Today I came in from gardening to do my Sunday Song Radio show and still had dirt on my hands.
An apt image for what I attempt to speak about this week in terms of my complicity in being part of the story of colonization. How in light of the precious 215 children found in a mass grave at the Kamloops Residential school, are showing us more of the truth about Canada's history of genocide (which is ongoing). This week, without failing to hold accountable the people responsible for these specific heinous crimes, I point out the difference between the average person who is religiously Catholic, and how in fact, if we are settler immigrants, tied to any institution, land title, or inheritance, we are in a sense, politically Catholic, because of the doctrine of discovery. I also want to say clearly, that I am deeply disappointed that Pope Francis has not made a public apology about this recent criminal finding at the residential school that was near Kamloops. He also hasn't made one even thought the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action have asked for it. (I hint at why I think this hasn't happened yet, and when it does, people who do not see themselves as religious at all, will feel the rumbling of the foundation under their feet. I am ok with this.) I also attempt to consider even deeper, the idea of how Jesus was standing in indigenous sovereignty when he performed his food miracles (if not ALL of his miracles). To support indigenous sovereignty and to decolonize (unharness) our creative power, is a very Christic thing to do. I saw that colonizer Jesus/historical Jesus meme floating around... and am definitely inclined toward the historical one, but I'm also complicit with the colonizer one.
2 Comments
Marlin W Good
6/7/2021 05:36:46 am
Hi Alana, Just had a chance to hear what you posted yesterday and was deeply moved. Thank you so much! Your chant is so natural and easy, it seems to have flowed directly from the Imaginal, world 24. Peace and Love to you as you continue this deep dive. Marlin
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Graziella Burnie
6/7/2021 11:59:13 pm
Dear Alana, thank you for this beautiful chant that I will walk with in the woods today. Thank you for putting yourself on the line by being willing to FEEL all that pain. Your haunting melody WHEN I WAS TAKEN speaks eloquently of this deep outrage, which seems to have happened all over the world to children, in small ways and big ways. It happened to me, in a small way in a small village in France and to my dad in his island of Corsica. I fear it happens still. As long as dogmas and pronouncements keep worshipping themselves.
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AuthorAlana Levandoski is a song and chant writer, recording artist and music producer, in the Christian tradition, who lives with her family on a regenerative farm on the Canadian prairies. Archives
January 2022
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