Chief Joseph Brant: Canadian Hero

By Rev Ed Hird

 

My wife and I had the privilege of attending the First Peoples Forgiven Summit in Ottawa.  During that time we were able to meet a number of Mohawk believers, including Jonathan Maracle of Broken Walls who led us in remarkable worship music.  Canada’s most famous Mohawk was Chief Joseph Brant.  Recently the Canadian Royal Mint produced a Canadian Loonie with the imprint of Chief Joseph Brant  (1742-1807).  More Canadians need to hear this story of this Canadian hero.  He was described by Mark Jodoin as having the mind of a statesman, the heart of a leader, and the soul of a warrior. Without the military and spiritual support of Chief Brant, Canada would have likely never survived. 

 

 

Chief Joseph Brant’s Mohawk name was Thayendanegea which means “two sticks bound together for strength”.  Isabel Thompson Kelsay notes that “the most famous (aboriginal) who ever lived, has been for two centuries a virtual unknown.”   I suspect that he is unknown to most North Americans because he chose the side of Canada in the American revolutionary war.  As Canada’s premier First Nations leader, Brant had the privilege of meeting both Georges in person: King George III and President George Washington. 

 

Brant learned to speak, read and write English at a New Hampshire school led by Rev Wheelock. Wheelock described Brant as being “of a sprightly genius, a manly and gentle deportment, and of a modest, courteous and benevolent temper.”  In 1772, Brant was then mentored by Rev John Stuart, being trained in the art of Bible and Prayer Book translation.  During that time, Brant developed a deep prayer life, becoming a committed Anglican Christian. 

 

During the American Revolutionary war, Brant was falsely accused of committing atrocities in locations which he was not present, including the tragic Wyoming and Cherry Valley Massacres.  Those who knew Brant well testified that he often prevented atrocities through the use of his persuasive leadership. As a devout Anglican Christian, he exhibited compassion and humanity, especially towards women, children, and non-combatants. American Colonel Ichabod Alden commented that he “should much rather fall into the hands of Brant than either of them [Loyalists and Tories].”  It was frequently said of Joseph Brant that during the American revolution, he fought with a tomahawk in one hand, a copy of the New Testament in the other.

 

 

Joseph Brant’s father was one of the sachem/chiefs, known as the Four Indian Kings, who visited Queen Anne in 1710.  These chiefs asked ‘for missionaries to be sent to the People of the Longhouse to teach them more about Christianity.”  Queen Anne sent this request to the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, promising to build them a chapel. In 1711, Queen Anne’s Royal Chapel was built in the Mohawk Valley in New York State.  When the Mohawks relocated to Southern Ontario, the Mohawk Royal Chapel was rebuilt there in 1785.  Joseph Brant’s grave is located right next to the historic Mohawk Chapel, the oldest protestant church in Ontario. Just this past July, Queen Elizabeth, while visiting Ontario, presented the Mohawk Chapel with a set of eight silver hand bells engraved ‘The Silver Chain of Friendship 1710-2010’. 

 

On each side of the Mohawk Chapel pulpit are two tablets in the Mohawk language of the Lord’s Prayer and the Ten Commandments.  Joseph Brant was a brilliant linguist translating the Bible and Anglican Prayer Book into Mohawk (of which there are microfiche copies at Simon Fraser University).  He also wrote a concise history of the Bible and a Mohawk language catechism. Brant spoke at least three and possibly all of the Six Nations’ languages.  When the Chapel was dedicated in 1788, each person was given a Mohawk book containing the Gospel of Mark and the Anglican Prayer Book.  At that celebration, sixty five Mohawks were baptized and three couples were married.

 

 

When Joseph Brant first visited England in 1775, he was described by a British commander as ‘His Majesty’s greatest North American subject.’, and painted in full aboriginal regalia by George Romney.  Receiving a captain’s commission, Brant met with the King on two occasions, with a dinner being held in his honour. Brant was honoured by the English leaders in the arts, letters and government, including James Boswell, the famed biographer of Samuel Johnson.

 

In 1779 Brant was commissioned by the King as ‘captain of the Northern Confederate Indians’ in recognition of his “astonishing activity and success’. Brant was described as “the perfect soldier, possessed of remarkable stamina, courage under fire, and dedicated to the cause, an able and inspiring leader and a complete gentleman.”

