WARNING: This story contains disturbing details
It is time.
This was the response of a Winnipeg school survivor to Pope Francis’ unqualified use of the word genocide to describe what happened to indigenous people forced to attend Canada’s schools.
“It is high time they used such words to describe what happened to our people. It’s high time we said words that have meaning and truth,” said Jennifer Wood, who works with the Winnipeg-based National Center for Truth and Reconciliation.
“And coming from the highest members of the Vatican, saying it in our homeland, it’s going to have a lot of weight on governments, agencies, churches,” said Wood, who is from the Neyaashiinigmiig First Nation in Ontario. She was forced to attend boarding school in Portage la Prairie, Man.
The pope used the word on the papal flight from Iqaluit to Rome late Friday after spending six days in Canada on a “penitential pilgrimage” of reconciliation in which he apologized for the Catholic Church’s role in running many of the schools.
WATCH | Pope says Canada’s school system is genocide:
Pope says Canada’s school system is genocide
Pope Francis has described Canada’s school system and the forced assimilation of indigenous children as genocide. Brock Pitawanaquat, coordinator of the Indigenous Studies program at York University, called the Pope’s comments “overdue” but said they were an “important development”.
The National Center for Truth and Reconciliation in Winnipeg, which houses the records collected by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, has so far documented 4,118 children who died in schools.
In several speeches during the week, Pope Francis described the school system as a policy of assimilation and disenfranchisement and that it harms families by undermining their language, culture and worldview.
“Yes, that’s a technical word, genocide. I didn’t use it because it didn’t occur to me. But yes, I described it. Yes, it is genocide,” the Pope told reporters on the departing flight.
Wood and NCTR colleagues attended the pope’s first appearance and apology in Maskwacis, Alta., wearing T-shirts with the names of the dead children on them. She said she was glad to be able to represent their memory at the event.
She remembers these children when she thinks about the Pope’s use of the term genocide.
“This is the deliberate destruction of our family, our identity and our culture. This is forced assimilation,” Wood said. “You are taking your way of life away from an entire people in our homeland, Canada. So I’m very happy that he’s coming out and saying words that are the truth.”
Wood holds up a T-shirt with the names of some of the children who have died in dormitories across Canada. She and her colleagues at the National Center for Truth and Reconciliation wore them to the pope’s first outing in Alberta during his six-day Canadian “penitential pilgrimage” last week. (Justin Fraser/CBC)
“I was looking for words that were meaningful, meaningful”: former AFN chief
The pope’s comments caught a longtime indigenous leader off guard.
“It obviously represents a dramatic change from my perspective. It was completely unexpected,” said Phil Fontaine, a former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations and a residential school survivor.
Fontaine said he hoped the pope’s use of the word genocide would not spur an endless debate between the differences in meaning of the words “genocide” and “cultural genocide” when it comes to describing what the survivors of the homes experienced.
“Personally, I wasn’t looking for perfection. But I was looking for words that were meaningful, meaningful, honest,” Fontaine said in an interview Saturday.
WATCH | Phil Fontaine spoke with Neil Herland on the CBC News Network:
A former Assembly of First Nations national chief responds to the Pope’s use of the word genocide
Phil Fontaine says Francis’ use of the word raises the issue and hopes it will spur further action.
“What I heard convinced me that we should move on and start other important work, and not be dragged into an endless debate, for example, between cultural genocide and genocide.”
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which released its final report in 2015, concluded that the school system constituted cultural genocide.
Pope Francis’ use of the word should not distract from the confrontation over unresolved issues between indigenous peoples and the Catholic Church, Fontaine said. These issues include the return of lands where schools once existed, as well as access to artifacts and records that remain under church control.
WATCH | How the Pope’s visit to Canada unfolded in 11 minutes:
How the Pope’s visit to Canada unfolded in 11 minutes
Pope Francis recently completed a six-day “pilgrimage of repentance” in Alberta, Quebec and Nunavut. First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities responded to his apology and visit with hope, disappointment and calls for action.
Brock Pitawanaquat, Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at York University, said the development was important, if not a little overdue.
“The Catholic Church has been known for always being, I guess, behind in terms of apologizing to residential school survivors. All the other churches are moving faster in terms of providing documents, acknowledging past harms. And so for the pope to … recognize that genocide is an appropriate term, I think that’s an important development,” Pitawanakuat said.
The pope’s experiences in Canada and time spent with survivors appear to have left an impression on him, said Darren Dias, professor of theology at St. Michael’s College in Toronto. The use of the word genocide is an indication of that, Diaz said.
“This is an 85-year-old Argentine with a lot of things – he doesn’t know the whole story. He has not read all the scientific literature. But learning about it,” Diaz said.
WATCH | The CBC’s Sam Samson reports on the response to the Pope’s use of the word genocide:
Residential School Survivor, Indigenous Leader Responds to Pope’s Use of Genocide
The pope used the word during the papal flight from Iqaluit to Rome late Friday after spending six days in Canada.
“I think coming to Canada was a real learning experience,” he added. “So I think if he didn’t think to use it beforehand, he certainly knows what it was now and he used the word clearly.”
Wood, who works with residential school survivors across Canada to help them cope with trauma, said she hopes the pope’s comments will help mark a turning point on their road to healing.
“For him to use that word, I believe survivors will feel … a level of trust,” she said. “They will trust the visit that he is remorseful, that he has had deep sorrow. So to me that would say he got it, he saw it – he saw genocide.”
Support is available for anyone affected by their dorm experience or the latest reports.
A national Indian school crisis line has been set up to provide support for ex-students and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.
Mental health counseling and crisis support are also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness Hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or via online chat at www.hopeforwellness.ca.
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