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Category Archives: Pope Francis

Pope Francis apologizes for the Residential School Tragedy in Canada

06 Saturday Aug 2022

Posted by michelinewalker in Amerindians, Indigenous People, Pope Francis

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

An Act of Charity, Colonialism, Genocide, Phil Fontaine, Pope Francis, Reconciling for the Future, Residential Schools, Sir John A. Macdonald, The Indian Act, The Pope's apology

Pope Francis
Pope Francis visits the Lac Ste. Anne pilgrimage site in Alberta, Canada, Tuesday, July 26, 2022. Pope Francis travelled to Canada to apologise to Indigenous peoples for the abuses committed by Catholic missionaries in the country’s notorious residential schools. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) (america.magazine.org)

—ooo—

Confederation

  • The Indian Act of 1876
  • Reserves and Residential Schools 

Pope Francis was in Canada for six days on a reconciliation mission. He has now returned to the Vatican.

In 1876, a few years after the Canadian Confederation (1867), the government of the Dominion of Canada passed the Indian Act (1876). Amerindians had to live on Reserves, and their children were forcibly taken to “Residential Schools.” The goal of Residential Schools was to assimilate native children into Euro-Canadian society, which, according to Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald, required withdrawing them from the Reserves where their parents, “savages,” lived. The children were to be put in “central training industrial schools.”

When the school is on the reserve the child lives with its parents, who are savages; he is surrounded by savages, and though he may learn to read and write his habits, and training and mode of thought are Indian. He is simply a savage who can read and write. It has been strongly pressed on myself, as the head of the Department, that Indian children should be withdrawn as much as possible from the parental influence, and the only way to do that would be to put them in central training industrial schools where they will acquire the habits and modes of thought of white men.
Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future, Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (Introduction, p. 3) 
(Wayback Machine.)

—ooo—

Origins

  • Missionnaries in New France: conversions & acculturation
  • Canadian Confederation
  • The Indian Act of 1876: no negotiation

According to the documents I have read and supplied, the story of Residential Schools begins in New France. At first, I did not understand how residential schools originated in New France. I now believe the reference to New France is about its missionaries. Conversion to Christianity was a form of acculturation. But the French married Amerindians.

So, to my knowledge, there were no Indian Reserves before Canadian Confederation and children were not forcibly removed from their parents to attend Residential Schools. These events unfolded after the passage of the Indian Act of 1876. Residential Schools dated to 1880 and were not closed until the last quarter of the 20th century.

However, legislation transforming Amerindians into Euro-Canadians precedes the Indian Act of 1876, but it was not implemented. A list of relevant legislation is included in the Indian Act of 1876 (precursors and amendments). Therefore, by 1876, after Canadian Confederation, the ground was laid for the Indian Act. The Province of Canada (1841-1867) passed the Gradual Civilization Act of 1857, but the Gradual Enfranchisement Act of 1869 followed Canadian Confederation (1967). The Indian Act of 1876 differed from earlier legislation because it was imposed rather than negotiated. Treaties were negotiated.

Assimilation & Abuse

  • Devaluation
  • Neglect
  • Programmed assimilation as genocide

Children who lived in Residential Schools were to be assimilated into the dominant Euro-Canadian culture. First, they were not allowed to speak a native language. If they did, they were punished. As a result, they viewed their language as inferior to Euro-Canadian languages, mainly English, which was a devaluation of their person.

The assimilation of native children into Euro-Canadians was objectionable, but abuse, including sexual abuse, was devastatingly harmful. These children had been separated from their parents and had no one to go to, so it was all too easy for the staff of Residential Schools to use their wards to gratify sexual urges unpunished and remorselessly. Sexual abuse is an egregious invasion of one’s privacy.

In fact, neglect alone can cripple a child. No one looked after these children if they had a headache, toothache, flu, or chapped lips. Many died and were buried in unmarked graves as though they had never lived.

The Science of Neglect, Harvard University


Genocide

  • Residential Schools
  • The Indian Act of 1876 itself
  • Neglect

On the plane taking him back to Italy, Pope Francis spoke of a “genocide.” The Pope had not used the word “genocide” when he was in Canada, but on the plane, looking back, the word came to his mind. There had been a genocide, and most schools were administered by the Catholic clergy. Children were born in Residential Schools. What happened to these babies? As noted above, neglect during childhood may harm a child permanently. Moreover, after Confederation, many indigenous women were forcibly sterilised. It also became easy to lose one’s status as an indigenous. A list of policies can be found under the Indian Act of 1876. However, the Indian Act itself aimed to eliminate Amerindians, and many died.

