Canada mother calls for ban of indigenous ceremonies in schools

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Guardian

British Columbia parent says spiritual smudging ceremony violated religious freedom and asks supreme court to ban expressions of religion in public schools


Ashifa Kassam in Toronto
@ashifa_k
Wednesday 16 November 2016 15.55 EST


A mother in British Columbia has lodged a legal challenge against her local school district, alleging that an aboriginal ceremony at her childrens school infringed on the familys right to religious freedom.

Candice Servatius, whose two children attend an elementary school in Port Alberni, a small city on Vancouver Island, is seeking to have the supreme court of British Columbia ban indigenous ceremonies and all other expressions of religion from the public school district.

Court documents point to a letter to parents, sent home at the start of the 2015 school year, that explained that a member of Vancouver Islands Nuu-chah-nulth indigenous community would visit the school and lead students in a traditional smudging ceremony.

During the ceremony students would hold a cedar branch while smoke from burning sage would be fanned over them, the letter explained. This will be our opportunity to learn about Nuu-chah-nulth traditions and experience cleansing of energy from previous students in our classroom and cleanse our own spirits to allow great new experiences to occur for all us. Details on when the ceremony would be held were not included in the letter, but a contact was offered for any parents with questions.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/16/canada-mother-ban-indigenous-ceremonies-public-schools

[Feeling the Bern]

1. Canada has Trumpers too.

[MADem]

2. Pull the kid out of school; take him to the zoo.

Or better still, let him sit in the library with his hands folded while all his classmates learn a little cultural history. Yeah, that'll "teach" him....

What a tool! Knowledge doesn't "infect" children--it's parental attitude that does that.

[Mosby]

3. The mother said she was not able to opt out in time.

and her kid was coerced into participating.

How would you feel if you were an athiest and yet the school your kids attended told your kids that they had to be "cleansed of negative energy"?

Here is part of the complaint:




https://www.jccf.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Servatius-v-SD70-Filed-Petition.pdf

[Violet_Crumble]

5. This Atheist mother has no problems with indigenous ceremonies in schools

Even when I was a kid, though religion was taught at my school and I hated being separated from my Catholic best friend twice a week, indigenous groups would come to school and do cultural stuff so we could learn about their history and customs. We got told stories about the Dreamtime, and i guess that weird Canadian mother would have shrieked about it being religion, but like Canadian Aboriginals it's not, not in the sense of organised religion. It's ancient and it's a vitally important part of the culture and history of our countries. That's why they expose us to it, so that when we're adults we aren't wankers who think there was nothing here before European settlers arrived.

[Mosby]

6. I think learning about other cultures and religions is great

When I was in grade school I was in the choir where I sang Christian Xmas songs. I liked it or I would not have done it, my only issue here is a concern that some kids are being coerced.

[MADem]

8. I think it's ridiculous to even want to opt out.

Learning the mechanics of how a custom of indigenous people is performed, even participating in those mechanics, does not "make" a person become a member of a faith group. Given that the kids in the classroom aren't members of the tribe, it's not like they can just "join the club" anyway.

And more to the point, if participating in a demonstration of the culture will cause the children to "believe" in this faith system, that, in itself, means that the so-called atheist is giving power to the ritual and suggesting that the "religion" has a life of its own.

It's as stupid as refusing to go to a wedding because it's going to be in a temple or church. If a person does not believe the religion has power, then the act of being present isn't going to make this nonexistent concept suddenly able to hold sway over someone. Unless, of course, the person is wrong, and the religion is "real." A blob that will overtake them, and leave them powerless to refuse!

It's role playing--a way to learn. Those parents should home school their kid if they don't want the child to learn about how other cultures live. The purpose of the explanation sent home to the parents in the school letter is so the PARENTS will know what the purpose of the lesson was, in the event the children do a poor job explaining it to them should it come up. And if they sent a letter home saying what was going to happen, I should think the parents had enough time to opt out.

This is not the same as learning about the varying forms of Christianity, Islam or Judaism. either. Those religions have big box houses of worship scattered hither and yon that are readily accessible, and some have TV channels, too where people can get that information.

You've pretty much got to go to the rez and/or associate with a tribe to see these sorts of rituals close-up--though YOUTUBE might have a video or two, if you know where to look.

[applegrove]

4. My god. Learning to sing a Mohawk hymn was a highlight of grade

1. I can sing it to this day.

[petronius]

7. As described, I think she has a point

If students were told (taught) that participating in a spiritual ritual would affect their classroom environment and personal well-being, and if they were made to feel that it was not optional (and/or they were not given a way to opt out without repercussions), then I think the line was crossed.

Her second complaint--about the visiting speaker reciting a prayer before a dance performance, while students apparently watched passively--seems sketchier...

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

11. Any time a religion is taught as having powers

and not just the details of what some people believe, the public schools have crossed the line, imo.

[Javaman]

9. I'm perfectly okay with this.

"ban indigenous ceremonies and all other expressions of religion from the public school district."

ALL is the key word here.

or is everyone okay with bible studies in public schools here?

[Nitram]

10. This is a tough one. If Christian and other religious prayer is banned,

then so should indigenous rites.

The case has been championed by Calgary-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. “You can’t have a double standard,” John Carpay of the organisation told the National Post. “Either you allow religion in school and open the gates wide – and then you allow the Our Father prayer of Christians, roll out the prayer rugs and pray towards Mecca, and conduct an aboriginal spiritual smudging ceremony – or the door is closed and it is closed for everybody.”