B.C. Indigenous leaders react to Pope's historic apology

Reaction to the Pope's historic apology is now pouring in from B.C.'s Indigenous communities, and it seems there are mixed feelings.

For Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, hearing Pope Francis saying sorry was a welcome surprise.

“I didn’t expect an apology,” said Phillip. “I thought the Vatican would continue to just stonewall the apology.”

After decades of pressure on the Catholic church, and the unforgettable findings of more than 1,000 suspected unmarked graves in the past year, Phillip says he’s relieved to finally hear the church apologize for what he calls “genocidal actions” taken in residential schools.

“It represents a fundamental and first step along the path of genuine reconciliation,” he said.

The apology comes after an Indigenous delegation, including residential school survivors and elders, held a week of meetings with the Pope. For some, there’s disappointment it took travelling to the Vatican to get the Pope to show remorse.

Bev Sellars is a survivor of the former St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School, which closed down in 1981 after 90 years in operation. She went on to publish her traumatic school experiences in a book, titled “They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School.”

Earlier this week, Sellars told CTV News an apology from the Pope would be more meaningful if it happened in Canada, where the trauma took place.

“An apology should be forthcoming, without people having to go and say, ‘You need to apologize,’” said Sellars. “It’s not like he doesn’t know (the history).”

Pope Francis is vowing to visit Canada as early as this summer. His itinerary has not been determined, but it’s presumed he will visit unmarked gravesites and meet with the families forever impacted by the residential school system.

“An apology is one thing, but coming and doing it face to face is another,” said Chief Darrel Draney of the Skeetchestn Indian Band, west of Kelowna.

Like Phillip, Draney says an apology is simply the first step to reconciliation.

“What other follow-up actions are we going to have?”

Marc Miller, the federal Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, said it’s a tough question.

“As you look at what a healed Canada looks like, I don’t think anyone has a particular good answer to that yet. We need to hear more from survivors and Indigenous leadership.”

Phillip says before any reparations, financial or otherwise, there needs to be a greater awareness of the suffering experienced by Indigenous children at residential schools. Although the schools have closed down, he says the trauma continues to be passed down through generations.

“Residential schools happened to all Canadians. Today represents a very important moment in our collective history,” said Phillip.