(L-R)) Chief Desmond Bull, Chief Randy Ermineskin, Chief Wilton Littlechild, Chief Vernon Saddleback, and Proxy Chase McDougall speak at Maskwacis press conference on Monday, June 27. (rdnewsNOW/Alessia Proietti)

By Alessia Proietti/rdnewsNOW

Welcoming Pope in July

Residential school survivors and chiefs hope Pope’s visit to Maskwacis helps rebuild relationships

Jun 29, 2022 | 10:37 AM

Some residential school survivors and chiefs in the Maskwacis area expressed excitement and welcoming for the Pope’s visit in July at a press conference in Maskwacis on Monday.

Leaders from four First Nations in central Alberta, Chief Randy Ermineskin, Chief Vernon Saddleback, Chief Desmond Bull, and proxy for Montana Cree Nation Chase McDougall, addressed media at the Neyaskweyahk Okimaw Kamik Building, alongside lawyer and former Truth and Reconciliation Commission member Chief Wilton Littlechild.

The Pope’s first visit on his Canadian tour from July 24 – 29 is to the Maskwacis area where he will meet with First Nations, Métis and Inuit groups, and visit the former Ermineskin Indian Residential School site.

READ MORE: Chiefs say Pope’s visit important to understand impacts of residential schools

Chief Littlechild said he has mixed emotions about the Pope’s visit, noting he had met with the pontiff at the Vatican in the spring, asking him to apologize on Canadian soil.

IN THE COMMUNITY

'The Indigenous way': Big Eagle Round Dance promotes connection at Medicine Hat College

6h ago

SMILE SUNDAYS

KidSport grants over $1M in sports participation to youth in Medicine Hat

11h ago

IN THE COMMUNITY

'March for Meals' dedicates month to delivering meals for Medicine Hat seniors

Mar 02, 2025

“They [residential school students] wanted to hear three words from the Pope, the head of the Catholic Church. Three words they wanted to hear were ‘I am sorry,’” he said, having spent 14 years in residential school, 11 of those in Ermineskin.

On the other hand, former chief of Samson Cree First Nation Victor Buffalo said he went to residential school in 1948 with Chief Littlechild and cried when revisiting.

While practicing his Indigenous traditions, Buffalo also says he is a “devout Catholic” and it was his combined spirituality that allowed him to survive through the system that drastically changed the lives of his people, erasing their traditions.

Today, he says he religiously goes to Catholic Sunday masses while also practicing traditional Indigenous rituals like Sun Dances.

“The Pope coming to Canada, to me, is an apology. To me, he doesn’t have to say anything, because that’s the way our people are. They support each other,” he said.

Buffalo said he hopes that the Pope’s visit encourages Indigenous peoples to maintain their traditional cultures and languages.

Similarly, Chief Saddleback also shared his relationship with the religion, stating he enjoyed his youth as an altar boy. While not a residential school survivor, he said he saw the effects of intergenerational harm from his parents who both passed away with alcoholism.

“Once I understood what my parents went through, I understood the effects of residential school to my community and to my family,” he said.

As well, Elder John Crier stated he was able to “fly under the radar” of the abuse growing up on the edge of a reserve. With his parents working on a farm, he interacted with other Canadian children and said he didn’t feel different to the others or their religious beliefs.

“It’s only complicated when we reject the belief of the other person. When we accept their belief, we find that it’s really the same. We pray to the same, I call it, ‘creator’,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that that kind of relationship becomes political and when it does that’s where the negative relationship comes from.”

“We have the opportunity to rewrite that book of relationships. To be able to look at us as human beings not as Indigenous.”

He said he hopes the Pope’s visit allows residential school survivors to publicly validate their experience in the system together.

Expecting roughly 15,000 visitors so far, Chief Littlechild says he hopes the Pope personalizes his apology to the community and that survivors are given the chance to forgive through time so they can heal.