Larry Hurst of Regina reflects on the National Day for Truth & Reconciliation on his morning run.
This September on the National Day for Truth & Reconciliation, I will put on my orange shirt and go for a five km run/walk on Pinky Road.
Over the past few years my running circuit has expanded to the far west boundary of the city of Regina. About one km west of our home, I get on Pinky Road and head south towards Dewdney Ave.
This area is the pending location of a new Costco outlet, but a few years ago I discovered it’s also a heritage site. On Pinky Road, just south of the train tracks, is the cemetery for the Regina Industrial School, a government school for Indigenous children operated by the Presbyterian Church from 1891 to 1910.
When I run Pinky Road I have developed a ritual. As I approach the Regina Industrial School Cemetery,
- I hit “pause” on the running app on my watch.
- I take off my hat as a sign of respect (I’m old fashioned in that way).
- I stop running and I walk, sometimes going off road and taking time to walk around the site.
- Once I pass the cemetery, I hit “resume” and recommence my run.
- When I come back up the other side of Pinky Road, I repeat the ritual.
As a Canadian I believe I’m responsible to recognize the reality of our history.
As a Christian I believe it’s important to acknowledge our sin and selfishness, including human nature’s colonizing tendencies and urges, even in ecclesiastical circles, to control others.
As a citizen of Canada and a follower of Jesus, I believe I need to respect the authorities God has put in place.
I need to remember that, contrary to the song I used to practise my guitar chords with back in the day, “This land is [not] my land” and “This land is [not] your land.” This is the land of the first people who God placed here (“From one man he made all the nations … and he marked out … the boundaries of their land,” Acts 17:26). The First Peoples call that land Turtle Island. I want to, and I believe I need to, respect that reality.
And then I wonder – Will we ever humble ourselves to the point of embracing land acknowledgements or blanket ceremonies? I know church leaders who have tried to do those very things but the reactions were more negative than positive. As Leonard Sweet once said, “We all have a lot to learn. We all have a long way to go.”
Larry Hurst of Regina served in pastoral ministry 40 years and remains active in transition ministry. Photos: Larry Hurst.