Some academics and politicians say this development has raised doubts about the veracity of claims surrounding these alleged graves.

Minegoziibe Anishinabe, also known as Pine Creek First Nation, conducted excavations at Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Catholic Church near the Pine Creek Residential School in Manitoba.

Ground-penetrating radar initially detected anomalies. However, no remains were found during the four-week dig.

Chief Derek Nepinak emphasised that this was an initial excavation, leaving room for future efforts.

Some critics have labelled these claims as unproven and cautioned against jumping to conclusions without concrete evidence.

They argue that more excavations are necessary to uncover the truth.

"I don't like to use the word hoax because it's too strong, but there are also too many falsehoods circulating about this issue with no evidence," Jacques Rouillard, a professor emeritus in the Department of History at the Université de Montréal, told The New York Post on Wednesday.

"This has all been very dark for Canada. We need more excavations so we can know the truth," Rouillard said.

"Too much was said and decided upon before there was any proof."

Residential schools, operated by churches and the government, existed in Canada from the 1880s to the 20th century, with an estimated 150,000 children attending.

Critics argue that the residential school system forcibly separated children from their families and suppressed their Indigenous heritage.

While the harsh conditions at these schools have been acknowledged, scepticism persists regarding the claims of mass graves.

Pope Francis apology

Despite the controversy, the Canadian government allocated significant funds for research and child welfare claim settlements involving residential school attendees.

Pope Francis also issued a formal apology on behalf of the Catholic Church.

Several writers, academics and politicians have cautioned against accepting the narrative of mass graves without sufficient verifiable evidence. The critics have faced criticism themselves and have been labelled "genocide deniers."

Eldon Yellowhorn, a professor and founding chair of the Indigenous Studies department at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, told The New York Post in 2022 that he was cautious about the veracity of some of the more highly charged claims.

Yellowhorn, a member of the Blackfoot Nation, had been hired by Canada's powerful Truth and Reconciliation Commission to search for and identify gravesites of Indigenous children at the residential schools.

But he said that many of the graves he found were from actual cemeteries, and it wasn't clear how they had died.

Sources

New York Post

Daily Mail

CathNews New Zealand

The doctrine was supported by papal bulls (edicts) that legitimised colonial actions in seizing Indigenous lands, and it has been used to deny Indigenous peoples their rights.

The repudiation of the doctrine by the church on March 30, 2023 came in a joint statement from the Dicasteries for Culture and Education and for Promoting Integral Human Development.

"The church acknowledges that these papal bulls did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of Indigenous peoples," reads the statement.

"The Catholic Church therefore repudiates those concepts that fail to recognise the inherent human rights of Indigenous peoples, including what has become known as the legal and political `doctrine of discovery'."

"Never again can the Christian community allow itself to be infected by the idea that one culture is superior to others, or that it is legitimate to employ ways of coercing others," said Pope Francis in the statement.

"The Vatican needs to do more"

International Chief Wilton Littlechild (pictured) of the Ermineskin Cree Nation gifted Pope Francis with a headdress during his visit to Canada in July 2022 following the pontiff's apology over the residential schools' scandal.

"When he was here going across Canada, he couched (the Doctrine of Discovery) under the term of colonialism, but didn't use those words, and survivors wanted to hear them," said Littlechild, speaking to chiefs last week at the Assembly of First Nations special chiefs assembly In Ottawa.

"They wanted to hear those words. It was quite a decision that he made (to deliver the joint statement)."

But not everyone was as pleased as Littlechild with the step to repudiate.

"The formal repudiation comes without reparations or tangible actions to account for the systemic violence, destruction of land and culture, and genocide which were propagated by this deadly weapon of colonisation," said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs.

The Vatican needs to do more, said Grand Chief Phillip.

Sources

Turtle Island News

CathNews New Zealand

"After (the apology) people just came in droves to us," said Nola Jeffrey, executive director of Tsow-Tun Le Lum Society, a substance abuse and trauma help centre in Lantzville, British Colombia.

"We didn't leave until the last person that wanted help was finished," Jeffrey said.

Indigenous Services Canada said the federal government's 24-hour crisis support line has received double the number of callers it usually gets since the Pope arrived for his penitential visit this week.

"The crisis lines are receiving calls from across the country," Kyle Fournier, a spokesperson for Indigenous Services Canada, said in an email on Thursday.

"Callers to the crisis lines are expressing a range of different emotions. For some, the Pope's visit and apology may be healing; for others, it may be triggering. Discussions about the harmful legacy of residential schools are important and can also be difficult for many."

On average, Fournier said The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line has received 121 calls a day since January 2022.

But the day the Pope apologised for the cultural destruction and forced assimilation of Indigenous people, the number of callers jumped to 277. The next day, the crisis line received 244 calls.

