Sacred Ground was a challenging, eye opening, and ultimately rewarding
experience for me and I’m sure that the other participants felt similarly.
The course materials had different sections addressing the experiences of
people of color and other minorities, but in this reflection, I want to focus
on how indigenous people have been treated in the United States.
Imagine being a parent and having your children forcibly removed from
their home and sent far away and placed in a boarding school where they
were forbidden to speak their language, wear their native clothing, and
engage in other aspects of their native culture. Many of them were victims
of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse. This is a shocking example of
cultural genocide. Did you know that some of these boarding schools were
in Michigan? Or imagine that your children were forcibly removed from
their home and placed for adoption by families of the dominant culture.
Did you know that there are 12 federally recognized tribes in Michigan? Or
that these tribes are sovereign governments? In my position working for
the State of Michigan, I have engaged with different tribes in consultations
on environmental matters like the State of Michigan would if they were
engaging in discussions with another state.
I recently had an opportunity to visit the Nokomis Cultural Heritage
Center in Okemos. They will be joining us at St. Paul’s for a fellowship
meal and give a presentation at our Grateful Gathering on Tuesday,
November 22, 2022. The people of the Three Fires have a rich cultural
heritage and there is much that we can learn from them. You may be
surprised at some of the many parallels between indigenous spirituality
and values and our own beliefs. They are indeed our brothers and sisters,
and we are all parts, and stewards, of God’s wonderful creation. I hope that
you will join us at the Grateful Gathering.
Let us pray. O God of infinite mercy, we live in a land where the native peoples
were moved, often by force, from the bountiful lands they inhabited to places of
desolation. Help us to support them now as they seek to retain their rich native
cultures. Open our eyes to the poverty and despair that so often accompany them
through life, and give us the courage and will to change the systems that
perpetuate injustice, for the sake of your Son our Lord. Amen.