Yesterday I went to a farmers market in a local park, gathering fresh fruit for the week, admiring the various handicrafts, enjoying the sweet-voiced performer and her loud guitar, and chatting with a bannock seller who told me the story of his wife’s 3-great Métis grandfather settling the Red River area in Manitoba.

Then, as I wandered away looking for a shady spot under the trees, I came face-to-face with two Mormon missionaries who were ambling towards the market area. We said hello in passing, as you do, and then they stopped and one asked “what is this?”, pointing towards the tents and vendors and tables of fruit and produce and people mingling and chatting and buying. “Uh, it’s a farmers market” I replied, thinking of the ample signage on the road front advertising the market that they must have passed by on their way in.

“Oh, thanks”, he replied and then he added “We’re missionaries” as he held up a Bible. I guess he thought I hadn’t noted their white shirts, dark ties, nametags, suit pants and bulky scriptures, quite the standout in a park full of people in short shorts and branded tees. And dogs. Lots of excited active dogs. I nodded, in less than enthusiastic acknowledgement.

He took a deep breath before launching into his spiel and I reflexively made like a traffic cop, hand up in the STOP gesture. “Yeah, I’ve talked to missionaries”. A brief impulse to engage with them flitted across my mind before I squelched it because too hot, too fed up with Mormonism et al at that moment and otherwise enjoying my brief interlude in the park when I could lose myself in the friendly throng and not think of anything more taxing than how many blueberries to purchase and whether I wanted to chance tasting a homemade bannock from a stranger.

The missionary stopped talking, a half-smile flitted across his face and they nodded and turned away. When I looked back not long after they were already nowhere to be seen. Maybe they realized that preaching would be inappropriate or maybe someone told them to clear off. I doubt it, as it was a friendly crowd, although unwanted preachers can turn people off pretty quick.

I didn’t think til this morning that I could have offered to buy them a cold drink on a hot day.

It’s a thankless task their church sends them out to do. To them, maybe just another notch on the belt to mark their progress on the way to adulthood in Mormonism, a way of achieving the vital goal of returning with honour and the lofty status of returned missionary.

What a colossal waste of two years of one’s young life.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/07/2022 03:19PM by Nightingale.

Your reaction was how I would have responded too.

It's too bad people can't even go to a local Farmer's Market without them bugging everyone! They always put me in a foul mood when I see them out looking for suckers..er, I mean victims...er, I mean prospects.

I'm not buying that they didn't know already exactly what that was. They were just trying to start a conversation.

Having spent a significant part of my adult life in Métis country, that and the bannock caught my attention more than the mission mormonaries.

I still think somebody needs to do a movie on the life of Louis Riel. It could be an epic similar to The Piano, about the colonization of New Zealand, or Dances with Wolves. Riel was chased across the Canadian plains, and into Montana, for killing a mountie during a Métis rebellion. He married and ran for public office in Fort Benton, the end of the navigable part of the Missouri River. He went back to Saskatchewan to help in another Métis rebellion, was captured, and eventually executed, the same year that the trans-Canada railroad was finished. Canada is one of the rare countries that did not have a war as its founding event. It was that railroad that created modern Canada. His life and eventual execution was a parallel story to the subjugation of the Canadian prairies and Rocky Mountains, just like the plot of The Piano with respect to New Zealand.

Riel was also something of a religious mystic, and thought the pope was going to move the Vatican to Saskatchewan, among other wild ideas. That's only slightly crazier than JS claiming Jesus would return to Missouri, and it was about the same time frame.

It could be an epic movie. And there would of course be bannock in the movie. :)

It’s the same story world wide. The people with the greater technology beat the people who didn’t and what the top dogs wanted was the resources. The old money go after the raw materials because they are always in demand and they control whole markets that those materials are in. There was always a big push for railroads because that’s how you moved the materials.

There was nothing the natives had that the modern world needed other than the land they were on.

Rubicon Wrote:
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> There was nothing the natives had that the modern
> world needed other than the land they were on.

Absolutely.

I recently met some lovely Métis women at a different farm market. They were eager to share their history with others and I found out where their museum is located. I plan to visit there soon. They handed out literature detailing their history, including an entire sheet about Louis Riel. We had learned in school that he was a "traitor" and was hanged for rebellion. That was about the sum total of my knowledge of Métis history. I was bowled over when my eye caught the last paragraph of their Riel history sheet that stated Louis Riel is now considered a Father of Confederation in Canada. I certainly had never heard that before. "Louis Riel - traitor" is what was stuck in my head, without much knowledge to back it up at all, just what they inculcated us with in grade school a ways back. I always remembered that though, out of all the stuff they taught us.