 

 

Joseph Brant’s Six Nations were tragically driven out of their homeland in Central New York.  Brant was hurt that in granting their Mohawk homeland in Central New York State to the Americans, England had ‘sold the Indians to the US Congress’.  Writing to King George III, he reminded the British that “we, the Mohawks, were the first Indian Nation that took you by hand and invited you to live among us, treating you with kindness…”  The Six Nations were eventually resettled by Governor Frederick Haldimand in the Grand River area around modern-day Brantford.  The British realized that locating the Six Nations in the Grand River area would be a natural protection against any future American invasion.  Initially the Mississauga First Nation resisted the concept of having their former foes on their land.  One Mississauga Chief Pokquan however persuaded his other chiefs by arguing that other aboriginals would be better neighbours than European settlers, and that Brant’s knowledge of the British could prove useful. 

 

The term Brantford comes from Brant’s Ford, the shallow part of the Grand River that could be forded.  The first years at Brantford were difficult as there was a drought with game being hard to find.  Throughout all the challenges, Chief Brant’s deep faith sustained him.  Chief Brant’s sacrificial love for God and nation should inspire all of us.  He memorably said: “No person among us desires any other reward for performing a brave and worthwhile action but the consciousness of having served one’s nation.” 

 

May all of us be willing to learn from the bravery and loyalty of Chief Joseph Brant.

 

Rev Ed Hird, Rector

St. Simon’s Church North Vancouver

Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)

http://stsimonschurch.ca

-previously published in the Deep Cove Crier

-award-winning author of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’

http://www.battleforthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com

p.s. In order to obtain a copy of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’, please send a $18.50 cheque to ‘Ed Hird’, #1008-555 West 28th Street, North Vancouver, BC V7N 2J7. For mailing the book to the USA, please send $20.00 USD. This can also be done by PAYPAL using the e-mail ed_hird@telus.net . Be sure to list your mailing address. The Battle for the Soul of Canada e-book can be obtained for $9.99 CDN/USD.

-Click to download a complimentary PDF copy of the Battle for the Soul study guide :  Seeking God’s Solution for a Spirit-Filled Canada 

You can also download the complimentary Leader’s Guide PDF: Battle for the Soul Leaders Guide

Louis Riel: Canadian Patriot?

By Rev Ed and Mark Hird

 

Who was Louis Riel?  Was he a patriot or a dissident or both?

 

Louis Riel was born at St. Boniface (Winnipeg, Manitoba) on October 22nd 1844, inheriting from his father a mixture of French, Irish and Aboriginal blood, with French predominating.

 

Louis’ mother Julie sent her son Louis to become Canada’s first Metis priest.  The 1864 death of his father however weighed heavily on Louis, bringing about an abrupt end to his seminary training.  Four months from becoming a priest, Louis met a young Montreal girl, fell in love, and decided to marry.  He rashly left the College of Montreal without obtaining his degree, and then his marriage plans collapsed when his fiancée’s parents forbade this proposed union with a Metis.  Embittered by this racist-rejection, Riel left Montreal in 1866 – without a wife, without a career, without money.

 

Returning home to the Red River settlement, Riel found that locusts had devastated the land. With the demise of the Hudson Bay Company’s influence, both Eastern Canada and the United States seemed poised to swallow up the Red River settlement.  The Metis felt forgotten, ignored and politically abandoned.

 

Without adequately consulting the local 12,000 Red River people, the Hudson Bay Company sold the Red River settlement to Eastern Canada.  Louis Riel rallied the Metis people in 1869 to take over the local Fort Garry, the Western nerve centre of the HBC.  Riel’s goal was to force the Federal Government to negotiate Manitoba’s admission into Confederation as a full province, not just a territory. The provincial name Manitoba, rather than the expected territorial name Assiniboia, came from Louis Riel himself. 

 

Louis Riel proclaimed that the Metis were ‘loyal subjects of Her Majesty the Queen of England’. “If we are rebels, said Riel, “we are rebels against the Company that sold us, and is ready to hand us over, and against Canada that wants to buy us.  We are not in rebellion against the British supremacy which has still not given its approval for the final transfer of the country…We want the people of Red River to be a free people…”

 

The Americans watched the Red River Rebellion with keen interest.  Ignatius Donnelly, a former Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota, said: ‘If the revolutionists of Red River are encouraged and sustained…, we may within a few years, perhaps months, see the Stars and Stripes wave from Fort Garry, from the waters of Puget Sound, and along the shore of Vancouver.’  In the summer of 1870, Nathanial F. Langford and ex-governor Marshall of Minnesota visited Riel at Fort Garry.  They promised Riel $4 million cash, guns, ammunition, mercenaries and supplies to maintain himself until his government was recognized by the United States.  Riel declined.

