PHOTO NATHAN DENETTE, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Indigenous people meditate during a mass given by the pope during his visit to Quebec, at the Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré basilica.
Yesterday I was sitting at the local restaurant for lunch. Two men behind me were talking about everything and nothing over their coffee: their grandchildren, the storms and then… the Pope’s visit. “The Indians keep pissing us off with this. We should come back…”
Posted at 5:30 p.m.
On Facebook, several messages of support written with a lot of love and empathy, but also some, too much for my taste, which say that I am negative, that my “opinion”, among other things in connection with the Doctrine of Discovery , is distorted and too critical, that I see nothing good in the Pope’s visit. Then, this message in the comments of an article in the To have to “The Native Americans lost because they were a less developed society than the conquerors. Should come back at some point. This is called evolution. »
I swear I wasn’t looking for the hurtful words. I looked barely five seconds inadvertently. I learned long ago not to read the comments at the bottom of the articles that concern us.
Lateral violence
Normally, I would have responded to each of these remarks by undoing them piece by piece, by educating, by plugging the holes in history. It wouldn’t be difficult. But now, today, I’m tired. I want to tell these people to educate themselves because it’s not up to me to do so or, failing that, to keep quiet. And believe me, it’s not in my habits. But even in the moments that would be supposed to appease us, there is always this lateral violence that comes galloping back. And I say this with great sincerity: it can hurt.
Yes, many of us wanted the pope to ask for forgiveness. Yes, we hope it will heal wounds.
But it’s not up to you to tell us that we have to come back, move on and finally be happy. It is up to each Aboriginal person to follow their healing path, whatever it is and however long it takes.
Tuesday evening, leaving the offices of Radio-Canada where I did fifteen hours of analysis in connection with the visit of the pope, I was not well. I felt angry about all these injustices, about the way my people were treated. Sorry to those who are offended, but yes, there are tough bits even for those who have never set foot in a residential school for Native Americans.
Because there was the Doctrine of Discovery, the Indian Act, the imposition of patriarchy, land dispossession, Indigenous day schools, the Sixties Scoop, unmarked burials, Joyce, murdered or missing Indigenous women and girls, loss of languages and cultures, ban on practicing our ceremonies for 70 years, access to drinking water, access to decent housing, everyday prejudices and ordinary racism, and so many more. Sometimes it all comes back to blow up in our face like a big bubble bursting.
And so a few days ago, I contacted the Survivor and Family Helpline at 1-866-925-4419. Because I needed to talk, to cry. The lady who listened to me used the right words. It really did me good. The next day, I walked with my brothers and sisters from Wendake with the Puamun Meshkenu organization to support the survivors. It was on this path that I found some healing. I’ll probably find others in the forest where I’m going to take refuge for a few weeks. Still others by writing or speaking with elders.
It will have taken several hundred years to hurt and destroy, it will take at least as many to rebuild. The road to recovery takes time, its time. Our moccasins will no doubt be very worn when we get to the end. We have learned to walk barefoot so many times. We’ll get there.