National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
SUPPLEMENT TO THE FREE PRESS • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2022
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PHOTO BY MATT ARCHER FROM THE NORTHWORDS LITERATURE FESTIVAL
Niigaan Sinclair, professor of Native Studies at the University of Manitoba.
The impact OF THE POPE’S VISIT TO CANADA
Honour the children. Honour the survivors. Change the future.
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation honours the children who never returned from residential schools, as well as the survivors, their families and communities. Commemorating the painful history and the ongoing impact of this tragedy is a vital part of reconciliation. As we continue our journey of enlightenment, we remain committed to meaningful actions of reconciliation, and encourage everyone to explore the rich and diverse cultures, experiences and stories of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. acu.ca
By Todd Lewys O n June 1, 2008, the Truth and Rec- onciliation Commission in Canada was formed. Its purpose was straightforward: to research and document the history and lasting impacts of the Canadian Indian Resi- dential School system on Indigenous stu- dents and their families. Seven years later, in June 2015, the com- mission published 94 Calls to Action that were designed to reveal the damage done by residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation. One of those 94 calls – Call 58 – called upon the Pope to issue an apology to Survi- vors, their families and communities for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in the spiri- tual, cultural, emotional, physical and sexual abuse of First Nations, Inuit and Métis chil- dren in Catholic-run residential schools. The apology, which was to mirror the apol- ogy issued to Irish victims of abuse in 2010, was to be issued one year after the release of the report, with the Pope coming to Cana- da to issue the apology. As it turned out, the apology was delivered many years later on Monday, July 25, 2022, in Edmonton. In that apology, Pope Francis referred to “the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous people.” He later took his comments a step further, speaking to the “deplorable evil” of residen- tial schools. While the apology came much later than hoped, it accomplished three substantial things, says Niigaan Sinclair, professor of Native Studies at the University of Mani- toba. “First, it signalled that Catholicism must be different. Second, on the Thursday of the week of his visit, he said that Indigenous peoples must be respected in their own cultural practices and that the face of God
is within them,” he says. “Third, he said the schools were a policy of genocide.” However, while the tone and content of the apology were welcomed, it merely sig- nalled a formal start to the process of rec- onciliation. “We’re in the infancy stage of a healthy re- lationship,” says Sinclair. “It has to modern- ize and change, and the Catholic church has to act and change from the doctrine they set forth upon the world. It left a brutal, terrible legacy.” He adds that the federal government must also work with Canada’s Indigenous peoples to help them heal and move forward from that brutal legacy. “Essentially, Canada has to revoke it. Granted, this government has been the most progressive government with Indigenous peoples that we’ve ever had in doing things, like doing what they can to do away with boiled water advisories, but the bar has been set low.” Sinclair says the federal government needs to do its part to start the reconciliation pro- cess as soon as possible. “They shouldn’t have to wait for direction from the Pope. In a private audience with Prime Minister Trudeau, Gov. Gen. Mary Simon said that the atrocities committed didn’t come from a bunch of bad apples — they were the result of a systemic problem.” The devastation caused by the badly flawed system has been well documented, from emotional trauma to Indigenous peo- ples across the country being hammered into physical and spiritual poverty. That being the case, the Pope — and by extension the Catholic church — must work hard to win back the respect of Canada’s In- digenous people. “As we’ve seen, churches can’t give us all the answers,” he says. “In the past, they act- ed on an ‘and/or’ mentality. It provides no
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