Crane Medicine Woman by David Morrisseau
“A power created life so that it seeks knowledge, understanding and peace. My art explores the trinity of the human condition. I work from myth because it speaks truth. I employ motif because it contains spiritual power. I paint vibrantly because it heals. I offer my art with respect and gratitude to the Great Spirit.”
– David Morrisseau
Indigenous peoples all over the world face unique challenges in terms of poverty, access to education, and other measures of social well-being. A child waking up this morning in an Indigenous community in northern Canada or in the Ecuador faces a much different, less certain future than the average non-Indigenous child in North America or Europe. Why? Because, historically, European and North American cultures have been in a position to control their own development whereas Indigenous cultures have not.
In 2007, Canadian churches celebrated as the United Nations took a step forward in correcting this injustice by adopting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The UN Declaration, adopted in 2007, enshrines the right of Indigenous peoples to make decisions about the use of their lands and the resources within them. Canada and the United States, alone in the international community, have failed to endorse the Declaration.
With its recent Statement of Apology to former students of Indian residential schools and the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Canada has taken steps forward in rebuilding its relationship with Indigenous peoples to one based on mutual respect, responsibility, and sharing. Inspired by our faith’s tradition of Covenant and the Indigenous principles of right relations, KAIROS and its member churches invite you to join us in calling on the government of Canada to endorse and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