The women were handing out lovely Métis sashes to passersby and I was surprised to learn it's OK for non-Métis to wear them, as well as pins flashing symbols such as the eternity sign.

It suddenly hit me how sparse was my knowledge and how very much I had to learn, as well as how fascinating the history is. This was just a few weeks before Pope Francis visited Canada on his Apology Tour, a week of non-stop media coverage about the Catholic Church, its history of operating residential schools, along with several other major churches where appalling, widespread, unspeakable abuse occurred for many years, the tragic legacy of the residential schools with their ongoing effects down to this day, and all the controversy about whether the Pope would really apologize as well as what he could or could not say. The CBC had excellent resources in many Indigenous scholars, writers, leaders, journalists and spokespeople who explained their requests to the Pope and their opinions throughout the week about the nature and content of his speeches. They were waiting for him to say the 'G' word all week (genocide) but he did not. Until he was on the plane home, that is, and a journalist asked him why he didn't use that word. "It didn't come to mind" he replied.

Didn't come to mind? It was the exact word they had been longing to hear him utter - an acknowledgement of cultural and physical genocide perpetrated against Indigenous Peoples in Canada, evident, unbelievably, in the recent GPR searches at former residential school sites that revealed mass graves and unmarked graves of many Indigenous children who were taken away from their families by the government of Canada's residential school mandates, run by various churches, including Catholic. Obviously the families knew their children had been taken away and that some had never returned to them but they didn't know for sure until then what may have happened to them.

So, the Pope acknowledged on the homebound flight that yes, "what I described [during his various speeches in Canada] was genocide".

Of course, I've known about the residential schools issue for years but I didn't take the time to really look into it and study the history, the colonialism, the superior attitudes (re race etc), the religious ideas that helped to create such policies as well as leading to the cruel treatment the children were subjected to, both by government and church officials as well as by the nuns, priests and other teachers in the various schools.

Indigenous spokespeople have estimated that over 70,000,00 children were never returned home after they were taken away from their families.

It's kind of misleading, certainly to Canadians who don't research and study the various issues, to say they went to school. I always had the vague and thought-stopping impression that going to school was a good thing, we were helping them. I never took the time to study the issues until the GPR story came out as well as while avidly watching the extensive coverage recently of all the pomp and ceremony of the Pope's visit.

The way the various Indigenous spokespeople explained the issues, the relationships, the reasons, and their requests now for ways to address the lingering issues was riveting, but raised a lot of uncomfortable questions and feelings about what is very recent history in Canada and not at all well known in detail by enough people, including myself.

I get torn between acute sadness at the tragedy of it all, feeling appalled at the ongoing revelations, but reflexively bristling somewhat at the implications that "settlers" (White Canadians) bear generational responsibility for the wrongdoing (reflex response: it wasn't me, I didn't do it, I wasn't even here then), and beating myself up for not having paid more attention and learning more. I, along with millions of others, I'm guessing, figured that after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2008-2015) acknowledged wrongdoing and set out various ways to address and compensate Indigenous Peoples we'd "fixed it".

Not that simple. Or that quick.

So, I have learned a good lesson in that ongoing learning in life is a valuable, and necessary, endeavour.

Learning eons ago, in the dark ages of my life (way back when, early grade school) that Louis Riel was a traitor who was hanged, that is all I knew about him but for some reason that nugget of info always stayed in my mind. I should have taken time to learn more history. Ideas and impressions change as more information comes forth.

Still, I was SO surprised to see the bottom line on the history page the Métis women were distributing: Louis Riel, convicted of treason and hanged by the Canadian government, is now recognized as a Father of Confederation. Never heard that before. I stood there with my mouth open. "But he was hanged!" I stupidly said. Another lesson in perspective. How things are seen in different lights according to one's position and objectives. Small victory for Riel now that all these years later he is seen in a new and positive light. Just a tad late for him, very unfortunately.

Here's a long but most interesting article on Wiki about Riel:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Riel

I plan to visit the Métis museum soon. I'm sure there will be other jaw-droppers for me to come across as I'm only just realizing how little I know and how much there is to learn. As "settlers" (I'm still not used to being lumped in with that term, which easily sounds derogatory) we tend to think we're pretty darn good and clever folks. Taking charge, getting necessary things done, "helping" everybody.

