Zionist Indigeneity – Canadian Native Reconciliation
Friends, today is Canada’s National Day of Truth and Reconciliation with our Indigenous Peoples. And I would like to tie that in with support received from our Indigenous Embassy in Jerusalem to victims of the recent synagogue attack in Belleville, Ontario.
Here is the statement issued by the Indigenous Embassy in Jerusalem immediately following the shooting attack on the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, Ontario. The quote is from a Mohawk man, Barry Maracle, who lives down the street from the synagogue.
He embodies the teachings that we must care for (the interests of) our neighbours as our own. Ve’ahavta le’reiacha kamocha, which Rabbi Akiva called the most important teaching of the Torah, Leviticus 19:18:
https://voices.sefaria.org/sheets/63949?lang=bi
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This teaching is amplified in Pirkei Avot, The Ethics of the Sages, in the sayings of Hillel who taught, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” (Pirkei Avot 1:14):
That was my Hebrew school yearbook quote. I was a pretty radical student. I liked this quote because it sounded like something Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King might have said. What Dr. King did say to anti-Zionists was, “when you are talking about Zionists, you mean Jews.” His support for Israel as an outpost of democracy and legitimate homeland of the Jewish people, with human rights for all, was well documented.
Our indigenous communities in Canada and globally have also recognized the inherent indigeneity of Jews to Israel and their legitimate right to their historic homeland. This argument has also been made by leading Jewish scholars and human rights advocates such as former Liberal MP and Justice Minister Irwin Cotler. Here is a statement from the Indigenous Embassy of Jerusalem. We are grateful for their support.
Not far from my hometown of Hamilton, in Brantford, Ontario is the Woodland Cultural Center, which is now an indigenous cultural center and museum on the site of the former Mohawk Residential School, one of Canada’s largest and most notorious residential schools. It was like a mandatory concentration camp for Native children. There were high death rates from TB and malnutrition. It is estimated that approximately 100 students died there and were buried on the grounds. The Woodland Centre has been working with forensic researchers and advocates and scanning the grounds to obtain data on deaths at the school.
The Woodland Cultural Centre is operated by the indigenous community of the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford and offers online tours and valuable cultural programs and linguistic studies to help indigenous people reclaim their culture and their pride. They are trying to repair the building and its roof and preserve the evidence of former Native students who carved their names into the rafters of the dormitory.
Today is Orange Shirt Day, to commemorate the experience of a young female student whose civilian clothing was confiscated when she was admitted to a residential school. Their slogan is Every Child Matters.
I am proud to support the Woodland Cultural Center and hope you will join me as a gesture of solidarity with our indigenous people in Canada on today’s National Day of Indigenous Truth and Reconciliation.
As the daughter of a Shoah survivor who is so sensitized to issues of hatred and cultural genocide, such as those perpetuated historically on the Jewish people, I believe it is encumbent on us to stand together with our indigenous people today and to thank them for their support.
Thank you for your consideration. Megwech. Toda Raba.
Am Yisrael Chai. We send our love from Canada.
