Native Peoples Have Much Too Teach

"Native people have suffered greatly, not only because of white people taking over their country but also because of missionaries who have seen them as heathen and far from God. Nowadays, fortunately, albeit a little late, we have begun to appreciate that God was present in this people well before the arrival of white people; that they were a profoundly believing and religious people with a deep sense of God. They also have a deep sense of humanity and of the earth. For far too long they have been pushed aside. And yet they have much to teach Western society which has lost the sense of what it means to be human, of the human community and of the earth." ~Jean Vanier

Jean Vanier is one of my favorite writers. He is a profoundly spiritual man who founded L'Arche, now a global organization, that functions in a community way to live in relationship with adults with disabilities. He writes about these relationships and how to be fully human and recognize that potential in others. Everyday I receive a quote from one of his books in my email and it never fails to profoundly relate to how I understand the world. This quote arrived as I was angry at how the Church had misunderstood the deep sense of spirituality that existed in First Nations communities long before missionaries ever set foot in North America. Vanier is now able to verbalize the fact that many religions ignored for centuries, that God is present in each person, regardless of how they may be labelled or categorized. It also possible to learn from each person as they reflect the divine in each of us and for each of us. We have lost much from not recognizing how the divine resides in each person, although the outward expression of each divinity may be different.

Although it may now be recognized the great wrong that has been done to First Nations peoples throughout North America, reparations can never fully be made to undo the damage that has been done to spirituality that existed for hundreds of years before contact with Europeans. There will never be the same respect held for religions that respect nature in that way and many First Nations peoples were taught to feel as though their spirituality was horrible and they would be punished in hell for it. Repairing that damage may never be possible.

We could have learned so much from the traditions of the First Nations peoples, had we been able to respect them for their unique perspectives on the world. Instead, European ethnocentrism has destroyed much in the past centuries and placed us in an environmental crisis. If we can use the knowledge that has been preserved despite the best efforts to destroy it, it may be possible to reverse a fraction of the damage that has been inflicted by the European mentality of independence and self-centered approach. Learning how we can model First Nations interdependence and spirituality may be what we need to ensure the health of our planet.