Right Relations
Reconciliation Tipi
The Reconciliation Tipi- Set-up, Cultural Instruction, and Dedication event on Treaty Day, September 22, 2020 was a historic gesture towards Reconciliation. Tony and Gloria Snow from the Stoney Nakoda First Nation helped put up a tipi that will be used as a teaching centre and cultural learning hub for youth, visitors and congregants. Through dialogue, engagement, and discussions, our church is finding areas of common ground upon which to build future reconciliation programming and create understanding and caring between Indigenous people and church members.
If you wish to donate to McDougall Right Relations, there are several ways to give. Please check the donation page. A charitable donation tax receipt will be provided at the end of the year.
PAST EVENT:
Remembering Sisters in Spirit - October 4 at 2 pm on Zoom
On Sunday October 4, 2020 we commemorated the lives of Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirit people with our prayers and remembrances.
Contact Tony Snow for details. tony.snow@hillhurstunited.com
Sponsored by the Urban Indigenous Circle and Chinook Winds Region.
Right Relations Working Group
We have struck a Right Relations Team consisting of Marilyn Agnew, Shauna Kennedy, Tara Jorgensen, Rachel Myers-Jordan and Rev. Joanne Anquist, in partnership with Gloria Snow, Elder Glenda Crawler and Trudy Wesley.
Decorated Hearts for Residential School Survivors
Honouring Memories, Planting Dreams is a national initiative that encourages communities to engage in Truth and Reconciliation in tangible ways. Heart Gardens honour residential school survivors and their families, as well as the legacy of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Each heart represents the memory of a child lost to the residential school system, and the act of planting represents that individual’s commitment to finding their place in reconciliation.
In 2019, during Indigenous History Month, McDougall created a Heart Garden with perennial flowers in the four colours of the medicine wheel and decorated it with paper hearts.
In 2020, we invited community and congregation members to decorate paper hearts and plant them in the garden. Come visit our garden on the East side of the church. See the beautifully decorated hearts..
McDougall Living in Right Relations
by Marilyn Agnew, Congregational Witness to Right Relations
Thank you to all those that donated funds so that we could help the Elders on the Morley Reserve when they needed food and supplies. A total of $1300.00 was collected from the McDougall congregation and Gloria Snow brought in donations of another $750.00.
Groceries were bought and hampers were put together that included a turkey and all the trimmings for an Easter meal. Gloria and her husband Ken delivered 24 large hampers and we believe that 250 people were fed on Easter Sunday with plenty left over.
Even though she needed to use social distancing, she was able to talk to all those that received hampers and tell them that we care. Here is a picture and interview that was done with Elder Jennie Clarke of the Stoney Nation on the Morley Reserve.
“Thank you so much! You made our Easter so special. This is a picture of me in my home with my granddaughter and her partner and two of my little grandsons. We have 5 grown children. Two of our granddaughters are living here with their families for a total of six adults and nine children. When the Pandemic broke out we were stressed about the extra food and cleaning supplies we needed. I could have cried to see all that Gloria brought us I was so happy. This meant that I don’t have to go to town. She had cleaning supplies and had made face masks. We feel safe now and it doesn’t matter if my family is annoyed when I make them change their clothes when they get home. You have shown us you really care.”
- Elder Jennie Clarke of the Stoney Nation on the Morley Reserve.
Video: Indigenous Peoples Day - A History
June 21st is National Indigenous People's Day. The story of this day is embedded in the spiritual gathering called the Indian Ecumenical Conference held at Stoney Park in Morley Alberta in the 1970s. There in 1971 the Elders put forward a resolution calling for an "Indian Day of Prayer." Their hope was "to mediate some of the religious factionalism in Indian communities...and generally revive the spiritual strength of the North American Indians." The late Cherokee anthropologist Bob Thomas, who was instrumental in organizing these efforts, noted: "this is the day when the sun is in the sky the longest and is a holy day for a great many tribes. [We hope] to designate this one day as a symbol of religious unity." That day of spiritual empowerment and unity eventually became recognized as National Aboriginal People's Day in 1996 and renamed in 2017 to the name we have today. As an early partner in the Indian Day of Prayer, the United Church of Canada (UCC) and the Anglican Church of Canada both supported the suggested day at their respective gatherings: General Council 24 and the General Synod 1971. The UCC continues its efforts to recognize the need for reconciliation and healing from past abuses through the TRC Calls to Action and supports the rights of Indigenous people through the United Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP). We join all Indigenous people in solidarity on this day to continue the call for change.