Muskowekwan First Nation calls for Pope to visit local residential school site during Canada trip
CBC
WARNING: This story contains distressing details
Muskowekwan First Nation is formally requesting that Pope Francis include a stop at the last standing residential school building in Saskatchewan during his upcoming visit to Canada.
Members of Muskowekwan — located more than 100 km northeast of Regina — made the request at a news conference on Monday.
"We have a hope and a prayer that eventually we would have the Pope coming to visit in Muskowekwan," said Muskowekwan Chief Jamie Wolfe.
"To hear those words of forgiveness would be life changing to some that still believe in that way, in that culture. I wouldn't want to watch something like that on TV. I would want the person here in person to have him come and say sorry for what you had to endure in this school."
Thirty-five potential unmarked graves have been discovered at the former site of Muscowequan Indian Residential School.
The school was operated by the Roman Catholic Church until the federal government took over in 1969. Constructed in 1930 and 1931, the school recently became a national historic site after a campaign from members of the community who view it as an important site that bears witness to the history of residential schools
On Monday, the First Nation was joined by Donald Bolen, Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina, and Marie-Anne Daywalker-Pelletier, who was part of the First Nations delegation from Canada that met Pope Francis at the Vatican in March.
Treaty Commissioner Mary Culbertson and representatives of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) were also present.
Last month, the FSIN called for the Pope to visit Saskatchewan residential school gravesites during his trip scheduled for July. That request was echoed again on Monday.
"We had told them, you come to our region, our traditional lands, where there's a large standing school here in Muskowekwan and where it means, where it means something for the people," FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron said.
Cameron has previously said that the Pope owes each community and former attendee of a Catholic-operated school an apology in their own sovereign territory.
On Monday, Cameron said the Pope should visit First Nations in Saskatchewan to witness the reality, impact and legacy of residential schools.
Bolen said he supports the efforts to bring Pope Francis to Muskowekwan.
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