 

After William O’Donohogue ripped down the Union Jack, Riel immediately reposted the Union Jack with orders to shoot any man who dared touch it.  Despite his rebellious reputation, Louis Riel showed himself to be a Canadian patriot who single-handedly kept Western Canada from being absorbed by the USA.  Riel prayed in his diary: “O my God!  Save me from the misfortune of getting involved with the United States.  Let the United States protect us indirectly, spontaneously, through an act of Providence, but not through any commitment or agreement on our part.”  Riel also prophetically noted in his diary: “God revealed to me that the government of the United States is going to become extraordinarily powerful.”

 

“The Metis are a pack of cowards”, boasted Thomas Scott, “They will not dare to shoot me.” If it was not for Riel’s sanctioning of the tragic shooting of the Orangeman Thomas Scott, he might have ended up in John A Macdonald’s federal Cabinet.  Thomas Scott’s death made Riel ‘Canada’s most hated man’.

 

After fleeing to the United States, Riel was then elected in his absence as a Manitoba MP. The Quebec legislature in 1874 passed a unanimous resolution asking the Governor-General to grant amnesty to Riel.  That same year, after Louis Riel’s re-election as MP, he entered the parliament building, signed the register, and swore an oath of allegiance to Queen Victoria before slipping out to avoid arrest.  The outraged House of Commons expelled him by a 56-vote majority.

 

Exiled to Montana, Riel married and became a law-abiding American citizen. In 1884, with the slaughtering of the buffalo, many First Nations and Métis were dying of hunger.  The Metis in Saskatchewan convinced Riel to return to Canada.  Riel sent a petition to Ottawa demanding that the Metis be given title to the land they occupied and that the districts of Saskatchewan, Assiniboia and Alberta be granted provincial status.  The Federal Government instead set up a commission.  In the absence of concrete action, Louis Riel and his followers decided to press their claims by the attempted capture of Fort Carlton. 

 

Due to the Canadian Pacific Railway, my great-grandfather Oliver Allen was shipped with the Toronto militia to quickly defeat Riel at Batoche.  Using an American Gatling gun with 1,200 rounds a minute, the battle did not last long.  While in the West, Oliver Allen met his future wife Mary Mclean a Regina Leader news-reporter sympathetic to Louis Riel.  Right before Riel’s hanging, Mary Mclean disguised herself as a Catholic priest in order to interview Riel.  Before Riel died, he prayed in his diary: “Lord Jesus, I love you.  I love everything associated with You…Lord Jesus, do the same favour for me that You did for the Good Thief; in Your infinite mercy, let me enter Paradise with You the very day of my death.”

 

The Reverend Ed Hird, Rector

St. Simon’s  Church North Vancouver

Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)

http://stsimonschurch.ca

-previously published in the North Shore News

-award-winning author of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’

http://www.battleforthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com

p.s. In order to obtain a copy of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’, please send a $18.50 cheque to ‘Ed Hird’, #1008-555 West 28th Street, North Vancouver, BC V7N 2J7. For mailing the book to the USA, please send $20.00 USD. This can also be done by PAYPAL using the e-mail ed_hird@telus.net .  Be sure to list your mailing address. The Battle for the Soul of Canada e-book can be obtained for $9.99 CDN/USD.

-Click to download a complimentary PDF copy of the Battle for the Soul study guide :  Seeking God’s Solution for a Spirit-Filled Canada 

You can also download the complimentary Leader’s Guide PDF: Battle for the Soul Leaders Guide

‘Hanging Judge’ Matthew Begbie

By Rev. Ed Hird

 

 Described as a ‘swashbuckling judge’, Chief Justice Matthew Begbie profoundly shaped BC.  Sir Matthew Begbie and his friend BC governor Sir James Douglas have ‘larger-than-life’ statues at the BC Legislature entrance.  As founding fathers of BC, both Begbie and Douglas were Scots born in the tropics who became bilingual in French while studying in England. 

 

As a child, I first heard of Begbie while on vacation at Barkerville.  Actors still pretend to be Judge Begbie, telling of life when Barkerville was the biggest town west of Chicago and north of San Francisco.

