TRC community hearings held
By Kiply Lukan Yaworski
SASKATOON — Members of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Saskatoon
recently travelled to Regina to attend a portion of the first of 12
community hearings being held across the province in preparation for
a national Truth and Reconciliation Commission event in Saskatoon June
21 - 24.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established as part of
a 2007 national Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement to provide
an opportunity for those affected by the legacy of the government- and
church-run schools with an opportunity to share their stories and experiences.
“The truth telling and reconciliation process, as part of an overall
holistic and comprehensive response to the Indian Residential School legacy,
is a sincere indication and acknowledgement of the injustices and harms
experienced by Aboriginal people and the need for continued healing,” states
the TRC mandate. “This is a profound commitment to establishing
new relationships embedded in mutual recognition and respect that will
forge a brighter future. The truth of our common experiences will help
set our spirits free and pave the way to reconciliation.”
Through regional hearings and a series of seven national events being organized
in different parts of the country, the TRC is working to engage the Canadian
public, providing education about the history and ongoing effects of the
residential school system and honouring the experiences of former students
and their families.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish — which serves First Nations, Métis
and non-Aboriginal Catholics in Saskatoon’s core neighbourhood — is
examining ways to be involved in the TRC process and seeking how best
to support parishioners who have been directly or indirectly affected
by the residential schools.
Parish elder and pastoral associate Gayle Weenie and priest moderator Rev.
Mick Fleming, CSsR, as well as parishioners Brian Anderson and Irene Sharpe,
travelled to Regina Jan. 16 for the opening of three days of hearings in
that community.
“In spite of all the things that have happened with the residential
schools, some of our people have moved on,” said Weenie, reflecting
on the gathering. “Some have healed, some are healing, some are
starting to heal.”
There are also those who are still in pain, filled with bitterness and
anger, she said, stressing that the healing process and the path of forgiveness
are not simple and cannot be accomplished quickly, or simply by participating
in a hearing.
“Forgiveness is a hard thing to go through,” she said of the
long process that she herself has walked. “You have to find it
in your heart to forgive the people who abused you. You have to pray
a lot.”
She added that forgiveness must also happen within communities, which have
not always supported or listened to those who are hurting.
“Sometimes your own people are not helpful. They’re not ready
to help you, or to stretch out a hand and say, ‘Tell me your story.’ We
become judgmental,” she said. “We all have to work on it,
not just those who were abused and the abusers, but also the community.
It is important not to be ridiculed or made fun of when you are trying
to heal yourself or tell your story.”
Experiences vary, she added. “Not every one was abused. Some were
never touched and some were repeatedly abused,” she said, reflecting
on how many years and generations of hurt have affected her people,
leaving shattered families, addictions and violence in its wake.
“It’s a tough road,” she said. “And we are not all going to heal by the end of June. There is lots of food for thought, for prayer, forgiveness and healing.”
Truth and Reconciliation Commissioners Marie Wilson, Chief Wilton Littlechild
and Justice Murray Sinclair led the hearings held at First Nations
University in Regina.
“I really liked the way the three commission members introduced us
to the process,” said Fleming. “They were very inviting, very
respectful and I’m very appreciative of how they were attentive
to each of the elders and to each one of those who spoke.”
He expressed his disappointment that more non-Aboriginal people were
not at the hearing.
“For me, it awakened my eyes to how little I really knew about residential
schools, except for the historical fact that they happened. I was struck
by the effects that each of the speakers spoke of, the residue they have
carried from that experience of their childhood, as well as how they spoke
of their families and how this still affects their grandchildren and great
grandchildren,” he said.
“I also heard how there is a great desire for a new vision,
a new way of walking, and how we all need to go there together, as
a Canadian people.”
TRC community hearings and national events are free and open to everyone. Webcasts, history and other information can be found at www.trc.ca.
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