Documents, including hundreds of photographs, implicating the Oblates have been found at the Vatican.

https://www.msn.com/fr-ca/actualites/quebec-canada/des-centaines-de-photos-li%C3%A9es-aux-pensionnats-sont-retrouv%C3%A9es-chez-les-oblats-%C3%A0-rome/ar-AA10bHtC?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=51654cc330aa4291862db15ea9c3f229

Phil Fontaine, Assembly of First Nations (Wikipedia)

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission

  • Phil Fontaine
  • Royal Proclamation of 1763

Phil Fontaine has been a leader in the movement that ended Residential Schools. Phil Fontaine negotiated a massive settlement for the victims of a major violation of human rights. Canada’s Indigenous population used the Royal Proclamation of 1763, the appropriate document. When Nouvelle-France fell to Britain, citizens of the Thirteen Colonies and would-be settlers rushed west with land grants. Chief Pontiac and other Amerindians push them back. Pontiac’s War was merciless and understandably so. Jeffery Amherst was attempting to spread smallpox, and disease that could have eliminated North America’s aboriginals. George III of England created a large reserve to protect Amerindians and settlers. Canada’s natives are using the Royal Proclamation of 1763 to validate their claims. That document is entrenched in the Constitution of 1982.

Phil Fontaine is

[a]n advocate for human rights, and a survivor of residential school abuse, Fontaine’s crowning achievement to date is the residential schools settlement. At $5.6 billion in individual compensation, Fontaine negotiated the largest settlement in Canadian history – for the largest human rights violation in Canadian history – arising out of the 150-year Indian residential school tragedy. (See National Speakers Bureau.)

A Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established to compensate survivors and initiate a new and healthy relationship between natives and the nations that settled in Canada.

Between 2007 and 2015, the Government of Canada provided about $72 million to support the TRC's work. The TRC spent 6 years travelling to all parts of Canada and heard from more than 6,500 witnesses. The TRC also hosted 7 national events across Canada to engage the Canadian public, educate people about the history and legacy of the residential schools system, and share and honour the experiences of former students and their families. (See Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Canadian Government.)

Pope Francis in Canada

  • An Act of Charity

Although most Residential Schools were administered by Catholics, Pope Francis did not have to come to Canada on a penitential mission. Residential Schools were created by John A. Macdonald’s government. However, Phil Fontaine and other Amerindians went to the Vatican to invite him, and Pope Francis, who understood the importance of travelling to Canada, accepted the invitation. He recognised the wrongs committed by the Catholic administrators of Residential Schools. He apologised everywhere he travelled and used the word “genocide” to describe a tragedy.

The Pope is the leader of the Catholic Church, yet he spoke directly and informally with people who have suffered immensely. He mingled with Canada’s Natives and its Métis people, which was more than a formal apology. Pope Francis may have played the most significant role in a process favouring a dialogue that would lead to reconciliation. It was to that end that Canada established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. There simply could not be a more exemplary gesture than Pope Francis’s visit in a process called Truth and Reconciliation. The Pope, an older gentleman losing his mobility, apologised humbly in the name of the Church and he showed compassion. We witnessed an act of charity.

Conclusion

  • Colonialism
  • A throwback to the Age of Discovery
  • Imperialism

In the 19th century, many Euro-Canadians would have looked upon North American natives as “savages” who should be civilised. However, Canada did not begin in 1867. The French would not have survived without the help of Amerindians. They provided snowshoes and canoes to the legendary voyageurs. The French could not otherwise harvest furs, New France’s gold.

The way Sir John A. Macdonald implemented Confederation was a throwback to the Age of Discovery. He acted like a conquistador. Canada’s indigenous population, its “savages,” were sent to Reserves, and their children were forcibly taken to Residential Schools. However, Sir John A. Macdonald lived in the 19th century. At that time in history, the British Empire was the mightiest. Britain’s might led to concepts such as the “rights of Englishmen” and considerable self-entitlement. Cecil Rhodes wanted to paint the world “red,” the Empire’s colour and India‘s Thomas Babington Macaulay favoured instruction in the English language. It was called Macaulayism. (See An Analogue, at the foot of this post.)

I cannot think of a nobler and more charitable mission than Pope Francis’s visit to Canada. Canadians were blessed.

RELATED ARTICLES

  • Aboriginals in North America (a page containing several posts) ⬅️

Sources and Resources

  • “The Most Profound Images …” (america.magazine.org) SJ ⬅️
  • Vatican News (images) (go to YouTube and type Vatican news)
  • Pope Francis Apology
  • The Royal Proclamation of 1763, Indigenous Foundations, Arts, UBC
  • The Indian Act of 1767, Indigenous Foundations, Arts, UBC Foundations, Arts, UBC
  • Reserves, Indigenous Foundations, Arts, UBC
  • Residential Schools, Indigenous Foundations, Arts, UBC 
  • The Constitution Act, Indigenous Foundation, Arts, UBC
  • Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future, Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (Introduction, p. 3)
  • Wayback Machine

Image(s) from Vatican News (go to YouTube Vatican News)

Love to everyone 💕

Pope Francis in Canada (go to YouTube and type Vatican News)

_________________________

An Analogue

In India, Thomas Babington Macaulay (1900-1859) advocated a system of education consistent with Britain’s in nearly every way, including the training of teachers and the use of English as the language of instruction:

India's Macaulayism, by which indigenous Indian educational and vocational customs were repressed, included the replacement of the Persian language with the English language as the official language of instruction in all schools, and the training of English-speaking Indians as teachers. (See Macaulayism, Wikipedia.)

