Displaying items by tag: indigenous peoples

The Amazon is experiencing a huge environmental crisis; fires have ravaged over 62,000 square kilometres of forest, exacerbated by Brazil’s most severe drought. The fires, usually deliberately started by loggers, miners, and farmers seeking land, are decimating the region. Raimundinha, who leads an indigenous firefighting brigade, has warned: ‘If these fires continue, we indigenous people will die’. Respiratory issues are already affecting her family, and the fires are increasingly encroaching on lands which in theory are protected by the government. The drought has not only fuelled these fires but also drained rivers, making daily life for some nearly impossible. With dwindling resources and rising temperatures, the situation in the Amazon highlights the fragile balance between human activity and environmental conservation, as well as the catastrophic effects of climate change.

Canada is a nation enduring significant pain and grief following the recent discovery of the unmarked graves of indigenous children in a number of sites, including Kamloops.  The Kamloops Indian Residential school was one of the largest in Canada and operated from the late 19th century to the late 1970s. It was opened and run by the Catholic Church until the federal government took it over in the late 1960s. It closed permanently about a decade later and now houses a museum and a community facility with both cultural and memorial events.  In 2015 Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission released a report detailing the damaging legacy of the country's residential school system. Thousands of mostly indigenous children were separated from their families and forced to attend residential schools.

The report detailed decades of physical, sexual and emotional abuse suffered by children in government and church run institutions.  As was documented by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, many of the children in residential schools did not receive adequate medical care with some dying prematurely of diseases like tuberculous.

The commission estimates that more than 4,000 children died while at residential schools over a period of several decades, but the final commission report acknowledges it was impossible to know the true number.

Watchmen for the Nations, a family of believers who long to see Canada become a dwelling place for the Lord, state:

“Canada is positioned in a crucial moment. From her foundations, the Lord has laid ancient paths for her people to walk in as one family consisting of different colors, tribes, and tongues. He is revealing the breaches in the walls of Canada that need to be addressed and acknowledged. We ask for wisdom on how to rebuild. Amidst the brokenness, God is healing the land of Canada that she might walk in the fullness of her calling to be a leaf of healing to the nations.

Together, we stand in one heart with Canada as she returns to these ancient paths. We lay hold of God's promises and proclaim His faithfulness and purposes over the First Nations family in the land. We believe the Lord will raise a standard from the heart of this nation for His pleasure and glory.”

Sources/ More: Watchmen for the Nations, CNN

Pray:

Pray for the overwhelming healing love of God to flood the nation of Canada (2 Chronicles 7:14)
Pray with us that for wisdom in political leadership, bringing society together to rebuild the nation
Pray with us that for an end to violence and attacks associated with these terrible events

The 1988 Brazilian constitution recognises indigenous peoples' right to pursue traditional ways of life and the permanent, exclusive possession of their ‘traditional lands’, demarcated as Indigenous Territories. When Jair Bolsonaro became president on 1 January, he vowed that not another centimetre of indigenous land would be protected under his leadership, and he would forcibly ‘integrate’ them, adding it was ‘a shame that the Brazilian cavalry wasn’t as efficient as the Americans, who exterminated the Indians’. Indigenous peoples are fearful. His administration has launched an unprecedented attack on them, with the explicit aim of destroying their way of life and plundering their land. On 28 June 2,000+ people occupied the capital holding banners and arrows, marching to the ministry of health and the ministry of justice. Pray for the restoration of healthcare access to indigenous people; and that they will have more land rights and access to public services. See