Serve, Work and Transform: Living into Right Relations: November 2024

Reconciliation and Indigenous Justice News from
The United Church of Canada

Upholding Sacred Obligations
Final Report of the Special Interlocutor on Missing Children and Unmarked Burial Sites

On October 29, Kimberly Murray released her final report as the Special Interlocutor on Missing Children and Unmarked Burials. She was appointed to this position in June 2022, with a mandate to identify needed measures and make recommendations for a new federal legal framework to ensure the respectful and culturally appropriate treatment of unmarked graves and burial sites of children at former residential schools and associated institutions. She did this in an independent and non-partisan way, and in close collaboration with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis governments, representative organizations, communities, Survivors and families, the federal, provincial, and territorial governments, and other relevant institutions such as church entities and record holders.

Her final report is an Indigenous-led framework for reparations and is available to download. You can also watch an overview of the report’s findings, and how they relate to the United Church of Canada, in this 40 Days of Anti-Racism presentation on An Indigenous-Led Framework on Healing and Reparations. This session also features a review of the United Church’s Healing Programs and a brief update on the Bringing the Children Home initiative.

National Indigenous Spiritual Gathering

From November 29 to December 2, the National Indigenous Spiritual Gathering (NISG) will gather in Winnipeg to work towards a shared understanding of faithful leadership and inclusive governance within the Indigenous Church, rooted in Indigenous protocols and traditions, to guide the election by the NISG of a National Indigenous Council (NIC) and create a framework for moving forward.

Pray for all who are gathered in Winnipeg, as they reflect, pray and contemplate their way forward.

Yellowhead Treaty Map

The Yellowhead Institute has released a web-based resource that provides an understanding of treaties from an Indigenous perspective, and “describes the context, negotiation process and terms of treaties – as well as the implications of failing to honor them.” Check out the map on the website, which also features the powerful artwork Proclamation by Michelle Sound, a Cree/Métis artist and member of Wapsewsipi Swan River First Nation in Treaty 8.

Yellowhead is an Indigenous-led research and education centre at Toronto Metropolitan University.