Reflections on the Pope’s Apology – Another perspective on Healing

Yesterday 

(ANNeww) – On June 24, Pope Frances came to Maskwacis, to deliver an apology on indigenous soil at the former site of one of Canada’s largest Indian Residential Schools on Ermineskin Cree Nation.

The visit stirred up a lot of mixed emotions within the four nations of Maskwacis and many people were conflicted about attending; a lot of their seats were empty during the Pope’s visit. Maskwacis is in many ways still on a very active healing journey. On the morning of the Papal Visit, a young man was brutally murdered in Montana First Nation. Intergenerational trauma continues to play havoc in the community. If you dig into the background of most of the crimes, violence, trauma, and murders, the root cause is often residential schools and aggressive programs of forced assimilation.

Patrick Buffalo is a former leader of the Samson Cree Nation, and he is a well-respected member who has dedicated his life to healing and wellness through his therapy ranch where agencies and people with post-traumatic stress come to be helped with their relationship building.

In an interview, Buffalo offered his insights on the Papal visit. “I started my healing journey years ago and I didn’t need the Pope’s apology,” he said. First and foremost, the apology is about healing, he explained, and some people believe they need somebody else to feel better.

According to Buffalo, the messaging behind the Pope’s visit, was that now that an apology has been delivered, Indigenous peoples of Canada can start healing, but for some, like him, it started 30 years ago.

Buffalo says that the healing journey is a personal choice that each Indigenous person must make for themselves.

“Some people believe in forgiveness; some people believe in making amends and some people believe in an apology,” said Buffalo. “They believe somebody will make them feel better and they need others to make them feel better.”

“It’s all a choice.”

For him, the Pope represents The Catholic Church and a Christianity-led colonization, that enforces rigorous efforts towards forced assimilation.

Related video: Residential school survivor, Indigenous leader respond to Pope's use of word genocide    Duration 2:21  View on Watch

“Many of our people in Maskwacis spoke about decolonization, and some of our leaders and members are so colonized that they do not recognize that Christianity is the core of colonization,” said Buffalo.

“Some of our people’s colonization mindset still honours and believes in a Great White Pope, and that it takes a Great White Pope. That reflects where the community is in terms of colonization and decolonization.”

“We have leaders who go to church and do the rosary once a week – they are colonized. That’s what the residential schools were designed for to kill the Indian and save the child,” explained Buffalo.

And yet so many people are stuck in that mindset of our victimhood, he added, noting that his definition of healing is taking ownership of who you are and what you create, making positive choices.

There is no room for victimhood, said Buffalo. No room for blame – just ownership and choices.

The purpose of the Pope being here was for healing, he added, and what we need to do is let go of the heaviness that we carry based on past experiences.

Buffalo offers advice on letting go of past trauma, and that’s recognizing that anger is a secondary emotion, don’t hide it, bring it front and centre, feel it, and decide if you can let it go. Verbalize what hurt you and say I let this hurt go, I let this disappointment go.

There are many paths to wellness and Buffalo, a facilitator of healing, does this work on his ranch in Maskwacis with horse therapy, based on the therapeutic power of communing with horses.

He also offers this program through Maskwacis Mental Health; he recommends it for people in active addiction, PTDS, childhood abuse victims, abuse victims, and people who have experienced trauma in their lives.

Buffalo invites our readers to watch Breaking Stigmas, at

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=iCrU-YshDUU

Chevi Rabbit, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News