Fournier said that 300 additional mental wellness and cultural support workers were asked to be at papal events in Alberta. Sixty workers have been asked to be in Quebec, and 40 mental health workers will be on-site in Iqaluit for the papal visit, eight of whom are clinical counsellors.

Jeffery said Canadians need to consider how those who can't let go of their pain can get support for the days, weeks and years to come.

"There's a teaching that it takes seven generations to let go of trauma, and so we're just at the tip of this," she said. "My hope is that we can help our people," she added through tears.

"The Pope didn't talk about how the children were raped, beaten, shamed, starved and how they were experimented on. We need to make our people feel good about themselves. So many of our people are dying."

Jeffrey stated indigenous people thrived for thousands of years before colonisation.

"Colonisation is just a blip in our history," she said. "It's a painful blip, but I know that we can come out of that and be strong and thrive again."

Sources

Toronto Star

Pope Francis apologised on Monday. Not everyone thinks it was enough.

Some regard Francis's words as a "historic" moment of reckoning for the 150,000 Indigenous students forced to attend residential schools.

But a former judge and senator who chaired the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission finds the apology lacking.

Murray Sinclair says it fell far short of demands and expectations.

The Commission's final report included many "calls to action".

No. 58 asks the Pope to apologise within the year "for the Roman Catholic Church's role in the spiritual, cultural, emotional, physical and sexual abuse of First Nations, Inuit and Métis children".

Seven years later, Francis has said he is "deeply sorry" for the way "many Christians supported the colonising mentality of the powers that oppressed the Indigenous peoples".

Romeo Saganash, a former MP who is a Cree from northern Quebec, is disappointed.

He thinks lawyers pre-checked Francis's apology to ensure no trace of liability remained.

Saganash's brother John died aged six at a residential school. There were no records or acknowledgement. It took a chance encounter 40 years later before the family learned where he was buried.

John's name was included on a red memorial banner at Monday's papal address. It marked him as one of 4,000 Indigenous children who died or never returned from residential schools.

Francis was photographed on Monday kissing the red banner.

His demonstration of contrition rang false for Saganash.

He wasn't impressed by Francis's apology on 1 April either. That's when he apologised for the actions of "a number of Catholics".

He omitted any mention of sexual abuse or deaths that occurred at residential schools, however.

Saganash says Monday's apology is insufficient. "We haven't advanced in terms of the [April] apology that is required on behalf of the church".

A Quebec Cree community chose not to participate in the papal visit.

Instead, it is focusing on an annual gathering to help residential school survivors and their families heal from the trauma they endured.

Another group is planning a protest in Montreal.

They noted in the Iroquoian language when European settlers arrived that there were no words for saying "I am sorry", only for saying "I will make it right".

Cindy Blackstock is disappointed too.

She's Gitxsan and the executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada.

The Pope's apology began by recognising the Governor General and the prime minister - colonial offices, she notes.

Residential School Survivors and the children who died came second. But they're the ones to whom this apology is properly addressed, she says.

"Francis spoke of the future but was light on accountability and action. He peppered his apology with requests for God to forgive the Church."

However, there is still time to ensure this apology has meaning, she says.

Blackstock has made up a list of actions for him to commit to on behalf of the Church and the Holy See.

Many relate to Indigenous people's rights, decolonisation, children and justice.

Source

• The Star
• The Tyee

Linda Daniels, 68, is one of those travelling to see Pope Francis. She was forced to attend the Sandy Bay Residential School, and is nervous about the emotions she'll feel if the Pope delivers an apology for the church's involvement in the residential school system.

"Once he says the apology … I know it's going to be hard," said Linda, who was overcome with emotions.

Canada forced an estimated 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children to attend residential schools for more than 100 years. The Catholic Church ran about 60 per cent of the institutions. The last residential school closed in 1996.

The children were separated from their families and, in many cases, were subjected to psychological, physical and sexual abuse. In addition, they were punished for speaking their languages and practising their culture.

"We are going to heal, the people are going to heal, and they'll rise up, and it's going to be a better place for our people," Linda added.

This week's trip to Edmonton won't be the first time Linda has met the Pope. She was part of the First Nations, Inuit and Métis delegations that went to the Vatican earlier this year (pictured).

"When I met the Pope, in my mind [when] I shook his hand, I said 'feel our pain.'"

Linda says the Pope listened intently to the survivors, and she walked away feeling like the Pope did in fact feel her pain.

Linda is travelling with a Manitoba Assembly of First Nations delegation. She will be accompanied by family — including her brother Ernie Daniels, a survivor of the Portage la Prairie Residential School.

"We can forgive, but we'll never forget what happened. And the pain - we'll always carry the pain until the day we die," said Linda.

Still, she hopes the Pope will apologise.

Sources

CBC Canada

The Star

CathNews NZ

The Indigenous Reconciliation Fund was established in 2022 to support and advance healing and reconciliation initiatives with Indigenous communities, following the Canadian bishops' pledge to do so last year.

