Sask. Indigenous groups hope Pope's visit prompts settlement of long-standing grievances

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Some Indigenous organizations in Saskatchewan say they hope the Pope's visit to Canada results in the settling of some long-standing wrongs and injustices.

Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations Chief Bobby Cameron said he is thankful to Pope Francis for his visit to Canada this week and for his expected apology, but that there are action items that the federation expects to be addressed. The FSIN represents Saskatchewan's First Nations.

Cameron said the Roman Catholic Church's Doctrine of Discovery needs to be totally eliminated and dissolved. It dates back to the 15th century, when papal edicts empowered Christian colonial expansion and said any land "discovered" by colonial powers could be claimed as their own.

The doctrine also stated Indigenous people who inhabited those lands were not Christian and could be subjugated and converted to Christianity. 

Cameron said the FSIN also expects First Nations artifacts and residential school records to be immediately returned to First Nations and the survivors.

He said there is also an expectation that "true compensation happens," saying there are still thousands of residential school survivors who were not compensated properly.

"We would ask the Pope that he would support us in calling for a complete reopening of this whole residential school case," he said.

The federation also expects that all the individuals — including priests and nuns — who inflicted abuse, harm and death on First Nations children be brought to justice somehow, said Cameron.

"They may think they have gotten away with it here on Earth, but they're going to answer to God," he said. "When you commit murder, you're going to answer to God sooner or later."

Cameron said these would be meaningful action items after the Pope's visit, adding reconciliation doesn't mean anything without action.

Michelle LeClair, the vice-president of the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan, said an apology the Pope made earlier this year in Rome was a start.

LeClair said it will make a bigger difference for some people when he apologizes on Canadian soil, but that it also needs to go further.

"When he apologized, he apologized for the actions of others," she said. "But it's my personal view that he should apologize for the actions of the Church."