"Balancing Faith With Traditions"

These are the sacred things we carry around in a bundle," Rev. Alf Dumont patiently explains to the four-year-old boy who curiously approached the mat in the middle of the floor. Kneeling in the centre of a large circle of chairs, the speaker of the All Native Circle Conference (ANCC) of the United Church points out the objects which represent much of the Native Christian tradition: tobacco, the pipe, the eagle feather, the cross, the Bible, a blanket.

The talking stick is given to the elders when you want to learn something, Dumont says. The matches light the sweetgrass. Its smoke cleanses. The can holds the ashes from the sacred fire burning outside. The corn is an important food for the people of the east.

You walk around the bundle clockwise to show honor and respect for the items, Dumont says.

The impromptu teaching came mid-way through the nine-day grand council meeting of the ANCC this summer at the Peepeekisis reserve northeast of Regina. But it was symbolic of much of the discussion and struggle within the Conference about its peoples' beliefs and traditions. The ANCC is in its infancy. This summer's grand council is only its third.

The sacred bundle was the topic of much discussion both this year and last, as delegates struggled to balance traditional Native ways with Christianity. The delegates, who came from Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec as well as Saskatchewan, discussed whether the bundle should remain open for each day's meetings or be closed, as is a more traditional teaching, once the morning blessing had occurred.

Rev. Grafton Antone of Oneida, Ont., said the sacred bundle contains gifts or investments of office given to Dumont by various tribes. They go wherever the grand council goes and should thus be open whenever the council meets. "It's like a prayer. When you make a prayer it goes and it's left with God. These gifts might be the same thing," he said.

Priscilla Little of Island Lake, Man., said the items on the mat were crucial to her people's way of life. "When you see those on the mat there, that's our living on this Earth." She called on the delegates to work toward greater unity. "We must unite together as one."

The elders listened to the dialogue and then decided to keep the bundle open during daily meetings, closing it after the smudging ceremony each evening.

About 80 adults spent much of their time worshipping together, praying and talking about their beliefs and tradtitions. They sang songs in their own languages and shared a circle of hugs to lift their spirits on a particularly gloomy morning after several days of rain.

"People have brought a lot of heaviness with them," said Dumont. "It's just what's happening in a lot of our communities. This community here has had five deaths within a month. We've had to work extremely hard in the past year to find solutions to problems."

Lloyd MacDougall from Island Lake, Man., said attitudes and understanding of each other and Native Christianity are growing within the Conference. "People are showing their love for one another, not just at this meeting, also across the country," he said. "We begin to see understanding. The ministers and the leading elders and the chiefs and the counsellors and the people are beginning to see eye-to-eye with each other, not like it was 50 years ago. Everybody has the knowledge of how it's written in Scripture."

MacDougall and Edith Memnook of Goodfish Lake, Alta., were installed as leading elders for a two-year term. Rev. Johnston Garrioch and Lorna McNaughton were honored as retiring elders.

Under a large canopy across the field from the school, about 25 youth elders learned about Native issues from tradition and spirituality to land claims and human rights. They talked about their dreams and their potential as human beings. They shared stories of their families and their culture, and embraced their unique gifts as children of God.

The youth elders listened to North American Indian music and discussed striking a balance in physical, emotional, spiritual and mental health. They toured some local sites, including a residential school, the Prairie Christian Training Centre, a sweatlodge and an alcohol and drug rehabilitation centre.

Last summer's events at Kanesatake and Kahnawake, Que., were on the minds of many of the delegates, said Fred Deer of Kahnawake. "Everybody has come up and talked to me about it, and I feel very good about how they feel about it," he said.

Deer felt strong support from the grand council meeting which he could take home to the people on his reserve. "A sense of community and a sense of unity among Native peoples in a spiritual manner goes a long, long way in a healing process."

Peace and a vision for the future were mentioned repeatedly in worship, song and dialogue. The grand council approved a request from a Morley, Alta., group to ask The United Church of Canada to return the local church property to the Stoney Indian Band.

History was made as the ANCC approved its first ordination. Evelyne Broadfoot will be ordained Aug. 4 at her home community of Norway House, Man. She will be settled in Saskatchewan; Grafton Antone, ordained in London Conference, will be settled in Ontario. The council honored Rev. Angus Harper of Red Sucker Lake, Man., and Rev. Vernon Grieves of Oxford House, Man., for their work in helping develop Plains Presbytery and the Dr. Jessie Saulteaux Centre.

The councils on healing and sharing (equivalent to other Conferences' Divisions of World Outreach, Finance and Mission) asked the grand council to call on the government to hold a public inquiry into abuses in residential schools and provide funding for the healing process "which includes counselling and therapy in Indian communities." The councils want mainline churches to take a leadership role, to document stories and provide financial or human resources for communities or hurting victims.

The two councils want ANCC to declare 1992 as the year for indigenous people and reflect on what happened when Columbus discovered America. They also hope to encourage the 1992 General Council to focus on this issue.

Deana Driver