In the News April 1

Residential School Survivors Pursue Cause of Justice

Assembly of First Nations Delegation Calls on Catholic Church to Rescind the Doctrine of Discovery

Assembly of First Nations’ delegation in St. Peter’s Square, March 31, 2022.

Sixteen members of an Assembly of First Nations (AFN) delegation met with Pope Francis I at the Vatican on March 31. They were the third group of Indigenous peoples to meet with the Pope, the Métis and Inuit having met with him on March 28. The delegation was led by the AFN’s Northwest Territories Regional Chief Gerald Antoine, a member of the Dene Nation.

The meeting scheduled for an hour lasted two hours. The aim of the exchange with the Pope was to directly inform him of the impact of the residential schools on Indigenous children, of whom more than than 90 per cent were from the First Nations. Besides calling for the Pope to come to Canada to apologize directly to Indigenous peoples for the crimes members of the Catholic order committed against them as children and to compensate survivors for the harm done to them, the delegation called on the Pope to rescind the Doctrine of Discovery.

The Doctrine of Discovery emanates from a series of Papal Bulls (formal statements from the Pope which set policy) originating in the 1400s. This doctrine was used as a justification for the colonial dispossession of sovereign Indigenous nations in the Americas of their lands and the subjugation of their people during the European “Age of Discovery.” The main tenet of this outlook was that Indigenous peoples had no souls and therefore were not human, and that the lands that were “discovered” were terra nullius, empty of human habitation. This outlook was the foundation of Indigenous policy in Canada that has repercussions to this day. The call for Canada to repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery is number 47 of the 94 Calls to Action of the historic Truth and Reconciliation Commission of 2015.

The AFN delegation also called on the Pope to release all the records and documents that are being held by the Vatican and other religious orders pertaining to the residential schools. This is essential so that the whole truth of this enterprise can be established as part of obtaining justice for the victims, for healing and for reconciliation.

The delegation gave the Pope a cradle board which is used to carry Indigenous children, as a symbol of every child who attended a residential school and never returned. They called on him to reflect on their meeting and to return the cradle board at the April 1 meeting with all the Indigenous representatives as a sign that he would apologize for the crimes committed.

Assembly of First Nations delegation holds press conference, March 31, 2022 following their meeting with the Pope.

In a press conference following the meeting with the Pope, Grand Chief Mandy Gull-Masty of the Eeyou Istchee Cree Nation in Quebec said, “We said to His Holiness, ‘How you treat this cradle board will demonstrate how you treat our people in the future.'” “By returning the cradle board to the delegation, he will be demonstrating his commitment to our people,” the Chief added.

Regional Chief Antoine said that the audience with the Pope was productive, that the Pope seemed to be listening to the delegation.

(Photos: AFN, E. Lily)

Renewal Update, posted April 1, 2022.