Actions pave way to reconciliation

Native leader says saving gift 'taught me to be kinder with my mouth'

- WCR photo by Glen Argan Maggie Hodgson says when it comes to reconciliation, actions speak louder than words.

By GLEN ARGAN
WCR Editor
Edmonton

Maggie Hodgson recalls using the ultimate insult in an argument with a fellow federal government employee over policy affecting aboriginal people.

"You would have made a good Indian agent in 1952," she lashed out at the woman.

"I went home and said, 'You know Hodgson, this is not her policy. It's the government's policy.'"

So at the next staff meeting, Hodgson gave the woman a blanket and said, "This is to acknowledge that I have hurt your spirit."

"I gave her this blanket to teach myself to be kinder with my mouth," she said.

In aboriginal communities, apology is done not with words, but with actions, she told the annual Tekakwitha Conference. "Words are cheap."

Hodgson, a native leader and former director of the Nechi Institute near Edmonton that treats native alcohol addiction, gave the keynote talk on reconciliation and compassion July 3 at the Tekakwitha Conference along with Archbishop Sylvain Lavoie of Keewatin-Le Pas, Man.

The conference is held every year to bring together aboriginal Catholics from across Canada and the United States and help them affirm their faith under the protection of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha. The 2008 event is the first one to be held in Canada.

Archbishop Sylvain Lavoie

Hodgson said she appreciated the apology Lavoie's order, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, gave many years ago for their treatment of aboriginal people.

"The Oblates apologized. That's nice," she said. "Sylvain speaking Cree - that's what really makes it nice."

It showed that Lavoie wants to have a relationship with native people and that he believes that French and English are not superior to aboriginal languages, she said.

"Apologies are nice; actions are much better."

Angry with Dad

Lavoie recalled being angry with his father for 15 years because of his workaholism and for how he raised his children. They argued about everything, including the Bible.

But then he began to realize how poorly he had treated his father. Then one day when he criticized the cook for how she made a meal, he understood that he was being as critical as his father had been.

"I went to him and said I was sorry," Lavoie said. "We had two good years together" before his father died.

Hodgson said that to think reconciliation is only the work of the living is egotistical.

Recently, the Government of Canada apologized to aboriginal people for how they were treated in residential schools.

Hodgson, who was present for the apology in the House of Commons, said a native elder told the aboriginal group beforehand that their ancestors would be present with them for the apology.

"The House of Commons at that moment became like a cathedral," she said. "Not because of (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper. But because of all the grandmothers and grandfathers who filled that House of Commons."

Deceased grandparents will help people through their times of reconciliation, she said.

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