Lent invites us to slow down and tell the truth about our relationships-with God, one another, ourselves and the world we share. 

Articles 1 and 2 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples affirm that Indigenous Peoples are free, equal and have the right to fully enjoy the same human rights as all other people.

For many Canadians, it is hard to imagine that everyone does not enjoy or have access to these rights. This makes it difficult to understand why the need exists to protect basic human rights.

Because of colonial laws, including the Doctrine of Discovery and the Indian Act, Indigenous Peoples have not been treated with dignity or respect. We have learned from Elders and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that Indigenous Peoples were displaced from their traditional lands and forbidden to speak their languages or practise their cultural traditions. Their human rights were deliberately denied, often with the church's participation or silence.

Followers of Jesus should grieve the ways in which the gospel was used to justify the misuse of power and oppression of Indigenous Nations. Relationships are damaged when voices are ignored, dignity is disregarded and equality is treated as optional.

Reconciliation cannot grow where brokenness is denied or ignored.

The right to enjoyment of human rights and equality is a call to restored relationship. Equality is not sameness, but the honouring of each person and people as created in the image of God, with their cultures, identities and rights. To uphold this is to commit ourselves to restored relationships.

At the foundation of The Salvation Army is a heart for social action. Our church was established out of a need for equality, justice, respect and dignity. In a world that feels fractured, our theology speaks to restored relationships.

In Matthew 5:6, Jesus says: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." This call to righteousness is also a call to faithfulness in relationship and living up to our covenant. We must be in sync with the kingdom of God when we seek to restore the fractures.

As we walk toward the cross, may we hunger and thirst for the God of wholeness-a living God who has come into the world to break down the walls that separate us so we can be restored and seek right relationships.  

ARTICLE 1
Indigenous peoples and individuals are free and equal to all other peoples and individuals and have the right to be free from any kind of discrimination, in the exercise of their rights, in particular that based on their indigenous origin or identity.

ARTICLE 2
Indigenous peoples have the right to the full enjoyment, as a collective or as individuals, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms as recognized in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights law. 

• As I begin this Lenten journey, am I willing to respond with integrity to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples?
• Am I willing to be honest before God about the ways in which I have not lived in right relationship with Indigenous Peoples? Am I willing to tell myself the truth about my own beliefs, attitudes and misconceptions?
• Outside of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, how does my life actively support Indigenous Peoples?
  
  

No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. - Micah 6:8 (NLT)

During this sacred journey of Lent, we choose to sit in uncomfortable spaces and not soften the truth. We lament the ways Indigenous Peoples were denied the right to self-determination, to speak their own languages, to practise their spiritual traditions and to teach their culture. We lament the systems built to control rather than to listen and to assimilate rather than to honour.

Forgive us, Lord, for the moments we chose to turn our face away rather than learn the truth.

We confess that the systems shaped by colonization continue to affect the world we live in today. These systems still shape laws, education, medical care, land and countless opportunities. Too often, we have benefited from these systems or remained silence in their presence.

Forgive us, Lord, for the times we chose comfort over truth.

In our lament, help us listen to voices that were silenced but not erased. May we learn from cultures and languages that persist despite every attempt to remove them. We realize that reconciliation cannot exist without self-determination.

Relationships cannot be restored unless people are free to define themselves, to lead their communities and to choose their futures.

Forgive us, Lord, for reconciliation without justice, for apologies without action,for wanting healing without change. Teach us that reconciliation is not a checklist, but a relationship based in reciprocity, humility and truth-telling.

Forgive us, Lord, and shape us into people who listen deeply, who protect the right of every community to flourish, who act with courage so that lament may give way to restoration.

God of justice, may our repentance be lived, not only spoken. May our reconciliation be rooted in truth and may self-determination be honoured as a sacred gift you intended for all people.  

ARTICLE 3
Indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.

ARTICLE 4
Indigenous peoples, in exercising their right to self-determination, have the right to autonomy or self-government in matters relating to their internal and local affairs, as well as ways and means for financing their autonomous functions.

