For nearly 20 years, Greg Johnson has served as a pastor to the congregation of Memorial Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, which is part of the Presbyterian Church in America. Last year, the PCA attempted to ban clergy like him for identifying as gay.
Non-Indigenous people who encounter Indigenous #LandBack protests are often surprised or taken aback: They may be angry about being inconvenienced on their commute and may even resort to racist stereotypes to explain what is happening. They might ask themselves questions like: Why are Indigenous people so upset? Why are they choosing to occupy land or block a road instead of writing letters to their elected representatives? To understand why, Canadians would do well to learn about the long histories of all the ways settlers have been taking Indigenous lands, and the centuries-long struggle of Indigenous peoples to defend their lands.