My thoughts and perspective around reconciliation have largely been influenced by working and building relationship with people experiencing homelessness and displacement. In my own life, I experienced a season of homelessness in my early 20’s. Through God’s strange alchemy, much of my life and work now as a minister is in large response to Canadian/NA culture; what Walter Brueggemann describes as a “Culture of Strangers.” Many people (no matter how much material wealth and connections they might have) feel disconnected, alone and isolated. For me, my faith and my story lead me to working towards inclusion of those who are on the periphery. In the Anglican tradition, the Eucharistic is the place where everyone has a place at the table. Breaking bread together and offering a generous welcome is where the Church comes alive for me. My partner Ali and I have been trying to learn Kwak’wala, the language of the Kwakwaka’wakw and K’ómoks peoples (on who’s territory and ancestral lands live and work). The word Gilakas’la means to be welcomed as you are with no judgement. It’s a powerful word and teaching that our church is trying to live out in day to day practical ways. We look to these teachings and the Elders in our community to help show us the way to embody Gilakas’la. Thank-you for listening.
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How beautiful to hear your story. A giant step past land acknowledgement to actually learning the language of the land where you reside. “Welcomed as you are with no judgment”–may it be so.
Alastair, My heart hums as I read your post–it’s a physical response of ‘yes’ to learning from the elders. They have so much to teach us! I experience the seniors as those who listen, share, and honor others setting an example for all of us. I wonder what it looks like in your community and at your ‘table’?
I find that from our own stories we find our own mission–always meant to serve the greater community. Bless you for turning your homelessness into an opportunity to create Home for others where welcome happens and deep nourishment is possible.
Alastair. What a moving piece. One that reveals your origins as a peacemaker as well as one that communicates how you are being formed for the work of repair. Specifically, I’m speaking to your commitment to learning from the elders how to embody Gilakas’la. Help me learn as you do.
Thanks Jer, grateful to be in this space together
Hi Alastair, thank you for your thoughts on welcome and belonging.
Hearing the words Gilakas’la is like coming home to me. I lived in the Comox Valley and then on Cortes Island for two years before moving back to the UK. I found the conversation around reconciliation, decolonisation and reparation in Canada to be ahead of us here in the UK because we are not confronted by the injustice every day in the same way. Like you say, homelessness is a huge issue in NA and the faces on the streets tell the story of unjust histories and ongoing displacement and dislocation. Although here in the UK we are complicit and have benefitted as much if not more so from colonial expansion as white settlers in colonial nations, it is out of sight out of mind and there is not the same urgency to address injustice.
I am curious about the role of the church specifically in reconciliation and healing in Canada, is that one of the questions you are exploring on this journey? I attended the Koksilah Festival a couple of years ago and the venue had a chapel and old residential school which is known to have abused and hurt indigenous children. Just being there, taking over the space, sharing a table with so many strangers across different cultures, celebrating and centering songs and dance that had been oppressed and silenced for so many years, DJing and dancing in the chapel itself felt like reconciliation, felt like healing. It felt like a reclaiming and redistribution of power and resources. At the same time I try to hold the ‘not-enough’-ness of the action needed in our broken but beautiful world, but like you say, I am keen to listen to Elders to find the way…
Thanks for your comments Bridget. Very cool that you spent time here on the Island! Were was the Koksilah Festival held (Cowichan)? Where about in the UK are you now? Before moving back to the Comox Valley, I spent 4 and a half years on the North Island (Port Hardy, Port Alice, Quatsino and Ft. Rupert). It really has shaped me in so many ways. Our church ran St. Michael’s Residential School in Alert Bay. Most of the Elders I met attended that school (which wasn’t a school). A few years ago our previous bishop walked from Alert Bay to the cathedral in Victoria during Lent (the Sacred Journey). Our diocese has embarked on a new vision to re-enter the land and seek a better relationship with the First Peoples here (a relationship based on respect, listening, and justice). It’s a long journey for sure and yes, it’s one of the central questions that I’m holding in this program.