ARTICLE 5
Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinct political, legal, economic, social and cultural institutions, while retaining their right to participate fully, if they so choose, in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the State.

ARTICLE 6
Every indigenous individual has the right to a nationality. 

• How have I benefitted from colonization?
• Do I have any genuine, mutual relationships with Indigenous Peoples? 
• What historic and modern treaties cover the land where I live? 

Lent invites us into the wilderness, into a place of truth, repentance and discomfort. It is here that we must sit with a question that echoes through generations of Indigenous Peoples: How much longer? 

This is not a new cry. We find these same words in Psalm 13:1 which says: "O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way?" (NLT).

This Psalm does not rush toward reassurance. It begins with lament and creates space for abandonment, grief and hope. Lent calls us to do the same, to remain present in the pain rather than explain it away. 

We acknowledge the harm done to Indigenous Peoples and communities when children were taken from their families, lost their languages and were prevented from practising their traditions through residential schools, the Sixties Scoop and foster care.

These systems violated what the United Nation Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples affirms as sacred and inherent: the right to culture, the right to religious and spiritual practice, and the right to language and identity. 

The Psalmist continues in Psalm 13:2: "How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand?" (NLT).

This sorrow has not ended. Colonization does not remain in the past-it is a dark chapter in our history that continues to shape our present. 

How much longer will reconciliation be spoken without dismantling the systems that cause the harm? How much longer will apologies be offered without transformation? 

Psalm 13 does not deny suffering, but it does move toward trust and hope-not cheap hope but hope forged though truth. 

"But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me" (Psalm 13:5 (NLT).

For us this trust must be lived out through justice. Reconciliation requires more than words- it requires supporting Indigenous voices and decision making. It asks us to step back, listen and make space for Indigenous communities as they reclaim and protect culture, ceremony and language sharing. 

Perhaps during this journey of Lent, we take up the discipline of listening. May the question "How much longer?" lead us not to despair, but to faithful action until the rights to culture, religious life and language are no longer fragile but are fully honoured and flourishing.

ARTICLE 11

1.  Indigenous peoples have the right to practise and revitalize their cultural traditions and customs. This includes the right to maintain, protect and develop the past, present and future manifestations of their cultures, such as archaeological and historical sites, artefacts, designs, ceremonies, technologies and visual and performing arts and literature.
2. States shall provide redress through effective mechanisms, which may include restitution, developed in conjunction with indigenous peoples, with respect to their cultural, intellectual, religious and spiritual property taken without their free, prior and informed consent or in violation of their laws, traditions and customs.

ARTICLE 12

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to manifest, practise, develop and teach their spiritual and religious traditions, customs and ceremonies; the right to maintain, protect, and have access in privacy to their religious and cultural sites; the right to the use and control of their ceremonial objects; and the right to the repatriation of their human remains.
2. States shall seek to enable the access and/or repatriation of ceremonial objects and human remains in their possession through fair, transparent and effective mechanisms developed in conjunction with indigenous peoples concerned.

ARTICLE 13

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit to future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literatures, and to designate and retain their own names for communities, places and persons.
2. States shall take effective measures to ensure that this right is protected and also to ensure that indigenous peoples can understand and be understood in political, legal and administrative proceedings, where necessary through the provision of interpretation or by other appropriate means. 
   
   

• How can I support efforts for Indigenous Peoples to reclaim what has been lost? How can I contribute to healing and rebuilding
• What can I learn from Indigenous wisdom and ways of being?
• How can I celebrate Indigenous brilliance?

to condemn rather than to save, to destroy rather than to restore.

• Can we grieve the pain of colonization? 
• Can we mourn the church's role in the destruction of culture and identity? 
• Can we listen to Indigenous stories without rushing to explain, defend or justify? 
• Can we sit with truth when it offers no easy answers? 
• Can we admit that the church we love has caused deep pain to others? 

ARTICLE 6

Every indigenous individual has the right to a nationality.

