OTTAWA –
As Pope Francis traveled across Canada, the demand to revise age-old declarations also emerged.
At the front of a basilica in Quebec, where the 85-year-old pontiff prepared to lead the Mass, Sarayn Fox and her cousin stood in silence, holding a banner with the words “Repeal the Doctrine” written in red and black paint.
“I felt like the resistance that was missing,” said Fox, who is from the Batchawana First Nation.
Days earlier in Maskwacis, Alta., after the pope finished apologizing to school survivors for the first time on Canadian soil, someone in the crowd shouted.
“Reject the doctrine of discovery,” cried the voice. “Give up papal bulls.”
The final report of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission helps reveal exactly what they are — and why the pope has been met with demands to publicly repudiate them.
The report is based on statements from nearly 7,000 Indigenous survivors who were forced to attend boarding schools where violence was rife and denied the opportunity to speak their languages or practice their spirituality.
The six-year investigation into the government-funded, church-run system traced its roots to the imperial world and the role of the Catholic Church, which ran more than half of Canada’s schools.
“The Pope and the Catholic Church are ground zero for the genocide we suffered,” said Eva Jewell, who is Deshkan Zeebeing Anishinaabekwe and research director at the Yellowhead Institute.
“I don’t think it’s in any way unreasonable for local people to expect a lot from the Pope because so much of our world and nation has been stolen from this particular church.”
More than 500 years ago, Pope Alexander XI issued the first of a series of edicts known as papal bulls.
“These orders, according to the commission, ‘helped shape the political and legal arguments that came to be called the Doctrine of Discovery, which was used to justify the colonization of the Americas in the 16th century.’
“It’s just fundamental to understanding colonialism,” said Matthew Wildcat, a professor at the University of Alberta and a member of the Ermineskin Cree Nation.
“At a general public level, it became much more well-known as a concept.
The commission detailed how the 15th-century doctrine related to thinking that colonized lands were empty, when in fact the native population called them home.
In its 94 calls to action, the commission instructed all levels of government, religious groups and signatories to the historic Agreement to Establish Indian Residential Schools to reject the idea.
It says they should instead adopt the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which sets out the need to recognize their inherent rights.
“You can’t really talk about the UN declaration without talking about the Doctrine of Discovery,” said Hayden King, executive director of the Yellowhead Institute.
“It’s the philosophy that comes out of the conquest that indigenous people shouldn’t be treated as having any rights or laws or humanity in general.”
That’s why “people want to see it addressed,” said King, an Anishinaabe of Beausoleil First Nation, “because ultimately it’s the foundation of all the policies that came after it.”
In the wake of Francis’ apology, which did not mention the doctrine, Western University professor Cody Groat noted how the commission’s call for a papal apology did not specifically say the pope should address it in his words.
The Six Nations of the Grand River member said he sees the way communities have responded to the pope’s call to do so as a reflection of the tensions surrounding Indigenous sovereignty in Canada.
“Our systems of sovereignty and our systems of government are minimized by documents like (papal bulls) ΓǪ that we are not truly sovereign entities.”
Responding to criticism from local leaders, organizers of the pope’s visit said the Vatican had previously made clear how the doctrine had “no legal or moral authority” in the church and how Francis, in his apology, condemned ideas related to it, such as assimilation .
Assembly of First Nations national chief RoseAnn Archibald says that’s not the same as a complete withdrawal, which she says should happen.
“I have always said that we need a new papal bull to talk about the value and dignity of indigenous peoples and cultures around the world,” she said on Friday.
“In this society, the things that flow from the Doctrine of Discovery must be corrected.”
She cited the return of indigenous lands as one example.
Jewell says it’s important for non-Indigenous people to know that Indigenous people like her grew up learning about the doctrine as a “spring of colonialism” thanks to elders and longtime rights advocates.
The desire to repeal it “has always been there”, King added, saying the difference now is that Indigenous people have found their voices amplified through movements such as Idle No More and the commission’s findings on residential schools.
Although Pope Francis did not include the doctrine in his apology, organizers of his trip have since said Canadian bishops plan to work with the Vatican to look into it “with a view to issuing a new statement from the church.”
Fox said she expected some pushback at the protest she and her cousin staged at the service, but left feeling proud. Reflecting the moment makes her emotional.
“‘Repeal the Doctrine’ just felt strong and powerful.”
“The outpouring of support from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people from around the world has been amazing.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 30, 2022.
— With files from The Associated Press
Add Comment