WINNIPEG, Man. — Canadian Mennonite University made headlines this fall when it was revealed that workers at the CMU Farm, in collaboration with members of the Métis community, had successfully grown an ancient variety of squash from seeds shared with them by the White Earth Seed Library in Minnesota.
Representatives of every stream of global Christianity met Nov. 1-5 in Tirana, Albania, for a consultation on “Discrimination, Persecution, Martyrdom: Following Christ Together.” The event was convened by the Global Christian Forum.
Thanksgiving’s roots in an encounter between European settlers and indigenous people point to a dark side of that history. Mennonites who want to raise awareness of unjust treatment of indigenous people are using a little-known historical precedent — the Doctrine of Discovery — to show how indigenous people are still being negatively affected today.