National Indigenous Day Movie Presentation

Learning Opportunity: National Indigenous Day of Prayer
Screening of Doctrine of Discovery: Stolen Lands, Strong Hearts Thursday, June 18, 6:30pm

As part of our ongoing learning as we seek to be people of reconciliation, and to prepare well to honour the National Indigenous Day of Prayer (June 21), we will gather together to watch Doctrine of Discovery: Stolen Lands, Strong Hearts, a video created through the support of the Primate’s Commission on Discovery, Reconciliation and Justice of the Anglican Church of Canada in 2019. The film responds to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action that name and challenge the Doctrine of Discovery. 

Through interviews with Indigenous leaders, legal scholars and community members, it offers a clear look at the Doctrine’s legacy and invites viewers to reflect on how its assumptions still function in our society.

Doctrine of Discovery: Stolen Lands, Strong Hearts is a 67 minute long film that explores the lasting impact of the Doctrine of Discovery, a set of fifteenth-century papal rulings that declared lands outside Europe to be “empty” and Indigenous Peoples to be less than fully human. These ideas shaped the legal and moral framework of colonization and continue to influence laws, policies and relationships in Canada today.

Following the film we will have a chance to reflect together on what we have learned and what God is calling us to do in the area of truth and reconciliation.