10/12/2021
I somber lament and protest written by Brian Doerksen and Cheryl Bear in relation to the many graves of Indigenous residential schools. What horrible and evil things done to people in God's name. May reconciliations continue to happen.
From Brian Doerksen (one of the artists):
Today marks the release of 215, the song I recorded through the summer with an amazing group of artists and musicians from different parts of Canada including Steve Bell, Carolyn Arends, Rika Siewert and more. If you are reading this in another part of the world and didn’t hear the news, in late May of 2021, the remains of 215 children were found in unmarked graves at the site of the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia that closed in 1978. Schools like this one were run by the Church on behalf of the government across Canada.
On the morning of June 3rd, I began to write this song when I was woken by the ‘alarm bell number’ of ‘Two Hundred & Fifteen’ that insisted to be sung in my head. Over the past 30+ years I’ve had many moments of inspiration with songwriting assignments revealed to me – each of them unique and the next song I needed to write. This one was the same, but different. This was a protest song . . . against my own people.
I’m so grateful that I didn’t have to sing or write this difficult song alone. Once I had finished draft 1 of the song, I reached out to Indigenous artist Cheryl Bear. We had met last year when we were both part of the ‘Jesus & Justice’ conference hosted by ‘IJM’ (International Justice Mission.) She was gracious enough to listen in the middle of a season of deep trauma for all Indigenous people and through active dialogue became a co-writer of the song’s lyrics. This was deeply important to me as I’ve desired that this song not to add to the hurt, but to be part of the healing process. Here’s Cheryl in her own words.
“The 215 song was a tough one for me to walk alongside because of so much trauma. There is so much trauma associated with the residential schools. Indigenous people all across Turtle Island have been deeply affected and are still reeling from the effects of these schools and from the entire history of attempted colonization.
When I first heard of the 215 unmarked graves in Kamloops, I froze. I disassociated. I couldn’t handle it for a few days to be honest. It was too brutal. And I heard of a few Elders who ended up in the hospital because of this news.
Because we knew. We were shocked yes, but not surprised. We had listened to Elder after Elder tell these stories at the TRCs. We knew.
But no one believed them. Canada didn’t believe our Elders. It took science and expense from our people to find the unmarked graves. We had asked Canada for help to find the unmarked graves, but no one listened.
Just so everyone is aware, every Indian Residential School (IRS) has a marked graveyard. It is marked with a fence. It has proper gravestones. It is filled with the graves of children who the school was unwilling to send home to their family. They exist at every residential school/prison.
But we have also listened to the stories of Elders who tell of unmarked graves. These are not the forgotten graves of children who died from common diseases. What is truly disturbing is so many graves are unmarked, especially among religions/denominations that mark death as a sacrament. Dying well and being buried well are important to them. So it begs the question, why so many unmarked graves?
What caught my attention when listening to this song was the sheer honesty.
This song said, “I’m Christian and Canadian, but now ashamed of both ….” That’s a costly statement. And as an Indigenous grandmother it was exactly what I needed to hear. Because my experience in the church (since I was 8 years old) has been systemic racism at worst and micro-aggressions at best. The next statement, “If there’s a God, you’ve been used again…”
Again this spoke to me so strongly because myself and so many others have quoted even unwittingly, the Psalms, “‘God, where were you’ …. when these Indigenous babies were being brutalized?” The TRC caused a crisis of faith for me. If it wasn’t for the stories of so many Elders across Turtle Island who told me their stories of the names and stories of Creator, I would not have any faith at all. And if it were not for the Indian Residential School survivors who chose the words TRC, the Truth and Reconciliation (based on South Africa) I wouldn’t be able to walk in reconciliation. I could have, we all could have …just walked away. But it’s their mandate. It’s my Elders, many of my Ancestors now, who chose these words. So I have found a way to walk in reconciliation and have been walking this road for many years.
And I’m grateful for the spirit of this song. It was written in humility, in the spirit of longing to learn from and attempt to understand history from an Indigenous perspective.
This song gives me hope.”
Thank you, Cheryl for sharing this background and your perspective. I know it comes at a cost. And I’m grateful that this song of lament and protest gives you hope.
I invited Roberta Landreth (JUNO award winning designer from Winnipeg) to design the artwork for the digital single. She created a visual representation of what we did to Indigenous children and youth . . . dressing them in our clothes, putting them in our buildings and stripping them of their names and identity. It was a visceral image that caused a powerful reaction in me when I saw it. (See that image on all the music streaming sites)
In the bridge of the song, we sing “We’re Christian and Canadian yet now ashamed of both.” Some may say – “How can you, a Christian artist known for songs like ‘The River’ and ‘Hope Of The Nations’ sing these words?’” Truthfully, it’s hard to do. I’m grateful to be Canadian, and I’m so thankful for Jesus, who I still call Lord & Saviour. But when you consider why the residential schools were founded and how they were run, we need to acknowledge that these have nothing to do with Jesus’ example or heart. These schools took ‘Christ’ out of Christian. It’s time to acknowledge a fuller truth of what happened here and work towards not just ‘reconciliation’ but as an Indigenous person recently told my sister in-law Dorothy, reconciliaction. I know, not a ‘real’ word but it should be . . . how can we be reconciled without actions that demonstrate the future we want to forge together? Writing and recording this song is a step I’m taking in that direction. I still have much to learn.
You can listen to the song on all the usual streaming sites and watch the music video on YouTube. I’m still pinching myself that 2 of my Canadian Christian songwriting heroes Steve Bell & Carolyn Arends joined me and my close friends! Thanks for being willing to read this far, listen to the song and most of all, thank you for being part of healing these wounds wherever you are in the world so we all can have a more hopeful, loving future.
With love, sorrow & hope,
Brian
In late May of 2021, the remains of 215 children were found at the site of the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia that closed in 1978. Sc...
