National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: September 30, 2021

On Sunday, September 26th, we invited everyone to wear an orange shirt to church or to take a picture of themselves at home and send it in. Sunday was Pastor Beryl’s week off from leading worship, but she provided a good part of the material for Dennis Brown to lead a service dedicated to the spirit of Truth and Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
For the musical portion of the service, Sarah Fraser had invited bagpiper Jenna Dennison to play. An odd juxtaposition perhaps, but fitting somehow, and not just because the pipes can have such a mournful sound.

Many in our congregation can trace Scottish roots. The Scots share at least one thing with First Nations: nearly losing their languages to English domination. If we can imagine what it would be like for traditional instruments like bagpipes to be outlawed, for the wearing of kilts to be banned, then maybe we can start to understand what it was like to be First Nations in Canada under the Indian Act of 1876, parts of which survive to this day.

Happily, today, Scots Gaelic is experiencing a resurgence, and the First Peoples of North America are re-learning and reclaiming their native languages. Just as a young person like Jenna can help keep tradition alive while sometimes putting a new spin on it (you haven’t lived until you’ve heard the Tetris theme played on the pipes), young Indigenous people are looking to their traditional teachings and helping point all of society in a new direction for the 21st century.

We are committed to learning the unvarnished history of our country and to finding ways to move forward hand-in-hand with First Nations, Inuit and Metis. There are many resources online. The Orange Shirt Society is a good place to start.

We think you’ll recognize some of these aghaidhean (“faces” in Gaelic).