 

After five years at Cambridge and fourteen years as a lawyer, Begbie was sent to BC at age 39 in response to the 1858 flood of 30,000 American miners from San Francisco.  BC was literally birthed through gold-diggers who panned $543,000 of Fraser River gold in one year.  Most miners stayed a year or less, never putting down roots in BC’s ‘boom or bust’ beginnings.  While a few struck it rich, most came up near empty, spending their gold on wine, women and song.

 

Without Judge Begbie establishing order on the BC frontier, all hell would have broken loose.  Leading American mining journals in 1863 were already referring to the Fraser River as ‘Our Territory’.  Begbie showed unusual strength and stamina in his work, often travelling by foot and sleeping in a tent so damp that his books mildewed.  Six feet four inches tall with a Van Dyke beard, a gaucho hat, and a long black cloak, Begbie was a commanding figure.

A deeply spiritual man and long-time church-choir member, he loved to read the Anglican Evening Prayer service by campfire, singing hymns before going to his tent.  Even when holding court on a stump under a tree, he wore formal robes.  For twelve years, Begbie was BC’s only judge, travelling two-thirds of the year, and sometimes doing double-duty as a postman!  Because of Begbie’s firm fairness, incidences of violence and highway robberies, all common below the border, were extremely rare in BC. 

 

The ‘hanging judge’ expression was never applied to Begbie during his lifetime, but rather was an overstatement. As historian David Williams puts it, Begbie was ‘an extremely humane, literate, generous, humorous and fair-minded man’.  He abhorred the taking of life.  While vacationing, Begbie met an American former jurist.  The American said: ‘You certainly did some hanging, judge.’  Begbie memorably replied: ‘Excuse me, my good friend.  I never hanged any man.  I simply swore in good American citizens, like yourself, as jurymen, and it was you who hanged your fellow citizens.’  In the BC Place Names (1997) book, it states that Judge Begbie ‘by firmness, impartiality and sheer force of personality maintained British law and order…’  Angered by the acquittal of an armed robber, Begbie said to the prisoner: ‘The jurymen say you are not guilty, but with that I do not agree.  It is now my duty to set you free and I warn you not to pursue your evil ways, but if you ever again should be so inclined, I hope you select your victim from the men who acquitted you.’ 

 

Judge Begbie, conversant in four different aboriginal BC languages, had a real heart for the First Nations people whom he praised as ‘a race of laborious independent workers.’  Begbie also advocated for the Chinese miners who often suffered from racism.  He was concerned that legal justice be fair and speedy, regardless of race, colour, or wealth.  Begbie was known as ‘the salvation of the Cariboo and the terror of rowdies.’  Fellow pioneers agreed that Judge Begbie was ‘just the man for a new country’.  “My hair is white, but my hand is strong, and my heart is not weak.  If I punish only a little,” said Begbie, “it is not because I am weak, nor because I am afraid, but because I wish to change your hearts.”  “

 

When Judge Begbie died in 1894, his two favorite hymns were sung: ‘Just as I am’ and ‘I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say’.  Since the death of Governor Douglas in 1877, Judge Begbie had indisputably become the first citizen of BC.  The size of the Victoria funeral procession was unprecedented with military bands and marching troops, but all that Sir Matthew Begbie wanted on his gravestone was ‘Lord be Merciful to Me a Sinner’.

 

The Reverend Ed Hird, Rector

St. Simon’s Church North Vancouver

Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)

http://stsimonschurch.ca 

-previously published in the Deep Cove Crier

-award-winning author of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’

 http://www.battleforthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com

p.s. In order to obtain a copy of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’, please send a $18.50 cheque to ‘Ed Hird’, #1008-555 West 28th Street, North Vancouver, BC V7N 2J7. For mailing the book to the USA, please send $20.00 USD.  This can also be done by PAYPAL using the e-mail ed_hird@telus.net . Be sure to list your mailing address. The Battle for the Soul of Canada e-book can be obtained for $9.99 CDN/USD.

-Click to download a complimentary PDF copy of the Battle for the Soul study guide :  Seeking God’s Solution for a Spirit-Filled Canada 

You can also download the complimentary Leader’s Guide PDF: Battle for the Soul Leaders Guide

Chief Kenny Blacksmith: walking together in forgiveness

By Rev Ed Hird

 

Recently my wife and I attended the First People’s Forgiven Summit in Ottawa.  Over 4,000 First Nations, Inuit, Metis and others came from all across Canada to officially respond to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s apology two years ago.  It was a moving three days of forgiveness, reconciliation and healing that has had a lasting impact on us.

