The primary focus of the Aboriginal Neighbours program is people: accepting, respecting, helping,
and being helped by people who are different than us. One such person was Fred Grinder,
a Shushwap elder from Canoe Creek.
Fred was one of the hardest workers I have ever known.
In spite of his handicaps he had the largest garden in the community. For tilling the garden
the roto-tiller served as his crutches, he sat on a chair to hoe. Together with his helper
Irene and her daughter Allison they hauled manure, cut up moose, canned fish, and repaired vehicles.
And everyone that visited left with a gift.
Fred also had a deep faith in the "man up there."
I remember his sincerity as he told me of being healed. One winter day a few years ago
Fred’s truck went over the embankment of a dirt road in the Fraser Canyon. For six hours he
lay alone pinned in his truck in sub-zero weather. When help finally arrived he was air lifted
to Vancouver where he was diagnosed with a broken neck. That night, immobilized in traction,
he felt a warmth enter his body through his head. A voice said, "Fred, get up, you’re not
finished yet." The next morning he talked his way out of restraints, walked across the room,
and went home.
Fred was a friend of MCC. More than two hundred people made their way through
sixty miles of mud to attend his funeral.
Highlights
- Building Bridges - MCC has assisted in forums on the Nisga’a Treaty in Vancouver and at Trinity Western University,
and in facilitating aboriginal speakers to various churches.
- Don Ryan, spokesperson for the Hereditary chiefs of the
Gitksan, did a workshop at our 1998 MCC AGM.
- In July of ‘99 the youth group from Peace Church in Richmond visited
Kispiox, a Gitksan reserve. While there they learned from elders and chiefs, visited a cultural centre, and spent a
day with Gitksan peers.
- Program: MCC is urgently seeking to fill a number of voluntary service openings in aboriginal
communities. This year was the lowest participation yet in our summer gardens program. Help us find people to garden,
work with youth, or do other things (May - Aug.). We have many invitations.
- Advocacy: MCC endorsed the recent "Spiritual leaders and communities" statement in support of negotiated treaties.
We continue to participate in the Aboriginal Rights Coalition, and inter-church coalition for aboriginal justice. "Why Treaties," an MCC booklet, attempts to explain in layman’s terms the complex treaty process, and why many aboriginal groups refuse to join.
Darryl Klassen, Program Coordinator
For more information contact Darryl Klassen at (604) 850-6639, 857-0011 toll free from Vancouver, or 1-888-622-6337 from outside the Lower Mainland
