Friday of the Fourth Week of Advent
Depending on location, the victimization rate of Indigenous peoples throughout North America ranges anywhere between 2 to 10 times higher than the national average.
Indigenous women and girls make up nearly three-quarters of the victims of the violent crime and human trafficking incidents perpetrated against Native peoples. Nearly 50% of their cases go unreported.
Violence against women, girls, and gender-nonconforming people is an issue that spans across cultures and time. The call to dismantle oppression and discrimination based on these criteria is an ongoing one that the people of God must reckon with within our Church and society.
In what ways are you making the world safer for vulnerable communities? Does your community have initiatives to protect those who are most victimized? Does your church or parish support the safety and dignity of those who are not men?
-Meditation by CTA Staffer and Indigenous Solidarity Collective Member Revalon Wesson.
The 2022 Advent Calendar is a project of CTA's Indigenous Solidarity Collective, a working group that addresses the Catholic Church's historical and current role in colonialization. To support more projects from working groups like this one, please consider making a contribution!
Call To Action's 2022 Advent Calendar, planned and written by the Indigenous Solidarity Collective, provides 27 days of prayer and study to lead into action and solidarity with Indigenous communities. Here is today's meditation.
Call to Action: 41
Justice
“ 41. We call upon the federal government, in consultation with Aboriginal organizations, to appoint a public inquiry into the causes of, and remedies for, the disproportionate victimization of Aboriginal women and girls.
The inquiry’s mandate would include:
i. Investigation into missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls.
ii. Links to the intergenerational legacy of residential schools.”
December 23th, 2022
Further Reading
Indigenous-Centered Organizations to Support
The watercolor paintings featured on this calendar were created by Duane Yazzie, an artist of Hopi and Navajo ancestry. Yazzie creates artwork that reflects his Indigenous heritage and his childhood spent in the Southwest.