The announcement comes just days before Pope Francis begins a 5-day visit to Canada.

During the trip, he is expected to expand on an apology he delivered at the Vatican this past spring for residential school abuse in institutions run by his church.

This will fulfil Action Point number 58 of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission which called for the pope to apologise to survivors, their families and communities on Canadian soil.

"Unfortunately in Canada many Christians, including some members of religious orders, contributed to the policies of cultural assimilation that in the past gravely damaged native populations in various ways," Francis said at his weekly address to people in St Peter's Square.

For over a century, the residential school system in Canada attempted to assimilate Indigenous communities into Canadian society by forcibly removing children from their families.

The children were sent to schools where they were often punished for speaking their native languages. In addition, many of the children underwent physical, psychological and sexual abuse.

Roughly 150,000 children from the First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples were forced to attend the government-funded residential schools.

The Catholic, Anglican and other churches operated the schools between the 1870s and 1996 when the last residential school was closed.

The Indigenous Reconciliation Fund accepts donations from 73 Catholic dioceses throughout Canada with the aim of fulfilling the CCCB's $30 million goal.

The bishops said all projects that are pitched are evaluated locally in consultation with the First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities. The first proposal was approved on July 15.

According to the bishops, project proposals from diocesan and regional reconciliation committees are being presented to the fund "as part of an effort to support and encourage local collaboration between Catholic entities and Indigenous partners".

Chief Wilton Littlechild, chair of the board, said in Monday's statement that "The Indigenous Reconciliation Fund is a critically important effort in support of the path of healing and reconciliation between the Catholic Church and Indigenous Peoples.

"We are pleased with the progress made to date and are looking forward to distributing funds as quickly as possible in support of reconciliation projects across the country," he said.

Sources

Crux Now

Vatican News

CBC News

CathNews NZ

The Rev. Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, visited the James Smith Cree Nation and heard stories shared by residential school survivors.

"It was the church that permitted it," said Welby. "Building hell and putting children into it and staffing it. I am more sorry than I could ever, ever begin to express." Continue reading

Mitch Case (pictured with Cassidy Carron), a member of the provisional council of the Metis Nation of Ontario, said the gift is symbolic of the church and the Metis walking together.

Mr Case is among more than 30 First Nation, Inuit and Metis delegates in Rome for private meetings with Pope Francis this week.

The representatives are made up of survivors of Canada's residential schools and indigenous leaders who, for decades, have advocated for an apology from the head of the Catholic Church for its role in administering the facilities.

Following presentation of the moccasins, the delegates walked from under the colonnade of St Peter's Square to a spot where reporters waited to hear about their meeting with Pope Francis.

Approximately 150,000 indigenous children were taken from their parents and communities. They were forced to attend schools where verbal, physical, sexual, spiritual and emotional abuse was rampant and cultural practices were banned.

"These crimes against humanity were committed against our people. [The moccasins are] sort of our way of reaching back past the pain and before that," Case said during a news conference.

"The church has a long way to walk before we can possibly forgive them for what they did, but if he [Pope Francis] is willing to walk with us, then we will be willing to walk with him."

Cassidy Carron, president of the Métis National Council, says she feels Pope Francis has committed to a journey of justice after meeting with him.

"He repeated ‘truth, justice and healing,' and I take that as a personal commitment," said Cassidy Caron outside St Peter's Square on Monday morning.

Caron said the pope did not provide an apology for the church's role in residential schools. But, she added, they have always requested it take place on Canadian soil.

Sources

Catholic News

Global News

Aljazeera

Miller says he wants to get to the bottom of the ruling, "I am as puzzled as everyone," he told The Canadian Press in a recent interview."

"I don't know what there is to do yet."

The ruling, handed down by a Saskatchewan judge in July 2015, found a deal had been struck between the federal government and a corporation of Catholic entities.

That deal released the church groups from their remaining obligations within the $79-million worth of payments owed to survivors. The payments came under the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement, approved in 2006.

It included a "best efforts" fundraising campaign to generate $25 million. However, the court was told the groups only raised around $3 million since the agreement took effect in 2007.

The church pointed to the "best efforts" clause, saying they'd tried their best. On July 16, 2015, the judge agreed and absolved the church of its legal obligation.

"They didn't keep their promise. You can't just say, 'Oh, we tried. That's too bad,'" Star Blanket Cree Nation Chief Michael Starr said.

"There is a lot of hate, a lot of anger out there. The church has to work with us. It has to be tangible. Keep your promise."

Several questions have been raised around why survivors didn't receive more compensation from the Catholic Church. A key query was why the federal government discontinued its appeal filed not long after the 2015 decision came down.

"I question why that refusal to appeal occurred," Miller said.

"As everyone, I'm dumbfounded by it. End of the day, the whole point was about compensation."

Sources

• National Observer
• The Star
• CathNews