 

The reason why we attended the Forgiven Summit is that we met locally with Chief Kenny Blacksmith in January 2010 at the beginning of the six-month Journey of Freedom across Canada.  When Chief Blacksmith told of his having been abused in residential school and yet has found the ability to forgive, it touched me deeply. I experienced Chief Blacksmith that day as having a transparent soul.  When he said that he forgave us, I experienced this forgiveness as real, deep and costly.

 

During this Journey of Freedom, I was invited to the Tsawwassen First Nation for a time of restoration.  It became clear to me that God is doing a powerful work among the First Peoples across Canada.  He is giving them beauty for ashes, and releasing the power of forgiveness in a way that is bringing life transformation.

 

Dr. Billy Graham once said: “The greatest moments of Native History may lie ahead of us if a great spiritual renewal and awakening should take place. The Native American has been a sleeping giant. He is awakening. The original Americans could become the evangelists who will help win America for Christ! Remember these forgotten people!”

 

Out of the great trauma that the First Peoples have been through, it seems that they as national gatekeepers are now leading the way in the message of reconciliation and forgiveness.  Chief Kenny Blacksmith is indeed a statesman in the message that he carried all across the nation. On Canada Day, Chief Blacksmith said: “Canada in its restoration and freedom will be a healing to the nations…. I believe because Canada and the original and host peoples of this land have made significant spiritual amends through an act of forgiveness, Canada will not only take back what the enemy has stolen but it will take new land for the Kingdom of God, and it will dig new wells of revival in its restored relationships and freedom from a negative past.” 

 

It was a great privilege at the Ottawa Forgiven Summit to stand with other Church leaders and express our repentance for the way that the Churches have let down and hurt the First Peoples, particularly with the residential schools.  The joy that flowed during the Forgiven Summit was palpable.

 

Here is how Chief Kenny Blacksmith describes this new beginning for Canada: “On this 1st of July 2010 let us begin to dream big once again, the best of what could be for our people and nation because the Lord God is mighty!

 

On this 1st of July 2010 let us arise determined more than ever to design and deliver a shared improved future built on a solid rock foundation on the best of what should be, and the best of what will be – for all our people and for our nation!

 

Let the path of the righteous in our nation be as the first gleam of dawn shining ever brighter till the full light of day.”

 

Chief Blacksmith went on to say:

“Canada – Arise and shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you! Canada – this is your time of restoration.  Canada – this is your time of promotion! Canada – this is your time! God bless Canada!”

 

I thank God for Chief Kenny Blacksmith and other First Peoples who are leading the way in the message of forgiveness.

 

 

 

Rev Ed Hird, Rector

St Simon’s North Vancouver

Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)

http://stsimonschurch.ca 

-published in the August 2010 Deep Cove Crier

-award-winning author of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’

http://www.battleforthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com

p.s. In order to obtain a copy of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’, please send a $18.50 cheque to ‘Ed Hird’, #1008-555 West 28th Street, North Vancouver, BC V7N 2J7. For mailing the book to the USA, please send $20.00 USD.  This can also be done by PAYPAL using the e-mail ed_hird@telus.net . Be sure to list your mailing address. The Battle for the Soul of Canada e-book can be obtained for $9.99 CDN/USD.

-Click to download a complimentary PDF copy of the Battle for the Soul study guide :  Seeking God’s Solution for a Spirit-Filled Canada 

You can also download the complimentary Leader’s Guide PDF: Battle for the Soul Leaders Guide

Thousands of Aboriginal People Converged on Ottawa

By Rev Ed Hird

We will never forget the Forgiven Summit in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada at the Ottawa Civic Centre.  My wife and I, with thousands of others from across Canada, travelled to our nation’s Capital to share in this historic gathering convened by Chief Kenny Blacksmith. I had the privilege of meeting with Chief Kenny Blacksmith and Chief Linda Prince back in January 2010 when the Journey of Forgiveness began.

 

Being struck by Chief Kenny Blacksmith’s powerful message of forgiveness, I knew that we needed to be there that June for the Forgiven Summit.  Only God knew what was going to happen this weekend, but I had sensed that there will be a great breakthrough for our nation of Canada. God is doing a powerful work of reconciliation and restoration for all the people groups in Canada, both the first peoples and the later peoples whom God has brought to this great land.

