Commonwealth_ A Mennonite church in Kitchener, Ontario, has joined three other churches across Canada in paying reparations to Indigenous communities whose land their church buildings occupy. Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church made its first payment on July 6, contributing $4,000 to Six Nations Polytechnic, a post-secondary educational institution in Brantford, Ontario. This payment, representing one percent of the church’s annual budget, marks a tangible step in their efforts to “repair past wrongs.”
Pam Albrecht, a member of the church’s spiritual covenant working group, emphasized the church’s motivation behind these reparations. “We are making a payment, making an effort, in a small way, of trying to repair past wrongs,” she said, recognizing that this was just the beginning and that much more work remains. She described the congregation’s journey as a “fairly long journey of learning,” highlighting that this payment is part of a broader commitment towards reconciliation with the Indigenous communities whose lands they now occupy.
The roots of this initiative date back to the spring of 2007, when two elders from Six Nations of the Grand River, Adrian Jacobs and Rick Hill, proposed a spiritual covenant between Canadian churches and the First Nations communities that originally inhabited the land. The idea of a covenant was aimed at acknowledging the shared history of the land and fostering an ongoing relationship built on respect and reconciliation.
Adrian Jacobs, a member of the Six Nations Haudenosaunee Confederacy of the Grand River Territory, began discussions with the Mennonite community that year, promoting the idea of creating a meaningful and spiritual bond between the churches and Indigenous communities. Kitchener’s Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church was the first to engage in these conversations, and Jacobs played a key role as a community liaison through the Mennonite Central Committee, Ontario.
The church is situated on Block Two of the Haldimand Tract, an area that was granted in 1784 to the Six Nations of the Grand River by the British Crown in recognition of their loyalty during the American Revolutionary War. Despite the promise of lease payments from settlers to the Indigenous people of Six Nations, Albrecht explained that these payments were mismanaged. “Those who came to live on the tract paid lease payments to an Indian agent who was to then pass those payments on to Six Nations. The Indian agent never did that,” she said, underscoring the history of misappropriation and broken promises that the church now seeks to address.
The choice of Six Nations Polytechnic as the recipient of these payments is significant. Adrian Jacobs emphasized that the institution is a “unique, non-partisan” place that can provide direct benefits to the Six Nations people without being entangled in political controversies. By contributing to Six Nations Polytechnic, the church aims to support the Indigenous community’s educational efforts while avoiding any political tensions that often accompany reparations.
Six Nations Polytechnic is a non-profit organization, which allows it to receive payments and issue tax receipts to donors. The institution plays an important role in promoting Indigenous education and cultural preservation, with a particular focus on language revitalization. Rebecca Jamieson, president of Six Nations Polytechnic, expressed her gratitude for the donation, stating, “The church’s donation is very much appreciated and will go toward language revitalization efforts through programs like the bachelor and honors bachelor of arts in Ogwehoweh languages and a Cayuga immersion language program.”
Language revitalization is a crucial part of preserving the cultural heritage of Indigenous communities, many of which have experienced the erosion of their languages through centuries of colonization and cultural assimilation. The funding from Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church will help ensure the survival and continued use of the Ogwehoweh languages, including Cayuga, which are deeply connected to the identity, history, and worldview of the Six Nations people.
