Canadian apology for residential schools

Last week, the Canadian Prime Minister Harper formally apologized to all former students of the Indian residential schools. As is well known, many First Nation children have suffered in those schools, as they have been abused many times, and their language and culture have been taken from them. As Harper put it in his apology:

Two primary objectives of the residential schools system were to remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant culture. These objectives were based on the assumption aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal. Indeed, some sought, as it was infamously said, "to kill the Indian in the child."

When I heard stories which moved me deeply on one occasion, I was told, that I had not heard the worst things.
Those residential schools have been a cause of severe suffering for indigenous peoples in many countries: Canada as well as the US, Scandinavia, Australia. They have been an instrument in the hands of the colonizing power. Unfortunately, churches have been deeply involved as well in those schools. We can only say today that those schools were far from Christian institutions in many cases in spite of biblical education and morning prayers. The mere foundational thoughts of the system do seem to contradict everything Jesus tought.
This formal apology seems to be an inportant step in the healing process.
See http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/06/11/pm-statement.html
and http://www.canada.com/globaltv/national/story.html?id=18133d91-b8aa-4fbe-956e-20298d79c1d5

Condor flute

A few days ago I got my Condor base flute (in D) from High Spirits. I had already a Golden Eagle in F#. A very nice flute, this condor - a nice very deep sound. A bit more difficult to play perhaps, because of the rather large holes. I can recommend this flute!

I have tried to make some flute recordings on my computer. This went rather well, but for the mic quality. Now I did use the build in microphone, the result was such that I feel it worthwile to get a better microphone. I used a freeware, audacity, which is good at least to start with. Not too complicated for a beginner in this business like myself, who is not prepared to put a lot of money into technical equipment.

Flute

Well if anyone thought summer is here after all warm days - today it has been snowing all day. Just a few degrees above zero. Summer seems far away now.
But one can always relax by making some music. I have become rather facsinated by different kinds of flutes. I am quite fond of the beautiful native american flutes. Have been playing on one for some time now, and it is easier than the chinese hulusi I also use.
Found some forums on the Internet but not yet anyone here in (north) Sweden who plays it.

The natural tone scale of those flutes (pentatonic mode 1, meaning 1½-1-1-1½-1 tone distances) is very harmonic and nice. Those flute invite to improvisation. But you can of course play diatonic music as well on them.
Maybe I will put some little tune here in due time.
Where do you get a native american flute? Mine comes from High Spirit. Good flutes, reasonable prices. Just ordered two more.

Returning cultural objects

Yesterday, Svenska Dagbladet (one of the big newspapers in Sweden) wrote about the returning of two aboriginal craniums to Australia. Today, they write more (see http://www.svd.se/kulturnoje/nyheter/artikel_891649.svd ). A discussion about those matters is of utter importance. Throughout collections in the world, there are many objects, human remains and other things, that were taken from other countries, or from indigenous peoples, in ways that are not acceptable. This can be craniums, mummies, but also works of art and things with religious background. Just have a look at the Egyptian collections in many famous museums. How did they get there? Legitimate questions to ask. In each and every case the backgound must be investigated and in dialogue it must be determined what to do with a certain object. Such a process must take some time, but not too much. There is a certain risk of commercialisation, writes SvD, and there is. Some of those objects can be very valuable. So caution is necessary.

Still, we must go on, as a part of a decolonization process. Humain remains ask for special caution and sensitivity. Also, religiously loaded objects and objects from graves must be paid special attention to. And the nearer in time, the more sensitive questions are. But there are even cultural objects, works of art, simply stolen from the people.

Of course, there is a great value in having collections from other places. To be able to study cultures from all over the world. Therefor, there should be an ongoing possibility to have exhibits on Indian culture in Stockholm, or on Swedish culture in Sioux Falls. To name just one example or two. A good dialogue can settle this. There are always possibilities of exchange, of compensation. When the Ethnographical Museum gave back a totem pole to the Haisla people in North America, they god a modern hand-made one in exchange.

It is a good thing that dialogue has started on those matters. We still can have educational exhibitions on different cultures. But we would like to be sure that they are ethically acceptable. And human remains and grave objects must be handled with utmost respect and caution. Especially in that case, the people in question are to decide themselves what is acceptable or not.

NAIITS Conference

Can a Christian worship with a powwow drum? And can we burn sage-grass (according to traditional Native American practice) when we pray? This kind of questions was up at the North American Institute of Indigenous Theological Studies seminar, 29 Nov-1 Dec at Sioux Falls Seminary, South Dakota.

The answers to the questions above must be: yes. That is my conviction. God never gave western culture any privileges above other cultures. Burning incense or candles as symbols of prayer, or kneeling down or closing your eyes are Western culture habits - nothing wrong with that. Church organs and guitars are also western (and very beautiful) instruments for worhipping. But they are not more holy than native drums. And our prayer habits are not better than traditional native prayer symbols.

Native and non-native theologians/workers gathered a few days to talk around the themes of reconciliation and decolonization. I had the privilege to be one of the speakers at this conference, focussing on the road of reconciliation in Sámi culture in Sweden. We spoke about the wounds in native communities, caused by the churches in the name of the Christian God. We heard about abuses, and I understand why many natives despise Christianity. I understand the need of contextualised christian work. I am convinced that God has meant Native Americans to become followers of Jesus in their own way, and that He enjoys their worship through their own culture.

For me, it was a strong experience to pray with my Native American brothers and sisters in their own traditional way. It made me even more aware of the richness and diversity in Gods creation, and, really, in the Creator himself. It strengthens us in the quest for a Sámi way of worhipping and doing church.

NAIITS is doing a great job, not only for Native Indians but for all the indigenous peoples in the world. And, not the least, for the worldwide Church.