CPTnet
27 February 2017
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES SOLIDARITY AND MENNONITE CHURCH CANADA PLAN PILGRIMAGE FOR INDIGENOUS RIGHTS IN ONTARIO THIS SPRING.
CPT-Indigenous
Peoples Solidarity team is partnering with Mennonite Church Canada for a 600 km
walk this spring (April 23-May 14) from Kitchener to Ottawa, ON to engage
churches in a series of conversations about the United Nations Declaration on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), exploring why it matters, the hope
it offers, and how we can collectively live into it.
The
Pilgrimage for Indigenous Rights is being planned in response to Article 48 of
Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, which summons
churches and faith groups to public dialogue and action in support of UNDRIP.
The walk will be held in advance of the second reading of MP Romeo Saganash’s
Bill C-262 – a private member’s bill which would provide a legislative
framework for implementation of the Declaration. Similar to many Indigenous
walks, the pilgrimage will conclude in Ottawa (Algonquin territory) to
demonstrate support of the Declaration and call upon the Federal Government to
implement the Declaration in a meaningful way.
“This
is a tangible opportunity for the church to witness its support for the rights
of Indigenous peoples,” stated MC Canada Indigenous-Settler Relations Director
Steve Heinrichs. “Personally, I’m excited to engage in meaningful conversations
with a wide diversity of communities as to why adoption of the Declaration is
good news, not just for Indigenous nations, but for all Canadians.”
March 2015 – Settlers from Winnipeg walked 550 km from Stoney Knoll, SK
to Edmonton, AB to honour residential school survivors (photo courtesy of Brad
Leitsch).
Over
the coming months of planning, MC Canada and CPT-IPS will be engaging a
Discernment Circle of trusted Indigenous and settler advocates – a mix of both
Traditional and Christian identities – to invite guidance and feedback to
ensure the Pilgrimage is conducted in a good way. An intention and hope of the
organizers is to make respectful connections with local Indigenous communities
of the lands they walk – namely, the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples –in
a way that gifts and does not burden.
“I
expect hard work. 35 kilometres a day seems huge, but I welcome the opportunity
to be touching the land with every step I take,” said co-organizer and CPT-IPS
member Kathy Moorhead-Thiessen. “I relish the conversations and the teachings
from the ones I will walk with and the ones I will meet along the way.”
CPT-IPS
is welcoming people to join ten or more days of the anticipated three-week walk
as a special delegation (substituting for the previously scheduled May IPS
delegation) to engage in learning and action for our partners and the rights of
Indigenous peoples. In spring 2016, CPT responded to the TRC’s Call to Action
#48 with agreement to comply with UNDRIP and engage in public dialogue and
action to support these rights.
People
interested in joining the Pilgrimage as a CPT delegate can apply online
at: https://cpt.org/participate/delegation/apply
(please indicate the dates interested: Kitchener, ON to Ottawa, ON
April 23-May 14; Kitchener to Peterborough, ON April 23-May 3; or Peterborough
to Ottawa, ON May 3-May 14). CPT delegates attending the Pilgrimage should have
the physical ability to walk 25-35 km (15-22 miles) per day for multiple days
in a row.
