'This is my church': Residential school survivor skipping papal visit to walk in ancestors' footsteps
CBC
When Pope Francis addresses residential school survivors in Maskwacis, Alberta on Monday, one survivor won't be in the audience or watching it on a screen.
Instead, Norman Yak'eula plans to be trekking hundreds of kilometres northwest, deep in the Mackenzie Mountains and dense bush of the Northwest Territories, following the ancestral route of the Sahtú Dene and Métis.
"This is my spirituality," said Yak'eula. "I want to go back to my own church, my own people."
The church he speaks of is a living one made of animals, trees, water and rock — not the kind he was forced to attend at Grollier Hall, the Roman Catholic-run residential school in Inuvik, N.W.T.
Yak'eula was in the audience at the Vatican in Rome on April 1 when — after a week of talks with First Nations, Inuit and Métis delegations — Pope Francis offered an initial apology for the conduct of some church members at church-run residential schools.
He said the moment was enough to convince him to put a painful history behind him and move forward.
"I don't need to run after the church and the Pope to say, 'Say you're sorry, apologize to me,'" said Yak'eula, a former Dene national chief and Assembly of First Nations N.W.T. regional chief.
"We need to put the past in the past where it rightfully belongs and be who we are today."
Yak'eula is embarking on the 17th annual Canol Youth Leadership Hike, an event funded largely by the territorial and federal governments for young people selected from Sahtú communities.
"We have to give our youth hope," Yak'eula said. "This hike is a transformational life experience … They learn to live off the land."
This year, Yak'eula is leading a group of hikers along 64 km of the 355-km rugged alpine trail — a difficult journey that involves river crossings and wilderness survival skills.
Kallie Hickling was just 14 years old when she completed a portion of the trail eight years ago.
"There was a lot of doubt in myself," said Hickling, who is back on the hike this year as a volunteer.
"It actually turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life."
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