In 1969, the church ended a century of running residential schools. It also committed to a new relationship with Indigenous peoples, heeding Charles Hendry’s call (Beyond Traplines,) for a partnership based on solidarity, equality and mutual respect.
Since that turning point, the church has slowly grown into its solidarity role, supporting our political struggles for self-determination, recognition of treaty and land rights, and respect for Mother Earth.
For two-and-a-half decades we have had Indigenous staff at the national office. Our council has found its voice and strength, and become the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous bishops were elected in 1989, 1993, and 1996.
Through three national convocations (1988, 1993, and 1997) we have reclaimed our identity as Indigenous Anglicans, and begun to share and heal our pain from the residential schools. In 1993 we accepted from the Primate, Archbishop Michael Peers, an apology from the church for the residential-school system.
In 1994 and in 1997, we responded joyfully to God’s sacred call and covenanted together to work for self-determination within the church. That New Covenant has been accepted by the Anglican General Synod.
This is where we find ourselves now:
- Continuing to support healing and recovery from the injustice of the last centuries;
- Sharing in the joyful work of renewing our spiritual and cultural traditions;
- Exploring ways to make real the New Covenant of equal partnership we have claimed for our Peoples within the church;
- Supporting Indigenous political struggles for self-determination, recognition of land rights, and respect for Mother Earth;
- Discovering and celebrating our common global spirituality, concerns gifts and hopes in the Anglican Indigenous Network.
- Supporting the United Nations International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (1994-2004).
In these ways we claim our place and responsibility as equal partners in a shared healing journey towards wholeness and justice.
We pledge to contribute our vision and gifts to transform the life of the Christian community at this turning point in the history of the Church.
We invite all people of good heart to help us make our dream of partnership a reality.
