A papal apology on Indigenous land in Canada is not irrelevant south of the border.
When Pope Francis visits Canada July 24-29, Oneida First Nation activist Daisee Francour and her colleagues at the U.S.-based international Indigenous nongovernmental organization Cultural Survival will be paying close attention.
“An apology for one nation, in a way it’s a win for all of our nations,” said Francour. “When I say nation, I mean that as an Indigenous community — not necessarily the nation state or colonial state.
“There’s a huge opportunity, because the Catholic Church is just such an influential institution globally. There’s a huge opportunity to leverage, influence and push nation states like the U.S. government to join this collective process for justice, toward truth and toward healing.”
Francour and her colleagues, Indigenous media across the United States and American religious orders and dioceses have been watching closely what has happened in Canada ever since more than 200 possible gravesites were detected at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in May 2021. From the middle of the 19th century until the very recent past, the U.S. government financed and promoted more than 350 Indian boarding schools in 29 states.
Today the Minneapolis-based Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition is pushing state and federal governments, along with churches and religious orders who often operated the schools on the government’s behalf, to face up to a history of cultural genocide.
“As a country, we have yet to experience that apology,” said Francour. “I guess my hope is that with this apology to First Nations folk in Canada … I’m hoping that will radiate both in the United States and across the globe.”
Source: Indigenous hope papal apology in Canada will push justice, healing in U.S. | Angelus News
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