout the strength, hope, and power of the First Nations who inhabited this land for thousands of years before first contact, and their descendants today. Through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) the Indigenous people of Canada have asked all Canadians to join them in creating a better Canada, one as yet beyond the horizon. In the TRC Report and the 94 Calls to Action Indigenous people have said, here is how we can work together. The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada has committed through the Indigenous Ministries Department to answer this call in fulfilment of the Creator's call to a ministry of reconciliation in 2 Corinthians 5:18.
I encourage you to take a tour. This site will be a centre for conversation and communication. Ask questions. Listen to where others have walked.
Let's begin a process of truth telling and listening, walking in another's footsteps, while we reconcile the past and the future through the direction and power of the Creator.