England had a “civilising mission.”

We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect. To that class we may leave it to refine the vernacular dialects of the country, to enrich those dialects with terms of science borrowed from the Western nomenclature, and to render them by degrees fit vehicles for conveying knowledge to the great mass of the population.
(See Macaulayism, Wikipedia.)

According to professor Kapil Kapoor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, India‘s educational system still “marginalise[s] inherited learning.”

Kenojuak Ashevak‘s Dog

© Micheline Walker
6 August 2022
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Walls and Bridges

21 Sunday Feb 2016

Posted by michelinewalker in Pope Francis, Sharing, United States

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

Bridges vs Walls, Donald Trump, Immigrants, Israel West Bank barrier, Pope Francis, the poor

sans-titre

It is clear that Trump is not the only person who knows how to get the internet going. (Photograph: AP)

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/19/trump-is-a-fool-to-mess-with-pope-francis-he-plays-in-a-higher-league

“Someone should remind Donald Trump that Pope Francis is the religious leader of 1.2 billion Catholics and the sovereign of the Vatican City. Trump is simply a businessman running for president.” (The Guardian, UK.)

Building Walls instead of Bridges

Yes, Donald Trump is simply a businessman running for president. However, if elected to the presidency of the United States, he would prevent all Muslims from entering his country as if al Muslims were terrorists. As President Mr Trump would also build a wall separating the United States and Mexico, thereby curbing the flow of Mexicans entering the United States. In response to Mr Trump’s pronoun cements, in the plane returning him to Rome, Pope Francis stated that building “walls” instead of “bridges” was not very Christian.

When he visited the United States in September 2015, Pope Francis also “pleaded for environmental stewardship and compassion for immigrants and the poor in the halls of power.” During his stay Mexico, the Pope witnessed extreme poverty, yet immense wealth concentrated in the hands of the few.

The Pope’s message is therefore consistent with an earlier statement and although it applies to a specific fence, separating the United States and Mexico, it is relevant elsewhere.

http://www.nytimes.com/news-event/pope-francis-us-visit

pape2

Before celebrating mass at the Ciudad Juarez fairgrounds on February 17, 2016. (Photograph:  Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images)

 

imagesVH2OE1F3

Donald Trump

Israel

Indeed, Israel is building a wall: the Israel West Bank barrier. “Upon completion, its total length will be about 700 kilometres (430 mi) and separate about 9.4% of the West Bank and 23,000 Palestinians from the bulk of that territory.” (See the Israel West Bank barrier, Wikipedia.)

Palestine was partitioned so the Jews could inhabit their promised land. Although a few Jews did not leave the Middle East, the Jewish diaspora started in the 8th century BCE (See Jewish Diaspora, Wikipedia.)

“Since the first centuries CE, most Jews have lived outside the Land of Israel (Eretz Israel, better known as Palestine by non-Jews), although there has been a constant minority presence of Jews.” (See Zionism, Wikipedia and My Jewish Learning.com.)

Delegates_at_First_Zionist_Congress

The delegates at the First Zionist Congress,
held in Basel, Switzerland (1897) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The vote that created Israel took place at the United Nations, a little less than three years after Allied Forces defeated Adolf Hitler‘s Nazi, thus liberating not only Nazi-occupied countries, but Germany itself and the remaining emaciated detainees of Adolf Hitler’s death camps. After denazification, many European Jews returned to their homes in Europe and have been protected. It was the safer option. The Jews’ idea of living in the promised land had been “in the air” since the 19th century, the century associated with the rise of nationalism.

However, the vote that followed W.W. II may have been premature, due to guilt feelings generated by the Holocaust. Six million Jews were killed. At any rate, the safety of Jews was not a chief concern. Arabs opposed the partition of Palestine, but a well-intentioned US President, Harry Truman, supported the creation of Israel. (See History of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Wikipedia.)

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/creation-israel

By now, several generations of Israeli have been born in Israel and, for them, it is the only home they know. We cannot rewrite history, but the construction of a wall may be offensive to neighbouring countries and it can be halted. So, with all due respect to every party involved, please stop building that wall and build bridges.

Jesus of Nazareth did not leave a sacret text. But we know from the accounts of his disciples that his teaching can be summarized in two words: unconditional love. When will humans love one another?

Quite frankly, if anyone is to blame for the conflict generated by the partition of Palestine, it is Hitler and Naziism.

With kind regards. ♥

—ooo—

Donald Trump

trump© Micheline Walker
20 February 2016
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