Pope's visit should include apology and action, says Cowessess First Nation chief 

WARNING: This story contains distressing details.

Story Transcript

When Pope Francis comes to Canada to meet with Indigenous people, he should be ready to apologize for the Roman Catholic Church's role in residential schools, and properly compensate survivors, says Cowessess First Nation Chief Cadmus Delorme.

The Pope will make a journey to Canada "in the context of the long-standing pastoral process of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples," the Vatican said on Wednesday.

The announcement comes as Indigenous communities across Canada begin the process of locating thousands of unmarked graves of children at or near the sites of former residential schools.

Between the 1870s and the 1990s, Canada's federal government took more than 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children from their families and forced them to residential schools designed to assimilate them by stripping them of their own languages and cultures. The schools were church-run, and many were under the purview of the Roman Catholic Church. 

A national inquiry revealed widespread abuse and neglect at the schools. The Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) Commission of Canada has found evidence that 4,100 children died of disease, malnourishment, suicide and more, but says the true total is likely much higher. 

The Cowessess First Nation announced in June that it had found 751 unmarked graves at a cemetery near the former Marieval Indian Residential School using ground-penetrating radar.

Delorme spoke to As It Happens host Carol Off about how the community has been dealing with those findings, and what they would like to hear from the Pope. Here is part of their conversation 

Chief Delorme, given what your community has been through, are people willing to welcome the Pope to Canada? 

Cowessess First Nation has been through a lot in the last few months, as well as many years and decades. A part of our healing journey is to address the truth. And Cowessess First Nation is open to the apology, and to actions that come with the apology, from the Pope. 

The Pope has indicated he would come to Canada, but he is not saying that he is even going to apologize. So if he did come and there wasn't an apology, how would that be received? 

That would be a step in the wrong direction. In this country, in the last five months, since Kamloops, since Marieval, since others are telling their story of unmarked graves, this entire country is about to reset on a new direction between a better relationship with Indigenous people and Canada. 

And a part of that — and No. 56 of the Truth and Reconciliation calls to action — is an apology from the Pope on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church's role in residential schools. 

There are two things you said that have to happen. One is that there has to be some compensation, some recognition in a more concrete way, as to what happened to Indigenous people at the schools run by the Catholic Church. And so we know already that [a] landmark settlement that was supposed to have been provided by the church has fallen far short. So would the Pope ... have to commit that they're going to compensate people properly for what happened?

What is the end goal of reconciliation? You know, the end goal for myself is I've got a five-year-old daughter. She's Indigenous. And because of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls' calls for justice, because of what Indigenous people have to go through on a daily [basis] in this country, because of what we inherited, my five-year-old daughter has [less of a] chance of succeeding than other five-year-old daughters. 

We need investment. Intergenerational trauma is real and it is in our communities. It's in our urban settings. And so the Roman Catholic Church must invest. Because I only know 20 per cent of my language, based on what I learned in school and the little bit I learned in my community, because at one time my grandparents were whipped, hit and beaten for speaking my language. 

We must have investment, compensation, so that my five-year-old daughter one day can be whatever she wants. 

So when the Pope comes, I'm hopeful he will apologize. We will then start to work on our action plan so that we can get to the end goal in this country together. 

What you just described about what happened to your grandparents ... the story [has] played out so many times, tens of thousands of times. And what we've learned in the course of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission about the kinds of abuse is staggering. Do you think that the Pope recognizes that? Do you think that at the highest level of the Catholic Church, they understand what happened, they know the details, and that they understand the impact that had? 

I'm unaware of the conversations they're having at the Vatican. I work with the [Regina] archdiocese Donald [J. Bolen] here in the Saskatchewan area, and Donald and I have had some very intense respectable conversations. And Don is aware of it. Don sits at the national diocese table. And, you know, from the feedback I'm getting, they get it. They are understanding and accepting it.

I know there's a governance structure within the Vatican, and I'm assuming going up the chain, conversations must be happening. 

There has been progress to the understanding you just alluded to, that people have come to know much of what happened in those schools. And the shock of what we learned at Kamloops, at Marieval, at Cowessess, is changing the conversation in this country. But this is something that you've known. All Indigenous people knew these kids didn't come home. How has it been these past months? How's it been for your community? 

This is by far the worst timing when it comes to intergenerational trauma coming up....The unmarked graves that have triggered some of my most strongest advisors, residential school survivors, in many ways. 

The investment needed for mental and emotional support in Indigenous communities, with Indigenous people in urban settings, is needed more than ever in this country today. 

In your community alone, 751 unmarked graves [were] found at the former residential school in June. Do you want to see the Pope in your community? 

I would consult with survivors. But as of this hour, the conversations that we have had [at] the Cowessess First Nation, the Marieval Residential School was in our community for 98 years. For 75 of those years, it was [run] by the Roman Catholic Church. And so we see it fitting that if the Pope was to come to a place of where the impact was felt, the Cowessess First Nation, we would provide a moment of truth, a moment of conversation and a moment of action moving forward. 

That is what Cowessess did with the prime minister [Justin Trudeau] with the premier [Scott Moe] and with other guests who came to Cowessess, is that we identified the truth, because we cannot move to reconciliation without first accepting the truth, and then we had some time for the survivors to share, and then we talked about actions moving forward that we all can do to help strengthen this country.

Support is available for anyone affected by their experience at residential schools, and those who are triggered by the latest reports.

A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for survivors and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.

Written by Sheena Goodyear. Interview produced by Chris Harbord. Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.