For now, I'm still slightly gobsmacked that Pope Francis uttered the word 'genocide' (even if folks had to wait until his return flight home to hear him say it). As well as from (finally) hearing and reading the true nature of all the outreach to Indigenous Peoples by foreign governments (Canada, for example), occupiers in fact, and the true objective of the various involved churches (Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian and United, for eg) which is an admitted, long term, deliberate intent to colonize, convert and assimilate the youth and to keep them away from their families altogether. That last objective was certainly, and tragically, met as evidenced by the scores of unmarked and mass graves recently found and those yet to be discovered.

The television coverage of the papal visit, and apology - repeated in three communities during his week's "Pilgrimage of Penance" - was riveting, both for the information as well as the glimpses into the cultures of various Indigenous groups. The photographers/videographers should all win awards for the absolutely amazing pictorial record they have created of the events. As the cameras panned the crowds, Catholics, non-Catholics, Indigenous guests and non-Indigenous onlookers, I could see countless utterly sad faces that pulled at the heartstrings.

When the Pope travelled to Iqaluit (Arctic) there were many very elderly people in the audience. My sister described them as having "ravaged faces". That is the exact word for those I saw. Who knows what memories they have of personal and/or family tragedies, and the depth of the pain they have suffered.

"Hi. We're missionaries." Suddenly you can see that whole conversion thing in a new light. How for Indigenous folks in Canada (as well as other locations) it was the kiss of death, for their families and even, for their children, of their way of life and their family connections.

I got a small taste of being the crazy missionary lady as a JW, much more so than during my brief Mormon interlude. How when you knock on a door and the person who answers says "not interested" and instead of backing off you must keep pushing, according to JW teachings that first, force their people to do the "service" in the first place and next, teach/require them to bother people in a pushy manner until they are soundly told off, often with the obligatory slamming doors. Then the JW missionary ("we are all missionaries", at all times too) can feel like wow, we're really suffering for the Lord. We must be such obedient servants, more worthy than everybody else.

The urge to proselytize is a pox in our midst. For all the doors I knocked on as a JW, and all the times I tried to encourage people to attend this or that religious service or event with a view to conversion, I repent. I am sorry. Even though I wasn't too pushy about it. I always believed that No means No. Unlike some of my compatriots at various times.

People should be free to be left alone, whether at home, on the street or in a park buying berries, weighing up the bannock samples, or checking out the local craft brews.

Amen.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/07/2022 05:35PM by Nightingale.

I've had the feeling for a long time that cultures have the right to their own spiritual beliefs. What does Catholicism have to do with native American/Canadian beliefs? What does Christianity, originated in the middle east, have to do with western spirituality? I'm not saying that all beliefs are healthy or valid, just that cultures have a right to find their own way, and to find belief systems that make sense within their own value systems.

There are some that do -- Hinduism for India, Shinto for Japan, Confucionism and Taoism for China, Buddhism (broadly) for Asia, and Judaisim for the Jewish people. Those are religions and belief systems that sprung up from, and make sense for their native cultures.

IMO you simply cannot make the case that Christianity makes any sense at all for Native American/Canadian cultures. They (have) had their own valid belief systems, many of which were destroyed by Christianity and Catholicism.

I don't know if Riel is still even taught in the social studies curriculum. I ate that stuff up. And yes a movie would be great. He was a very interesting chapter im the history of my nation. I grew up with some kids with Metis blood in their ancestry.

It goes far beyond the two official years. Their whole lives up to that point has been usurped by the forces that expect them to be missionaries. Preaching to the choir, I know.

slskipper Wrote:
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> It goes far beyond the two official years. Their
> whole lives up to that point has been usurped by
> the forces that expect them to be missionaries.
> Preaching to the choir, I know.

Good point. That's why I can't get that annoyed with them. They're not given much choice, are they?

You could mess with them. Ask for an audience with the Q15 to discuss ways you can help fix the church. Bring up embarrassing topics like the blacks and Cain theory, Brigham Young's wives and wars, Joseph's horn doggery, City Creek, Ensign Peak, etc. I think I could be a great annoyance to missionaries while having fun at it.

Otherwise, I probably wouldn't know anything about the Mètis.

It has stayed all these years as one of my favorite novels.

When I found the book in an English book store in Stockholm, I had just immigrated to Sweden and felt very alone. I didn't like Swedish so I went for books in English. So lucky to have found Laurence, just then.

