When red paint was splattered on the doors of 10 churches in Calgary—including Grace Presbyterian Church—it was shocking and eye-opening. The act took place in the early morning
hours of July 1, 2021, following announcements of unmarked graves of Indigenous children on
the grounds of former Residential Schools. The red paint forced many of us to view the church
through new eyes, seeing it as an institution born from and shaped by a Euro-centric colonial culture that caused devastating loss—of land, culture, relationships and, heartbreakingly, of thousands of children. Churches could not hide behind denominations.
Seeing the Church Through Many Eyes
Few people in the congregation at Grace see the front doors as a canvas for expression. As in
many church communities with historic 100+-year-old churches, the front doors have accumulated meaning over time, through years of emotional memories of weddings, funerals and Sunday services for congregants. The red paint showed the doors through different eyes that hold diverse emotional memories—which include trauma and grief over physical, sexual, emotional abuse and the death of children.
The congregation of Grace decided to hold difficult conversations on the front steps of the
church, within view of the red paint, with Indigenous peoples, the congregation and the community. The city of Calgary and a number of national media outlets took an interest. Grace (which is Presbyterian, after all) formed a committee.
A Journey of Many Steps Begins
Steps were taken—there was a service of lament around Orange Shirt Day, a Blanket Exercise, a
book study and a lecture on the Doctrine of Discovery. The work was often joyous, yet extremely
uncomfortable at the same time, populated by feelings of grief, shame, anger, fear and frustration, but also with feelings of hope. There have been steps forward and steps back, but the work focuses on relationships.
In the autumn of 2021, Grace engaged an Indigenous artist to explore the possibility of designing murals incorporating the red paint. Congregational consultation began and revealed many
strong feelings about the doors. In August 2022, while Grace was exploring the possibility of
murals, an opportunity arose for The Presbyterian Church in Canada, the Presbytery of Calgary-Macleod and Grace Presbyterian Church to host a meeting on the repatriation of an object sacred to Indigenous peoples in Alberta. This Sacred Stone, known by many names, including Manitou Asinîy (Creator’s Stone), awâsis kôhtakocihk kîsikohk (the child who fell from the sky) and the Shining Rock, was believed to protect buffalo herds, and is a 145-kilogram meteorite that landed near Hardisty, Alta. In 1866, Manitou Asinîy was stolen by the Reverend George
McDougall, a Methodist missionary, to draw Indigenous peoples into Christianity. Over 150 years,
the stone passed from missionaries through Canadian institutions to the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton, where it is located on long-term loan.
An event called, A Conversation on Repatriating the Sacred Stone, was scheduled at Grace the
morning of August 29. As people arrived, they soon noticed that the red paint was painted over with a tan colour. CCTV footage revealed that at 2 a.m. that morning, two unknown people in hoodies painted the doors. A discussion ensued, but focus returned to the repatriation meeting.
All sat in a circle, including Elder and Chair of the Manitou Asinîy-Iniskim-Tsa Xani Center,
Leonard Weaseltraveller (Bastien), who is also Former Chief of the Piikani Nation and Representative of the Blackfoot Confederacy; Elder Fred Campiou, Cree Representative for Treaty 8, Spiritual Advisor and Ceremonial Elder of the Manitou Asinîy-Iniskim Repatriation Project; members of the Horn Society; the Rev. Dr. Bob Faris, Moderator of the General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church in Canada; members of presbytery; Indigenous project supporters; and Presbyterian church elders. People shared why the Sacred Stone was important to Indigenous peoples and how repatriation would support healing. Repatriation work had been ongoing for 20 years.
Session Decides to Repaint the Doors the Original Colour
That night, Grace’s Session decided to repaint the front doors their original colour. First, there
would be an Orange Shirt Sunday gathering of prayer and ceremony for the congregation and community on Sept. 25. The gathering included education on smudging, provided by Chinook Winds Indigenous minister, with engagement with the Rev. Tony Snow of the United Church of Canada and the Rev. Jake Van Pernis, Associate Minister, Engagement and Service, at Grace Presbyterian Church. The media covered the story again.
Orange Shirt Day, 2022: Stardale Girls Drumming Group
On Orange Shirt Day, Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, Grace collaborated with the Stardale Women’s
Group, a group that works with Indigenous girls and women in Calgary. This collaboration took
the truth, healing and reconciliation work of Grace into the Beltline community, where neighbouring businesses and associations took part. The Stardale Drummers (all young Indigenous women) performed and shared a film called The Road in which the drummers told first-hand life stories. Afterward, several of the drummers answered questions and discussed the shared experience of being targeted by human traffickers while walking to and from school because of their race and gender and of being subsequently met with an expected apathetic
response from the authorities. The girls expressed their fear not only of being kidnapped, but
of having their disappearance be dismissed by the police as delinquent behaviour. Elder Leonard
Weaseltraveller (Bastien) attended the event—having just signed an agreement to repatriate the
Sacred Stone with Alberta’s then-Premier Jason Kenny.
Grace’s work continues. Next steps include ceremony, storytelling and art. One small sign
of progress came from a recent “open mic night” at Grace. An Indigenous artist drummed and
sang. He mentioned that he “felt safe enough to come in.” It was heartwarming to hear that he
felt Grace was a safe space for him—regardless of the colour of paint on the front doors.
How to Help: What can we do as individuals?
People often ask, What can I do? A popular resource shared with the congregation of Grace is the
Decolonizing Pledge for non-Indigenous peoples that lays out concrete steps any one person
can take. (Download a copy here.)