ARTICLE 7

1. Indigenous individuals have the rights to life, physical and mental integrity, liberty and security of person.
2. Indigenous peoples have the collective right to live in freedom, peace and security as distinct peoples and shall not be subjected to any act of genocide or any other act of violence, including forcibly removing children of the group to another group.

ARTICLE 8

1. Indigenous peoples and individuals have the right not to be subjected to forced assimilation or destruction of their culture.
2. States shall provide effective mechanisms for prevention of, and redress for:
   1. (a) Any action which has the aim or effect of depriving them of their integrity as distinct peoples, or of their cultural values or ethnic identities;
   2. Any action which has the aim or effect of dispossessing them of their lands, territories or resources;
   3. Any form of forced population transfer which has the aim or effect of violating or undermining any of their rights;
   4. Any form of forced assimilation or integration;(e) Any form of propaganda designed to promote or incite racial or ethnic discrimination directed against them.

ARTICLE 9

Indigenous peoples and individuals have the right to belong to an indigenous community or nation, in accordance with the traditions and customs of the community or nation concerned. No discrimination of any kind may arise from the exercise of such a right.

ARTICLE 10

Indigenous peoples shall not be forcibly removed from their lands or territories. No relocation shall take place without the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples concerned and after agreement on just and fair compensation and, where possible, with the option of return.

ARTICLE 14

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control their educational systems and institutions providing education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning.
2. Indigenous individuals, particularly children, have the right to all levels and forms of education of the State without discrimination.
3. States shall, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, take effective measures, in order for indigenous individuals, particularly children, including those living outside their communities, to have access, when possible, to an education in their own culture and provided in their own language.

ARTICLE 15

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to the dignity and diversity of their cultures, traditions, histories and aspirations which shall be appropriately reflected in education and public information.
2. States shall take effective measures, in consultation and cooperation with the indigenous peoples concerned, to combat prejudice and eliminate discrimination and to promote tolerance, understanding and good relations among indigenous peoples and all other segments of society.

ARTICLE 16

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to establish their own media in their own languages and to have access to all forms of non-indigenous media without discrimination.
2. States shall take effective measures to ensure that State-owned media duly reflect indigenous cultural diversity. States, without prejudice to ensuring full freedom of expression, should encourage privately owned media to adequately reflect indigenous cultural diversity.

ARTICLE 17

1. Indigenous individuals and peoples have the right to enjoy fully all rights established under applicable international and domestic labour law.
2. States shall in consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples take specific measures to protect indigenous children from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development, taking into account their special vulnerability and the importance of education for their empowerment.
3. Indigenous individuals have the right not to be subjected to any discriminatory conditions of labour and, inter alia, employment or salary.

“Look at my servant, whom I strengthen. He is my chosen one, who pleases me. I have put my Spirit upon him. He will bring justice to the nations.”—Isaiah 42:1(NLT)

In Isaiah 42:1-9, we encounter a vision of hope that is quiet yet powerful. God’s servant does not cry out or crush the vulnerable. Instead, justice comes gently, faithfully and persistently. The bruised reed is not broken. A flickering wick is not extinguished. This is a justice that honours dignity.

God declares that this servant will bring justice not only to individuals, but to the nations. This is a justice rooted in relationship, care and reciprocity. It is not imposed through force but shared through faithfulness and respect. This vision speaks deeply to the right to have a voice in decisions that affect our lives.

Articles 18-24 in the UN Declaration affirm Indigenous Peoples’ right to participate in decision-making, to give or withhold free, prior and informed consent, and to uphold their economic, social and cultural well-being. These rights echo the heart of Isaiah’s vision: justice that listens, justice that includes, justice that protects life and dignity instead of overriding it.

In Isaiah 42:8 God says, “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to anyone else, nor share my praise with carved idols” (NLT). God’s justice is not shared with systems of dominance or exploitation.

In spaces where voices are silenced, where consent is ignored, where communities are denied access to health care, education and basic human rights, God’s justice is still waiting to be revealed.

