Survivors of Canada’s residential school system who were present for Pope Francis’s apology on Monday, 25 July 2022, described the moment as historical and “bittersweet,” but said that the highly anticipated mea culpa would only be meaningful if followed by concrete action.
Newsroom (26/07/2022 6:55 PM Gaudium Press) Speaking during a press conference after the pope’s apology, Samson Cree Nation Chief Vernon Saddleback said, “Words cannot describe how important today is for the healing journey for a lot of First Nations people.”
“I’m really grateful for this event to happen,” he said, calling the pope’s apology a historic moment for Canada and all First Nations communities. “It was an amazing day, a historic day…words fail me to say what this means to my people.”
Similarly, Frog Leg Cree Nation Chief Greg Desjarlais voiced gratitude that a papal apology finally happened in Canada, saying, “today is a bittersweet day.”
“It’s bitter in some people’s minds and hearts, some people are upset, but it’s also sweet for some that have moved on and moved into a direction of healing,” he said. “There is a better life for our people out there, even though our ancestors went through the social ills, the atrocities, the abuse.”
As members of First Nations communities, Desjarlais said survivors can take the pope’s apology, “accept it, and move forward the best we know how, or we can be stuck.”
“I want to encourage survivors to move forward in a good way,” he said, calling them “the drivers that will help change the landscape for our children and grandchildren.”
Desjarlais said he felt that the pope’s apology was sincere and that Francis “really did some homework, that he really dug in and made it as meaningful as he could.”
On his first public event after landing in Canada on Sunday, Pope Francis met with members of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities on the grounds of the former Ermineskin residential school in Maskwacis Alberta. The place was once home to the largest number of residential schools in Canada.
During the meeting, Francis said he was “deeply sorry” for the ways in which “many Christians supported the colonizing mentality of the powers that oppressed the Indigenous peoples” and for the Catholic Church’s complicity “in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the governments of that time, which culminated in the system of residential schools.”
Pope Francis’s apology was also a direct response to one of the calls to action issued by Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which asked that the pope issue an apology on Canadian soil, given the importance of land in Indigenous culture and tradition.
During Monday’s press conference, Chief Desmond Bull of Louis Bull Tribe said that as a residential school survivor, he is “still healing and reconnecting to the traditions that our ancestors were not allowed to pass on.”
“I’m sure emotions will be high in the aftermath of this apology,” he said, criticizing those who have told First Nations to “get over it” and move on.
“We can’t get over it when the last of our residential schools closed in the mid-90s, when our survivors are still here, when that intergenerational trauma impacts every youth and every member, every family who had a survivor of residential schools,” he said.
“Instead of getting over it, I’m asking you to get with it, get with learning about our history, get with learning about our culture, our people, who we are,” Bull said, saying the best way to help members of First Nations heal is to get to know survivors and to “be part of that journey.”
Chief Tony Alexis of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation stressed the importance of Pope Francis’s apology being delivered on the grounds of a former residential school where the atrocities took place.
“As we approached this day, there was a sense of hope, a sense of hope that this apology will bring healing to them immediately,” he said. Instead, Alexis said, some people “were triggered” by the pope’s words, and old wounds were reopened.
“We can’t just leave it like that,” Alexis said and stressed the need to do more, adding that “we have to really take steps to help heal and recover our people.”
Both the Catholic Church and the government “need to step up to this. You can’t just say I’m sorry and walk away. There has to be effort, there has to be work, and more meaningful action behind it,” he said, adding, “There’s a lot of work that still has to happen.”
Evelyn Korkmaz, a survivor who attended St. Anne’s residential school, shared this sentiment, saying she has waited 50 years for the pope’s apology, “and finally today I heard it.”
Calling the moment “overwhelming,” Korkmaz said when she heard the pope say he was sorry, “Part of me rejoices, part of me is sad, part of me is numb.”
“I am glad I lived long enough to have witnessed this apology, but I want more, because 50 years is too long to wait for an apology,” she said. However, Korkmaz was disappointed that the pope did not present “a work plan” of how he intends to continue the path of reconciliation “because reconciliation means many different things to different people.”
Yet, she hopes to attend papal events in Quebec on Wednesday and hopes Pope Francis, during his time there, “extends his apology” and presents a plan for going forward.
She called for the opening of church archives to give closure to survivors and their families. For all First Nations, knowing information such as identifying children buried in unmarked graves on school grounds would help them move on, she said. “This is all we are asking.”
The request to open church archives was also brought up during the visit of several Indigenous delegations to the Vatican in March, ahead of the pope’s trip to Canada.
Bishop Raymond Poisson of Saint-Jérôme, Québec, President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), said the bishops who travelled with the delegations in March asked Vatican departments about any documents they might have on file about the residential schools. He had to tell them that there is no central archive with that information in Rome.
Everything is in Canada, he said but cautioned that the archives of communities that ran the residential schools are mostly sacramental, documenting “when these children did their First Communion or Confirmation.” In contrast, the government keeps archives on the schools themselves and the children who attended.
During Monday’s press conference, survivors called for the church and the government to do more, saying that the apology, while necessary and appreciated, is not enough by itself.
Jon Cryer, an elder, knowledge keeper and survivor from Samson Cree Nation, recounted his experience of physical and spiritual abuse at a residential school, saying he witnessed classmates being beaten for speaking their native languages. He was told that the traditional spirituality practiced by his parents and grandparents was a “superstition” and the devil’s work.
Given the extensive damage, “I ask myself, is this apology enough?” he said. However, he said, the apology is “a huge opportunity” for civil and ecclesial leaders to make real progress in healing and reconciliation.
“The church and the rest of Canada, the government, while we’re doing this work of healing, I’m expecting that they also will be doing their work. After all, we’re in this together,” he said.
Chief Randy Ermineskin of Ermineskin Cree Nation, who is a residential school survivor, said the apology was highly significant and that as the pope spoke, his mind was filled with memories of his classmates and the abuses they all endured.
“It’s about truth, justice, healing, reconciliation, but one thing I want to talk about today is hope,” he said. “We have to really encourage and bring hope to our communities.
Grand Chief George Arcand Jr. of the Alexander First Nation said the “unspeakable” trauma children endured at residential schools must never be forgotten.
He said the pope’s apology was meaningful and voiced hope that it helped “each person in their own way” to find healing.
“Today we learned that the church has a way to go,” he said, saying there is “a bigger challenge” ahead as the healing process moves forward.
“We need to move the goal posts,” he said. “The system within the Church needs to be un-learned – their ways of patronizing our people.”
Indigenous must be looked at as partners, he said. “I have faith this can be done. I know it can be done.” The pope’s apology, Arcand said, is mere “a first step in making amends towards our people.”
“After meeting with the pope and hearing his words today, I believe there’s a path forward together,” he said. “Pope Francis has shown grace, he can lead the change for his people, and we prepared to walk alongside them in their reconciliation journey.”
Compiled by Raju Hasmukh
(Via Crux Now)
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