"The epic culmination of Margaret Laurence's Manawaka series.
Based on the 1974 Governor General's Award-winning novel, The Diviners brings Margaret Laurence's Manawaka to life. The film follows Morag Gunn from her tough childhood in Manitoba through to middle-age -- all the while showing Morag's search for love. Along the way, we meet various characters from the Manawaka series and catch a glimpse into the many ways that society creates outcasts. The film also explores mythology, as shown through Christie's Scottish Piper Gunn, Mètis hero Jules Tonnerre, Morag's novel and songs by Skinner and Piquette. As Margaret Laurence's crowning achievement, The Diviners shows that truth and love can be "divined" in many ways."

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106734/

For a few weeks I was feeding the missionaries, since I had been on one, I knew that members felt an obligation to make these big dinners. Instead I would feed them pizza, or have the wife grill a burger or hot dog for them with chips and soda, or similar type themes. They loved it, and after a few weeks knew not to discuss my then almost total inactivity.

Then one day they show up to introduce a new one, fresh out of the MTC for about a week. After about 5 minutes he gets that Q15 look on his face and tells me he is inspired to call me to repentance. I just looked at him while the senior of the three slaps his forehead, and then I said, OK guys time to leave. I then called the local bishopric and told them that the missionaries are no longer to come by for visits.

I am sure that senior missionary was seriously pissed, he really liked the meals my wife and I made for them.

The advantage of a foreign language mission is that the self-righteous newbies can't speak well enough to give full vent to their sanctimoniousness.

Unfortunately a few stay that way right up to the end of their missions, and then carry that sanctimoniousness home. Usually after a few months at home it subsides, or somebody beats the snot out of them. :)

Yea I know what you mean, that instance of self righteousness triggered a serious memory from my mission, I was state side, mostly rural and farming for the majority.

One day while I was standing on the street while joking with the local kids my Zone Leader drives up, get out of the car and begins to lecture me about my spirituality and commitment to furthering the cause right there on the street at dusk.

Within about 1 minute I am about two inches from his face and we are up on our toes. My companion was along side me hoping for the first swing, he told me after that he was hoping it happened because he wanted to punch the guy as well.

Anyway, the Zone Leader realized what was about to happen, so he walked back to his car with that Zone Leader glare and departed, however, the look of fear on his companions face was classic.

Wanting to beat the snot out of the sanctimonious is a common reaction. Bednar inspires that reaction. Rand Paul's next door neighbor acted on the reaction, and tackled him and broke a few ribs while Paul was out mowing his lawn. Probably an interesting back story there.

I have this thing I do when I don't want my kids to get too excited or caught up in some fad.... I embrace it more than they ever would. One example was when Justin Bieber was the thing and his merch was every where. The kids started getting all excited about him. So, we find ourselves school shopping and I'm loading up the cart with anything I can find with his face on it and I'm telling the kids the Bieber is the coolest thing ever. I fond a backpack with Bieber on it and try it on and tell the kids to get one and let's see how it looks on each on of them and get way too enthusiastic about how cool it is. IN the end, they want nothing to do with Bieber crap, and never do again.

This post about meeting the missionaries has given me the idea in an appropriate for me time, to ask them to do me a favor - and I'd be real sincere about this. Ask the missionary how long they have been out...Then ask them to do me a favor. Ask if they will give a talk to the congregation when they get home... Ask if they would tell the story of our meeting. Tell them that I am currently persecuting them right here, right now and that the persecution I am giving them right now through whetever they perceive they are free to fill in the details...tell the congragation that all I did was increase your faith. Then tell them they should start crying a little bit right now... and that I'm giving them a little bit more dose of persecution but that they endured it well and that their testimony just grew but 10-15 faith points. And that you are even more resolved and devout than ever. I would then use the commitment pattern again on them to commit them to tell this story when they get home. And encourage them that their faith just grew by leaps and bounds and that the Lord will appreciate all their future tithing donation because of this experience.

Not sure if that would do much, but it would crack me up and five them a space to feel like there are weird-o's out there in the world. But when they get home they can think that this guys was telling them how cool Bieber backpacks are and the get a chance to realize for themselves that it is all a marketing scam.

I'm being too hopeful about some kind of conversation about that, but anything to break the trance. Politely and "reverently" inviting them to feel "persecuted". Maybe even ask them to give an opening prayer that I will be able to offer the right amount of persecution to keep them committed to this organization and paying tithing declarations all their lives......Amen.