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By Lloyd Mackey
SOME 20,000 people, 5,000 of them athletes from across
North America, will converge on the Cowichan Valley August 15 – 21,
for the annual North American Indigenous Games (NAIG).
And a fair number of Christians – First Nations
and otherwise – will be on hand to help provide friendship and
spiritual support to the games.
Mark Buchanan, well-known author and senior pastor of
New Life Community Baptist Church in Duncan, described the support process
to BCCN, both in
terms of what it is not, and what it is.
“It is not symposium on ‘five ways to
evangelize First Nations.’ Nor is it an attempt at
syncretism.”
That said, he maintains the idea was for Christians
among the non-Aboriginal population of the Cowichan Valley to share the
vision which brought NAIG into being almost a decade ago.
Buchanan, whose church numbers around 700 people, says
NAIG was “birthed out of a vision for youth, recognizing that in
native communities, sports seems to be a unifying, life- giving
thing.” Buchanan suggests there is fair evidence that, for example,
“suicide rates drop markedly in communities which host the
games.”
As it happens, the chief executive officer of NAIG,
Rick Brant, is a Mohawk from Six Nations in Ontario. And he is a committed
Christian, as well, who will be baptized in the Cowichan River in a few
weeks.
Brant was not available for an interview before press
time, but information about him and NAIG is available at
www.cowichan2008.com.
The churches involved, so far, in the spiritual support
initiatives, are New Life, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian, Christian
Reformed, Emmanuel Baptist and Christ Community Church; the latter is in
Nanaimo.
Buchanan credits Graham Bruce with “being on my
case” and challenging his congregation with the NAIG support idea.
Bruce is a former provincial cabinet minister who has been involved in a
number of First Nations support initiatives since he left elective politics
in 2004.
“Graham was first involved in trying to get the
games to the Cowichan Valley when he was labour minister. After leaving
politics, he made it part of his personal agenda to to try to give voice
and a presence to reconciliation with First Nations. He does this mainly,
now, through a program known as Journey of a Generation.”
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Bruce, as a member of New Life, has had some influence
in encouraging the staff and congregation to get involved in these areas,
Buchanan points out. And he adds that, as a former cabinet minister, Bruce
helped Premier Gordon Campbell to do a fairly radical turnaround, toward a
strongly conciliatory approach to First Nations issues.
Describing the process which emerged from Bruce’s
challenge, Buchanan notes that “we began to pray about it.”
Subsequently, he says, “there was a catalyst from
the outside. Christianity Today (CT) magazine became involved, when its multi-media
department came upon the story. A CT crew visited the community and put together a DVD,
exploring the intersecting of cultures in the Cowichan Valley.
“That impetus led to a program of 11 workshops
– attracting an aggregate attendance of 900 – which provided
fast-paced history and exploration of cultural major points.”
“We asked ourselves, for example: ‘Do you
understand the issues? Do you know the behind-the-story reason why rusty
cars are often outside First Nations homes?’
“We ended with talking about simple steps we
could take, now, to make a difference. We asked if people would be in
friendship circles or gather around a meal.
“We realized there is a sort of apartheid –
where if you go into a restaurant, there are native groups and non-native
groups sitting separately, seldom intermingling.
“Some are (justifiably) wary of Native
spirituality. But we wrestled theologically to distinguish Native cultural
expression from Native spiritual practice.
“That led us into prayers, for instance,
accompanied by a Native drum. It was a ‘redeeming the culture’
approach.”
July 2008
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