Pope Francis’s “penitential pilgrimage” to Canada is over, and his apologies for horrors inflicted on Indigenous children in the residential school system have been made.
But an expert says it’s also sparking an ongoing conversation about trauma.
Maskwacis, just south of Edmonton, hosted the first of several high-profile stops on the papal tour, and people marked a moment in history there as Francis asked for forgiveness “for all the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples.”
There were preparations ahead of time to support residential school survivors, as well as their families and communities. Mental health and cultural support workers were on hand at papal events to support Indigenous people whose memories of forced family separation and emotional, physical and sexual abuse were resurfacing.
Karen Snowshoe, an Indigenous lawyer and mediator who also runs education on trauma-informed practice through her Gwizhii Institute of Learning, says she’s noticing people reach out in other ways too.
“What I’m seeing is that (the Pope’s visit) is not only impacting Indigenous peoples in different ways, it’s affecting Canadians as well,” she said in an interview Friday.
“I think it’s almost like so many emotions have been stirred up among Canadians. Maybe even Canadians have been triggered about their own traumas.”
At the same time, Snowshoe says people are seeking out ways to help address the root causes of ongoing trauma and contribute in their own way. She says there’s been an increase in individuals and organizations looking to enroll in her workshops on trauma, and how it shows up not just in individual experiences, but in organizations.
“They’re wanting to take a very practical step in contributing to the healing that our nation needs, the reconciliation, the understanding of how trauma affects us on an individual level — on a scientific basis, how trauma affects the body and the brain.”
Snowshoe, who is based in Vancouver, points out there’s no single way that Indigenous people reacted to Francis’s words. Some might have considered it part of their healing journey, and something they wanted to hear, while others might have found his presence and his representation of the Catholic Church retraumatizing. That was evident as calls doubled to the federal government’s 24-hour crisis support line for people affected by residential schools.
Snowshoe says it’s critical that there are ongoing supports for individuals and communities as they grapple with painful memories that might have resurfaced before, during and after the Pope’s visit to Canada.
“The message, ‘Why don’t people move on?’ … It’s really important to remind people that this happened to children.”
“We really need to do a little bit of a reboot on just acknowledging, again, what happened, and the very long-term effects. This didn’t just happen to individuals; it impacted communities and nations.”
She noted these discussions are leading some people to become more aware of their own history of trauma, and how that “shows up” in their personal relationships and work lives — and learning more about that can be part of the way forward.
“It’s a universal thing. We’ve either all been directly impacted by trauma or someone in our life has.”
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