Mi'kmaw man says his drumming in Rome was meant to 'uplift' residential school survivors

As Indigenous delegates from Canada descended on Rome this week to demand an apology from Pope Francis for abuses committed in church-run residential schools, a steady influx of Indigenous cultures made its way onto the world stage. 

Indigenous crafts and hand-made items such as moccasins and cradle boards were on display; delegates and dancers were adorned in colourful traditional regalia; and the sounds of hand drums could be heard echoing across Vatican City.

Michael R. Denny, a Mi'kmaw man from Eskasoni First Nation in eastern Cape Breton Island, N.S., was one of those drummers. He said he wanted to use his skill to honour the residential school survivors who came to Rome to meet with the Pope and share their stories.

"I was there to help uplift them and give them strength to keep going and let them know they're not there alone and we're here for them," said Denny, 34. 

Denny says it wasn't about performing for the Pope or the Catholic Church but rather it was a way to honour the survivors who were present as well as his late father and other family members forced to attend residential schools.

Many Mi'kmaq and Wolastoqew children were forced to attend the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School in central Nova Scotia, which was open from 1930 to 1967. 

Under the church-run, federally funded residential school system, Indigenous children were removed from their home communities and stripped of their language, cultures and traditional knowledge in the interest of forcing them to conform to the colonial structures and customs. 

Children who attended residential schools often faced physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of those who ran the schools.

For Denny, singing and drumming in Rome was a powerful statement against the impact of that abuse.

"I'm there showing that resilience, and I'm showing them we are still here," he said.

He said he wished more Mi'kmaq and Wolastoqew were represented in Rome but that he admired the strength of the survivors who were there.

For Sophia Sidarous, who is from Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation in eastern New Brunswick, the survivors showed heroic strength. She watched the events from Halifax, where she lives.

"Just how brave these survivors are. To go and share their stories in front of your own people is one thing, but sharing it in front of your oppressor is another," she said. 

She says it was also moving to watch as Indigenous dancers and drummers offered up their strength to the delegates and survivors. Sidarous herself practises a type of dance known as old-style jingle and says there is a lot of power that comes from ceremonial songs and dances.