Elbows up? Learning from Indigenous Treaty Makers and Land Defenders

Elbows up! When you hear this phrase, do you picture a hockey player, or some of the recent Canadian politicians and celebrities to strike this pose?

Sandy-Saulteaux Spiritual Centre offers education for reconciliation, that is open to everyone. We also train Indigenous leaders for ministry – or in other words, for helping and healing roles in church and community. The teachers in our programs have some different “elbows up” stories to share.

Last fall, at a Learning Circle we held in Six Nations territory, Haudenosaunee teacher Adrian Jacobs shared the story of a wampum belt at least 880 years old. Like the one he is holding up in the photo, this belt records the story of the Peacemaker, who brought peace to five different nations.

See those lines of white beads, standing out against the purple beaded background? Between the five shapes representing the five nations, the lines connecting and reaching out are a symbol of arms linked together. The people decided not to fight, but to link arms with one another. The Peacemaker showed them that this is what would make their confederacy strong.

Give it a try. Hold your elbows out to your side. See how you are ready to link arms?

Indigenous nations also made (and continue to make) treaties with the newcomers to this land. Treaties are sacred covenants, that bind peoples together in a relationship based on respect, sharing and care for the Earth. Settler people and their descendants have not honoured these treaties. Indigenous people and the land suffer.

Adrian shared more stories of his people linking arms together to stop this suffering. When land has been threatened, women have linked arms with one another on the frontlines of a conflict. Indigenous women continue to protect the land by responding to violence with peace and resolve.

Adrian then invited our Indigenous ministry students, and the non-Indigenous partners they were meeting with, to stand and link arms with the people next to them: “This is what we meant by treaty.”

If you’d like to learn more about honouring treaties and practice building relationships of respect, check out the events we’ve got coming up. All of our events foster teachings of respect, healing, and connectedness that can help us link arms across divides, to defend the sacredness of all lives.

So go ahead, get your elbows up. Then look around and see who’s waiting to link arms with you.