Intergenerational Impact from the Indian Residential Schools Legacy

I have today a greater understanding of the intergenerational impact of the Indian Residential Schools (IRS) legacy. I have had the opportunity to hear from many indigenous persons their honest sharing of their painful experiences as descendants of IRS survivors. During a non-Indigenous Returning to Spirit workshop, attended by a few international priests, I had this insight: It is not only the indigenous children of IRS survivors that are impacted but also all the generations of priests and religious women who follow the generations involved in the IRS system.

What impact has IRS had on me as I became an Oblate and started ministering among the indigenous communities? Most of these communities had had either an Indian Residential School or whose older generations had attended an IRS.

My initial understanding of the IRS system as an Oblate student, then as a seminarian and finally as a young priest, was a glorious rendering of the successes of the IRS and the evangelization of the indigenous communities. I consciously chose the indigenous ministry.  As a young priest and as many of my predecessors, I chose to learn the language of the people.

Shortly into the ministry, I encounter the effects of IRS on the persons I was encountering in my ministry: On the one hand, I experience respect and politeness, on the other hand, I never knew when there would be an angry outburst or an accusation reflecting their experience with the IRS. On such occasions, they identify me not as who I am but as the same as those other priests whom they have encountered at school or in the community: painted with the same paintbrush!

The intergenerational effects of the IRS on me were many. Painted by the same paintbrush of their IRS experiences, who I was as a priest and person did not enter into consideration. I was the target of their anger and resentment. No wonder I had heard missionaries before me mentioned that it usually took about four years to established trust. I experience pain as they share their experiences. The pain came from the perceived contradiction between their experiences of the Christian faith and whom Christ is, what the Church is to be, and what the Gospel (Good News) is. It took many years to establish trust, friendship and community.

A few elements came to my rescue and transformation in the midst of it. Other young Oblates experience similar reactions. Through conversations, mutual support and educational reflective conferences (courses), we learn to navigate the situation and discover other ways of being with. Believing in the dignity of each person help me in the relationships. With others, we started dialoguing with the indigenous culture and with the religious ceremonies within the culture. The call was one of reconciliation: healing of the past to move forward on another path, decolonization, and creating a new partnership. The Returning to Spirit workshop was a pivotal moment in freeing myself from some of the IRS effects. However, as you may be experiencing, reconciliation is an ongoing process of acknowledging what shows up, accepting that it is what it is, and choosing to let go: thus, creating new possibilities in the relationships.

In a short article, there is a limit of what one can say. This is just skimming the surface. In every situation, there is always a certain transition from the former generations to the next, as life and culture continue to evolve. The IRS legacy is a deep wound for all who were involved in that historical period of our country, of our church and of our religious community.

By François Paradis, OMI