And yet, Lent reminds us that hope is not passive. Articles 33-37 in the UN Declaration speak of the right of Indigenous Peoples to self-determination, to define their own identities, priorities and futures. This supports a deep gospel truth: God does not erase identity but restores it. God, through his Son, Jesus, walks with people towards wholeness.

Throughout his life, Jesus listens to those on the margins, restores dignity to the excluded and invites people into decision about their own healing and future. His justice creates space for consent, participation and for voices to be heard.

As we journey through Lent, we are invited to examine where hope in God’s justice is calling us to act differently. To listen longer. To make room for voices that have been ignored. To support systems that honour consent, dignity and well-being. To trust that God’s justice is still unfolding, even when it comes slowly and quietly.  Lent teaches us that waiting is not wasted time. It is where one can hope. 

ARTICLE 18

Indigenous peoples have the right to participate in decision-making in matters which would affect their rights, through representatives chosen by themselves in accordance with their own procedures, as well as to maintain and develop their own indigenous decision-making institutions.

ARTICLE 19

States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them.

ARTICLE 20

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and develop their political, economic and social systems or institutions, to be secure in the enjoyment of their own means of subsistence and development, and to engage freely in all their traditional and other economic activities.
2. Indigenous peoples deprived of their means of subsistence and development are entitled to just and fair redress.

ARTICLE 21

1. Indigenous peoples have the right, without discrimination, to the improvement of their economic and social conditions, including, inter alia, in the areas of education, employment, vocational training and retraining, housing, sanitation, health and social security.
2. States shall take effective measures and, where appropriate, special measures to ensure continuing improvement of their economic and social conditions. Particular attention shall be paid to the rights and special needs of indigenous elders, women, youth, children and persons with disabilities.

ARTICLE 22

1. Particular attention shall be paid to the rights and special needs of indigenous elders, women, youth, children and persons with disabilities in the implementation of this Declaration.
2. States shall take measures, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, to ensure that indigenous women and children enjoy the full protection and guarantees against all forms of violence and discrimination.

ARTICLE 23

Indigenous peoples have the right to determine and develop priorities and strategies for exercising their right to development. In particular, indigenous peoples have the right to be actively involved in developing and determining health, housing and other economic and social programmes affecting them and, as far as possible, to administer such programmes through their own institutions.

ARTICLE 24

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to their traditional medicines and to maintain their health practices, including the conservation of their vital medicinal plants, animals and minerals. Indigenous individuals also have the right to access, without any discrimination, to all social and health services.
2. Indigenous individuals have an equal right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. States shall take the necessary steps with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of this right.

ARTICLE 33

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to determine their own identity or membership in accordance with their customs and traditions. This does not impair the right of indigenous individuals to obtain citizenship of the States in which they live.
2. Indigenous peoples have the right to determine the structures and to select the membership of their institutions in accordance with their own procedures.

ARTICLE 34

Indigenous peoples have the right to promote, develop and maintain their institutional structures and their distinctive customs, spirituality, traditions, procedures, practices and, in the cases where they exist, juridical systems or customs, in accordance with international human rights standards.

ARTICLE 35

Indigenous peoples have the right to determine the responsibilities of individuals to their communities.

ARTICLE 36

1. Indigenous peoples, in particular those divided by international borders, have the right to maintain and develop contacts, relations and cooperation, including activities for spiritual, cultural, political, economic and social purposes, with their own members as well as other peoples across borders.
2. States, in consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples, shall take effective measures to facilitate the exercise and ensure the implementation of this right.

ARTICLE 37

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to the recognition, observance and enforcement of treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements concluded with States or their successors and to have States honour and respect such treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements.
2. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as diminishing or eliminating the rights of indigenous peoples contained in treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements.

• What Indigenous-led organizations exist where I live, and how can I support them?
• What is my nearest First Nations community, and how can I walk in solidarity with them, respecting their leadership?
• How can I contribute to efforts to revitalize and recognize Indigenous self-government?
• Are Indigenous Peoples included in the decisions that affect them at my ministry unit? In The Salvation Army? How can my actions embody “nothing about us without us”?