 
Worship Service
Right Relations with Aboriginal Peoples
Contents
Materials
- photocopies of the prayers
- bible
- medicine wheel
- symbols of the Earth such as a bowl of earth, a bowl of water,
candle, flowers, plant, corn, squash, beans.
Setting
- Chairs set in a circle with medicine wheel and symbols of the
Earth in the centre.
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Welcome
Explain the meaning of the circle and the medicine wheel. Invite
participants to join in blessing this sacred space. (To understand
these symbols better, there are many resources including the writings
of Art Solomon and Basil Johnston.)
Hymn
We are Standing on Holy Ground
I See A New Heaven (Voices United 713)
Opening Prayer
God of all people, Great Spirit, Holy One, listen to our prayer.
Give your blessing this day to the aboriginal peoples of this land.
Guide their (our) elders and give them strength; comfort and renew
their (our) men and women in times of sorrow and despair; give grace
and pride to their (our) children as the daughters and sons of your
creation.
Hear our prayer for those who gather today to learn the true story
of the aboriginal peoples of this country. Give us a sense of justice,
an awareness of new beginnings, that wrongs may be redressed, broken
promises forgiven, and a new covenant forged. May those who have
used the land with little thought or regard, learn to love and respect
this gracious heritage; may those who find your presence in the
land be free to model its grateful use to all, that in common life
and common dignity, different people may receive from you a new
humanity.
Readings
Isaiah 60: 14-22
A people who have been oppressed are vindicated finally as the "sons
of the oppressors come to honour them. Isaiah announced the end
of the exile and the return of the people to their land. Aboriginal
participants might want to read this in the light of their "exile"
from their own land.
Nehemiah 9: 5b -6
Nehemiah is witness to the recovery of the land and blesses God
for the grace to see this day. You might want to read this as a
thanksgiving for recognizing a new relationship with the land and
with the "people of the land."
Revelations 21: 1-4
John, living in a time of terrible persecution, announces the coming
of a universal transformation of the Earth and gives thanks. We
too can, from the perspective of our solidarity with the land and
its people, give thanks for our renewed awareness and commitment.
Lamentations 5: 1-5
A new and honest relationship with the land has not been realized
yet. The suffering continues deep in the heart of the First Nations,
deep in the heart of the Earth. This reading calls us to mourn the
damage done but also to commit ourselves to God's invitation to
a new covenant, a new relationship with the Earth, and with its
Creator.
Response
Psalm 104
A Litany of Healing
The litany incorporates an Ojibwa prayer for healing. Local communities
may want to include more specific items related to their region.
Voice 1
Grandparent God, look at our brokenness.
We know that in all creation, only the human family
has strayed from the Sacred Way
We know that we are the ones who are divided
And we are the ones who must come back together
to walk in the Sacred Way
Voice 2
As we reflect on the history of the relationship
between the church and Aboriginal peoples,
we pray for openness.
All: In our learning and our growing, may there be healing.
Voice 1
As we open ourselves to the stories of Aboriginal peoples
hurt and wounded by abuse of power,
we pray for compassionate listening.
All: In the telling and hearing, may there be healing.
Voice 2
As we feel the pain of individuals and communities,
and come to recognize our impoverishment of spirit through our failures
to honour the ways, gifts, and visions of different cultures,
we pray for a hunger to seek new ways of walking the Earth together.
All: In our recognition of the need for forgiveness and change,
may there be healing.
Voice 1
As we work together to embody the spirit of reconciliation and healing,
we pray for expectant anticipation that our life together in the
church will
be enriched and deepened.
All: In the giving and the receiving, may there be healing.
Voice 2
As we move forward as the people of God,
lifting up and supporting our sisters and brothers of All tribes
and races,
we pray for God's richest blessings.
All: In the honouring and the sharing, may there be healing.
Voice 1
Grandparent, Sacred One,
Teach us love, compassion and honour
That we may heal the Earth. And heal each other.
All: Amen
Hymn
Amazing Grace (Common Praise, 352; Voices United, 266)
The Servant Song (Voices United, 595)
A Litany For the Dispossessed
This text, written from the perspective of the settlers, can be
adapted to the concrete circumstances of the local community.
One: We found the land unoccupied... except for them. One
extended a hand, another saw the land, and so .....
All: they grew poor,
One: while we grew wealthy.
All: They became powerless,
One: while we grew powerful
All: They were pushed aside.
One: while we thanked God for land
All: They filled our jails.
One: while we thanked God for freedom
All: They despaired.
One: while we grew wealthy.
One: Then the Lord replied: Woe to those who pile up stolen
goods, and make themselves wealthy by extortion.
All: How long must this go on?
One: Woe to those who build up their realm by unjust gain
to set their nest on high.
All: How long must this go on?
One: Woe to them who build a city with bloodshed and establish
a town by crime.
All: How long must this go on?
One: Woe to them who give drink to their neighbours pouring
it from the wineskin until they are drunk so that they can gaze
on their nakedness.
All: How long must this go on?
One: The Lord is in the holy temple.
All: Let all the Earth be silent before God.
Hymn
For the Healing of the Nations (Common Praise 576; Voices United
538)
A Litany of the Circle
This litany is inspired by texts attributed to Chief Seattle in
1854. During this litany, pass around symbols of the Earth.
One: Every part of this Earth is sacred.
All: Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore,
One: every mist in the dark woods,
All: every clearing and humming insect is holy.
One: The rocky crest, the juices of the meadow, the beasts
and all the people,
All: all belong to the same family.
One: Teach your children that the Earth is our mother.
All: Whatever befalls the Earth, befalls the children of
the Earth.
One: The water's murmur is the voice of our father's father.
All: We are part of the Earth and the Earth is part of us.
One: The rivers are our brothers; they quench our thirst.
All: The perfumed flowers are our sisters.
One: The air is precious
All: For all of us share the same breath.
One: The wind that gave our grandparents breath also receives
their last sign.
All: The wind gave our children the spirit of life.
One: This we know, the Earth does not belong to us;
All: we belong to the Earth.
One: This we know, all things are connected.
All: Our God is the same God, whose compassion is equal for
all.
One: For we did not weave the web of 1ife;
All: we are merely a strand in it.
One: Whatever we do to the web,
All: we do to ourselves.
One: Let us give thanks for the web and the circle that connects
us all.
All: Thanks be to God, the God of all.
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Roberts, Elizabeth and Amidon Elias, Earth Prayers From Around
the World: 365 Prayers, Poems and Invocations for Honoring the
Earth. San Francisco: Harper, 1991.
Aboriginal Rights Coalition, "Worship Resources Booklet,"
So Long as the Sun Rises and the River Flows: Land Rights and
Treaty Rights. (Education and Action Kit.)
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