By Bond Robertson 
Monday was a historic day for Aboriginal peoples in Canada, when Pope Francis asked for forgiveness from Aboriginal Canadians who had been abused in Catholic boarding schools.
While visiting a former boarding school in Alberta, the Pope brought up the idea of forced assimilation, and what he called “cultural destruction.”
– The Pope said that I humbly ask forgiveness for the evil that so many Christians have committed against the natives.
The Pope apologizes
– Wait 50 years
He has previously apologized for the abuses, but this is the first time the Pope has delivered the same message on Canadian soil. In the speech, he condemned the assimilation policy that for decades deprived Aboriginal children of language, culture, and identity.
According to those present, the speech made a strong impression. People must have cried and applauded.
Evelyn Korkmaz, who herself was a student at a Catholic boarding school, said: – I’ve waited 50 years for this apology, and today I finally got it.
After that, the session received an even more uneven reception. Several representatives of various Indigenous organizations referred to the school visit as “easy,” “wrong,” and “unfortunate,” the news agency wrote. AP.
swipe to headdress
Much of the criticism targets the fact that the Pope was given a traditionally colored headdress after the speech. The feather ornament, according to the Associated Press, was given to the pope by chieftain Wilton Littlechild. Littlechild himself attended a notorious boarding school.
The headdress was historically a symbol of respect, worn by warlords and warriors.
Recently, a number of non-indigenous people have been criticized for their treatment of the head covering as a costume.
So not everyone was impressed with the president’s choice to give this to the Pope, and they pointed out that this was inconsistent with the role of the Catholic Church in the church-owned boarding schools that Pope Francis had complained about.
“Everyone in Alberta seems to wear a headscarf, whether they deserve it or not,” wrote Ross Diabo. Twitter.
He belongs to the Canadian Kannawaki Mohawk tribe and is a local activist and political analyst.
Along with the Twitter message, I’m attaching a number of well-known selfies wearing the traditional headdress, including Pope Francis and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Activist Jennifer Wolf also responds.
– Apologies to those who activate these images. Some of us laugh at the absurdity when we’re bored, she writes and attaches an edited portrait of the Pope to the headdress.
– Too early
Many also used the hashtag #fauxpology in the discussion of the speech.
“I have a lot to say about it, and it’s all negative,” wrote Joe Horse Capture, Vice President of Local Collections and Curator of Native American History and Culture at the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles.
Maca Black Elk, executive director of Truth and Healing at Red Cloud Indian School in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, describes the moment as “too early” and “difficult.”
He asserts that the Pope gave the head covering without asking for it.
It’s not his fault, but it’s also clear that the donors didn’t think about how to make other translators feel, Black Elk wrote.
Defense of the President
Littlechild has not yet commented on the criticism. However, he has been used in defense by several teams.
In a Facebook post, the president’s grandson, Keeshon Littlechild, commented on the criticism:
– It pains me to see people criticize my grandfather, and I understand how much respect is required to be able to have a headscarf. At the same time, the grandson wrote that it was he who showed respect to the Pope by coming here to apologize.
John Cryer, who attended the ceremony, said at a news conference after the speech that the head covering symbolizes the tribal leaders’ embrace of the pope as a leader in the local community.
– In honor of the man, in honor of the work that he did. It’s also an acknowledgment that this is a man from our tribe, Krier said.
bleak results
The background to the Pope’s visit to Canada is that in April a delegation of indigenous Canadians visited him at the Vatican.
The extent of the abuses during the assimilation policy became known after about 1,300 unmarked graves were found in Catholic boarding schools closed since May 2021. The graves were of children living in the schools. Many of them were physically and sexually assaulted by teachers and school administrators. It is believed that several thousand died from disease, malnutrition and neglect.
In his speech on Monday, the pope stressed that the abuses were “physical, verbal, psychological and spiritual”.
I want to prove this myself, said he, with shame and unequivocally.