Acknowledging the Sins of the Past... Looking to a Future Rooted in Forgiveness and Trust

As a Catholic educator, I have to say that my faith has been given a bit of a boost and I must admit that the boost is coming from an unlikely source - the Pope! Chief Phil Fontaine is leading a delegation of residential school survivors to the Vatican for an audience with Pope Benedict in the hopes of securing an official apology for the role of the Roman Catholic Church in the countless abuses that took place at the hands of its priests and nuns at the residential schools. Fontaine said "This will be a historic moment for aboriginals, survivors of residential schools, and for Canadian society." He's absolutely right. Whether the pontiff issues an encyclical on the matter or not is not so important as the dialogue.





There has to begin a process of reconciliation and a general owning-up and I think this is a good way to start. When I read stats like over 150 000 children suffered abuse - physical, sexual and otherwise - from the 1950's to the 1970's, it makes me ill to think that these was institutionalized. That's why I am so proud to be a member of our Board's Aboriginal Education Steering Committee. We are making institutional changes that will facilitate this very-much needed process of forgiveness, so that we can begin to re-build trust with the families of Aboriginal ancestry. Hopefully, they will feel like they (the families) can openly and with a great sense of pride, claim their voice that has been traditionally silenced and self-identify.

I'm also so proud that the Literacy Prism is going to honour the holistic approach that is very much rooted in Aboriginal cultures. I'm thrilled that this is the direction that we're going in FINALLY! Change takes time. Trust me - in my few short years of teaching this is one lesson I've learned well. I think that through our professional development opportunities and through the infusion of a culturally proficient language, we'll see a shift in the current paradigm, which I can only describe as complacent - satisfied with the status quo since the people who are in charge are the ones who are benefitting, who have always benefitted at the expense of others. There is a lot of work to be done, from the curriculum - which we can work within - to the materials that we use in the classroom. I am confident that our teachers will respond to the call to transform their practice.