TORONTO — The last church-run residential schools in Canada that Indigenous children were forced to attend, and where many were abused, closed in the 1990s. Since then, the Canadian government and Indigenous communities have worked to repair the profound damage that was inflicted there, and which continues to be felt today.
Here are five important moments leading up to the apology Pope Francis is due to deliver to Indigenous communities on Monday.
A brutal system of abuse in the name of assimilation.
The Indian Act of 1876 allowed the Canadian government to establish residential schools, most of which were run by the Roman Catholic Church and aimed to assimilate Indigenous children by erasing their culture and languages.
They were punished for speaking native languages, wearing their hair in braids, or practicing a religion outside of what was taught in school.
For more than a century, around 150,000 students attended some 130 schools, where many were sexually abused, malnourished and fell ill due to poor conditions. Many died or never returned home.
As student numbers dwindled, the last of the schools closed in 1996, ushering in a period of national awareness, including formal inquiries, into the treatment of Indigenous peoples in Canada.
An important class action settlement for former students.
Following a lawsuit brought by former students of the schools, Canadian courts approved a sweeping class-action settlement that paid more than C$3.2 billion to around 28,000 survivors, according to a 2021 report an independent committee overseeing the settlement.
In addition to financial compensation, the settlement also included funding for other initiatives, such as memorials and other commemorative projects and a program that provides mental health services to survivors and their families.
A national commission leads to a settling of accounts with a dark past.
A National Truth and Reconciliation Commission created in 2007 as part of the settlement agreement held rallies in seven cities across the country to, among other things, hear the first-hand stories of Indigenous people who had been sent to residential schools.
At local hearings, survivors shared their stories of Catholic monks raping children under 10 and starving students resorting to stealing apples from orchards to eat them.
In 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered a formal government apology to Indigenous communities.
Evidence of unmarked graves discovered in boarding schools.
Last year, the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation in British Columbia said they found evidence of unmarked graves of 215 children on the grounds of the Kamloops Indian Residential School, which was once the largest in Canada, with about 500 students.
The discovery, made using ground-penetrating radar, shocked Canadians and rekindled a national discourse about the horrors of residential schools.
Several other communities have also announced preliminary discoveries of possible unmarked graves on former residential school grounds. Last June, Cowessess First Nation said it found 751 possible unmarked graves at a school site in Saskatchewan.
A trip to Italy and a papal apology.
In the spring, a delegation of Indigenous leaders from Canada visited the Vatican and received the hoped-for apology from Pope Francis.
“I feel shame – grief and shame – for the role ‘Catholics have played’ in the abuse you have suffered and the lack of respect for your identity, your culture and even your spiritual values,” Francis said. . He also promised to visit Canada and issue a personal apology.
Ian Austen contributed reporting from Ottawa.