WARNING: This story contains disturbing details.
For Phil Fontaine, watching Pope Francis’ heartfelt apology Monday at the site of one of Canada’s largest residential schools illuminated a path forward for survivors and others affected by the institutions’ legacy.
“I’m as optimistic as ever. … The Pope didn’t just apologize. He didn’t just say, ‘I’m sorry.’ I think he laid out the work ahead of us,” said Fontaine, the former national head of the ‘Assembly of First Nations, which is from the Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba, on CBC’s The National Monday night.
The apology came on the first day of what the pope called his “penitential pilgrimage,” when he apologized to members of the Catholic Church who collaborated with Canada’s “devastating” policy of indigenous residential schools.
He said the forced assimilation of indigenous peoples into Christian society destroyed their cultures, separated their families and marginalized generations in a way that is still felt today.
“I humbly ask forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against indigenous peoples,” Francis told thousands of indigenous people, including many survivors, who converged on Maskwacis, Alta., about 100 kilometers south of Edmonton.
Although the Pope apologized for the actions of individual Catholics and asked for forgiveness, he did not explicitly apologize for the role of the church as an institution.
LOOK | Phil Fontaine on what Pope’s apology means to him:
Pope’s apology paves the way to healing: ex-AFN boss Phil Fontaine
Phil Fontaine, a residential school survivor and former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, talks to Adrienne Arsenault about what Pope Francis’ apology to indigenous people means to him and why he believes it paves the way for to healing
But Fontaine, a Fort Alexander Indian Residential School survivor in Manitoba who led the negotiations that led to the 2006 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, said accepting the apology on behalf of the man who speaks on behalf of the Catholic Church is an important step. when moving forward
“If we are true to our word about healing and reconciliation, we must be able to forgive. A humble person has come here before us asking for forgiveness, and of course you have to take that seriously.
“Because we also want to move on. We want to find peace and comfort in our lives. And if we don’t realize how to forgive, then this issue, this burden that we’ve had to carry for years and years, that will continue without stopping.”
Details of the words “have been ignored”: survivor
Not all survivors were so pleased with the Pope’s apology. Vivian Ketchum, a survivor of the Cecilia Jeffery Indian Residential School in Kenora who now lives in Winnipeg, said she felt the pontiff’s words “overlook” the whole truth of the effect the institutions still have today.
“I think the sincerity might have been there, but I think he doesn’t fully understand the whole situation and what was done to us — second generation, third generation. The loss of the language, the culture,” said Ketchum, who was physically and sexually abused as a child at a residential school in the 1970s.
Vivian Ketchum, a residential school survivor, says the Pope’s apology did not show a full understanding of the lingering effects of residential schools. (CBC)
He said he also noticed that the Pope did not mention any of the sexual abuse that children suffered in the institutions, or the impact that day schools had on the children forced to attend them.
“He missed a lot of things,” Ketchum said. “I didn’t see it as a full apology.”
He also criticized the traditional indigenous headdress that Chief Wilton Littlechild, a former commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, gave the Pope after the pontiff’s expected apology.
“That headdress was a little too much,” he said.
Chief Wilton Littlechild, a former commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, presented the Pope with a traditional headdress after the pontiff’s apology. (Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters)
The apology will take time to sink in
Lynda Neckoway, who is from the Fox Lake Cree Nation, said it was an emotional day to hear Winnipeg’s apology.
“It has affected so many … in such a violent way in the past and then they suffer the consequences. I still feel it today because I was married to someone who was in residential school and it affected me because of how I they dealt, the children dealt, the grandchildren dealt,” he said.
Fox Lake Cree Nation member and day school survivor Lynda Neckoway says it was an emotional day hearing the Pope’s apology from Winnipeg. (Tyson Koschik/CBC)
“There was a lot of anger and resentment and alcoholism. Some violence… And some people are still suffering from it today. A lot of grandchildren, because of the way the survivors still carry the past with them and others.”
The day school survivor, who was forced to attend one of The Pas’ institutions for three years, said she believes it will take time for some to accept the Pope’s words.
“It’s someone who says, ‘I’m sorry for what I’ve done,’ and wants forgiveness. And you know, it takes a little while for that to sink in, when someone has violated you for many years and then [is] apologizing,” Neckoway said.
Moving forward
Cindy Woodhouse, regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations in Manitoba, said it was an emotional day for her as well, standing alongside Alberta residential school survivors on Monday.
Woodhouse, a day school survivor who gave the pope an eagle feather when she met him, said she recognizes there are mixed reactions from people who heard the pope’s apology.
Manitoba Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse said she believes the Pope’s apology was a step in the right direction, although there is still work to be done. (Cindy Woodhouse-Nepinak/Facebook)
“I know there are so many opinions out there. I know a lot of people are hurting,” she said.
“People are at different stages of their journey with forgiveness and reconciliation … Canada’s dark past. Everyone [in] different places when it comes to this. Some move on and some are just beginning to realize that what was done to them was wrong.”
Woodhouse said she believes the apology was a step in the right direction, although there is still work to be done to address the harms of residential schools, particularly when it comes to child welfare in Canada.
“If there’s one way to fix anything, it’s to fix child welfare. It’s to bring families back together,” he said.
“I just hope that … our country will come together much stronger with First Nations people and with Catholics. I’m really looking forward to all of us working together and talking to each other.”
Support is available for anyone affected by their experience in residential care or recent reports.
A National Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line has been set up to support alumni and those affected. People can access crisis and emotional referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.
Mental health counseling and crisis assistance are also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by chat online at www.hopeforwellness.ca.