         In Christ, Ed Hird+

         http://www.battleforthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com

News Updates

June 10, 2010 Thousands of Aboriginal People Converging on Ottawa to Respond to Prime Minister’s 2008 Apology NATIONAL FORGIVEN SUMMIT BRINGS HOPE   OTTAWA, June 10 /CNW/ – Thousands of Aboriginal individuals are assembling in Ottawa to release this weekend the forgiveness that Prime Minister Stephen Harper requested in 2008. The Prime Minister concluded his apology for Indian Residential Schools by requesting “the forgiveness of the aboriginal peoples of this country for failing them so profoundly.” “At that moment” says Chief Kenny Blacksmith, “the onus was placed on our people as individuals to respond. The only way to come into our full healing as the First Peoples of Canada is to forgive. Forgiveness is not political; it cannot be bought or sold; it cannot be legislated. It is an individual choice that can break the generational cycle of victimization and accusation.” Blacksmith meets tomorrow with Prime Minister Harper, who cannot attend the event on account of international obligations, but has been very supportive, and will address the Summit via video on Saturday. The National Forgiven Summit comes out of the vision and leadership of Chief Blacksmith, a residential school survivor, former Deputy Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Crees of Quebec, and founder of Gathering Nations International. “Vision is not reactionary to the past,” says Blacksmith, “but we have to release ourselves and others from the burden of the past so we can look with hope to the future.” The Summit runs from Friday to Sunday evening at the Ottawa Civic Centre. Open to the public, it is also drawing hundreds of non-Aboriginal people, government leaders, and international observers to witness this historic moment. The response aims to bring healing and freedom to those negatively affected by the legacy of the Indian Residential School system. On Saturday, Chief Blacksmith, in the company of youth and elders from across the country, will present a Charter of Forgiveness and Freedom to the Government and people of Canada. Authored by residential school survivors, elders and youth, this Charter will be signed by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal adherents and witnesses throughout the weekend. Cabinet Minister Chuck Strahl will be present to accept the Charter on the government’s behalf. A Press Conference will be held at 3:30pm on Saturday June 12, 2010 at the Ottawa Civic Centre with Minister Strahl and Chief Blacksmith. To attend the Summit as media, please visit the website to access the Media Guide. The Summit can be viewed by live webstream at www.i4give.ca  and www.nouspardonnons.ca .   For further information: For Media Inquiries contact: Shauna Simmonds, Media Relations, National Forgiven Summit, shauna@i4give.ca, 647.244.1486; For National Forgiven Summit Inquires contact: info@i4give.ca Aboriginal Canadians Prepare to Respond to the 2008 Apology June 08, 2010 Aboriginal Canadians Prepare to Respond to the 2008 Apology THE NATIONAL FORGIVEN SUMMIT TAKES PLACE THIS WEEKEND IN OTTAWA   Ottawa. June 8, 2010: Rod Bruinooge, MP for Winnipeg South and Chief Kenny Blacksmith from Gathering Nations International launched the National Forgiven Summit today. The summit will include a public response to Prime Minister Harper’s 2008 apology and his request for forgiveness.     “I believe this will be a meaningful time of healing for many Aboriginals,” said Bruinooge. “Past challenges can be overcome to prepare for a brighter future.”   The summit will take place in Ottawa, June 11-13, 2010 at the Ottawa Civic Centre. The three-day event is expected to draw thousands of Inuit, Métis, First Nations, non-natives and government leaders. Summit organizers want to share the message that forgiveness brings healing.   During the summit, participants will present a Charter of Forgiveness to Minister Strahl, and symbolically, to the entire nation. A coalition of residential school survivors prepared the charter and it will be available to sign throughout the weekend.   To prepare for the summit, a Journey of Freedom is taking place in aboriginal communities, churches, and regional centres throughout the country. The journey began in January 2010 and the national summit will conclude the journey.   “What a joy it will be when thousands of individuals come together to release forgiveness,” said Chief Blacksmith. “We have the capacity to forgive, and we will experience greater healing if we choose to do so.”    On June 11, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper extended an apology to the residential school victims. This weekend is the two year anniversary of that apology.   For more information: Myrrhanda Novak Director of Communications Office of Rod Bruinooge, MP Tel: 204.984.6787 Email: bruinr0@parl.gc.ca   Shauna Simmonds Media Relations National Forgiven Summit Tel: 647.244.1486 Email: shauna@i4give.ca