A new task force aimed at giving aboriginal people more control over their own affairs within the Anglican Church of Canada is being created.
The group will look at the idea of establishing a bishop to solely represent aboriginal Anglicans, along with options for creating alternative church structures, said Todd Russell, co-chairman of the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples, which will appoint the task force.
The council saw a "serious need" to move forward with ideas first put forward in the mid-'90s, said Russell during a phone interview from Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador.
"What we are looking for is a model that reflects our own aspirations of self-government within the Anglican Communion itself," he said.
Indigenous people have been "fighting for their own self-government, their own self-determination for a number of years within the Canadian federation," said Russell.
"In many ways, a lot of indigenous Anglicans see this as an extension of that overall struggle, but within a different context," he said.
The goal is not to start a church separate from the larger Anglican Church of Canada, said Russell.
One possibility could be "two co-existing entities that relate to each other ... that incorporate the central of core Anglican Christian values and norms, but still having (their own) decision-making structure and authority," said Russell.
The idea of a bishop for indigenous people was brought before the church's General Synod meeting in 1995, said Archdeacon Jim Boyles, general secretary for the Anglican Church of Canada.
There, a motion calling for further study of aboriginal self-determination within the church - including the possibility of creating a new bishop - was passed, said Boyles.
"The General Synod supports that move and that direction," said Boyles.
"But the conversation has not happened" as to what that direction will look like, he added. "That's where we are."
It would be breaking new ground to appoint a bishop that was not tied to a geographic diocese, he said.
"That hasn't been part of the tradition," said Boyles, who said it is too early to know whether the idea would be controversial within the larger church.
"Would aboriginal congregations have the opportunity to opt in or opt out? What would the relationship be with the geographic diocese?
"There are many questions, so there are many possibilities for controversies," he said.
Bishop Andrew Atagotaaluk, Canada's only indigenous bishop currently in charge of a diocese, said he doubts the appointment of a bishop for indigenous people would make much difference in his geographic jurisdiction, the Diocese of the Arctic.
There, he said, the Anglican church has historically done a better job of recognizing indigenous culture.
"From my own perspective I don't know how that would make a difference, but in the south maybe that would make a difference more," said Atagotaaluk. "The non-aboriginal church (there) has dominated the people more."
If he were to be approached about becoming the national bishop, Atagotaaluk said he was not interested "at the moment."
Possible candidates for the job have not yet been discussed, said Russell.
The task force will make its report in May 2004 at the national church's General Synod meeting.
It's possible the new bishop could be appointed by 2007, said Donna Bomberry, the national church's co-ordinator of indigenous ministries.
It's not being suggested that aboriginals and non-aboriginals stop mixing in church, said Bomberry.
Russell agreed.
"That is not the vision," he said. "The vision is there would be a truly indigenous Anglican church within the communion. But that church would be open to all peoples."
The push for greater self-determination is picking up speed for a number of reasons, he said.
"I think some of the issues around residential schools and the latest settlement agreement with the Anglican Church has highlighted the need for us to move in this direction," he said.
He said it was not "necessarily a move out of frustration," but rather an issue of "natural progression."
"I think it's important for a group that has been damaged in part by the church through residential schools and other policies to seek ways to find its identity and move forward in a self determining way."