Attempts at healing must be Indigenous-led: Archbishop Miller

Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, reached out to residential school survivors in an interview with an Aboriginal news network this week, apologizing for how representatives of the Church “betrayed your trust.”

Speaking with Tina House of APTN News, Archbishop Miller said he was “very sorry” and wanted to apologize “because of the harm that in the name of the Church that I love and serve, there were people … that betrayed your trust. Because I am in a place of responsibility of the Church, I want to tell you how sorry I am.”

The abuse that occurred at residential schools “should not have happened to you,” said the archbishop. “I want to listen to your story. I want to hear you. I want to accompany you. In the ways that you tell me, I want to be able to build and repair my relationship with you. I will wait for you to tell me what you want.”

Archbishop Miller released a public apology to survivors and families a week after the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation announced they had discovered the remains of 215 children on the site of a former residential school in Kamloops.

The archbishop included five promises to First Nations people, including an offer to pay for mental health and counselling services and to help First Nations retrieve and honour their lost community members in the ways they deem fit.

While he’s ready to act, he told APTN, he wants any attempt at healing to be Indigenous-led.

“I don’t want to pretend falsely that I can really understand exactly all your issues. You have to tell me, so I can grasp at least a little of what you went through ... I need your help.”

He also pledged to be transparent with all archdiocesan records pertaining to the Kamloops residential school, which were released to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2013. The records are general reports on goings-on at the school, not individual student records, he told APTN.

The Oblates of Mary Immaculate and Sisters of St. Ann would also have their own records and have shown willingness to be transparent, he said.

There are still many unanswered questions about what exactly went on in Kamloops, such as how the 215 died, and why they were buried there.

The Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation issued an update on the investigation June 4, saying since the initial findings they have been meeting with First Nations leadership to grieve together and plan the best way forward. They have hired a communications expert to help with media inquiries and met with political and religious leaders including Premier John Horgan, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, a handful of MPs and MLAs, Kamloops Mayor Ken Christian, and Bishop Joseph Nguyen of the Diocese of Kamloops.

“The scope of this situation has reached worldwide and the outpouring of support we have been offered is overwhelming. People across Canada and around the world are learning about the truth of residential schools. Residential School survivors are no longer silenced,” the statement said.

The results of the investigation, originally expected mid-June, are now anticipated at the end of the month.

James Borkowski, the archbishop’s delegate for operations, urged people to read the reports issued by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to come to a better understanding of what truly went on at residential schools.

“For a lot of young Canadians that didn’t follow the TRC process, this is a real awakening,” he said during an interview on CBC’s On the Coast with Gloria Macarenko.

“The best thing most Canadians and Catholics can do is read more of the TRC report because it’s pretty clear where the responsibility lies.”

He added that anyone can offer an apology for residential schools, even if they had no direct participation in them. “You and I weren’t there, but I am very sorry for what Catholics did in the name of the Church to anyone in the past,” he said.

“Complete and more direct apologies can only help.”

The archdiocese is “fully committed” to searching for unmarked graves on any other site within its bounds.

Due to the international outpouring of support, the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation issued suggestions of how to do that appropriately.

Some include being respectful of cultural protocols, becoming familiar with TRC reports, wearing orange and explaining to neighbours why, offering a listening ear to Indigenous people, and contacting the First Nation with any expertise or information about who may be buried at the site.

The band requested all those hosting in-person gatherings and memorials to remember provincial health orders relating to the COVID pandemic, so as not to heap “tragedy upon tragedy.”

Meanwhile, there are efforts to make publicly available a 2017 documentary titled In the Spirit of Reconciliation, which features the lived experiences and stories of Dene residential school survivors in the Northwest Territories.

Father Larry Lynn, who created the film, hopes it will be offered with today’s context and as part of a broader framework within the Church toward reconciliation with First Nations people.

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