Sask. residential school survivor welcomes apology from Pope

Gilbert Kewistep was brought to Muskowekwan Residential School when he was six years old and spent the next four years of his life there. After that, he was sent to live with a foster family during the Sixties Scoop.

For Kewistep, Friday's apology from Pope Francis for the Catholic Church’s involvement in residential schools conjures many emotions.

“I thought of that young boy that was taken away at a young age by a person in a black robe, and seeing my grandmother cry,” Kewistep said. “Being taken to the school, and that little boy crying all night.”

“I remember not sleeping all night, and that I was going to tell him that I wanted him to take me back, back home to my grandmother. It never happened.”

Kewistep says that was the last time he ever saw his grandmother, Marie Kewistep, who died while he was at Muskowekwan Residential School.

“I ask for God’s forgiveness, and I want to say to you with all my heart, I am very sorry,” Pope Francis said to a group of several Indigenous people in attendance at the Vatican.

Kewistep says the pope's words made him feel for those that weren’t alive to hear what was said — and made him feel courage that he survived.

“Today I was told that it was okay for me to go back to my grandmother. That meant a lot to me,” he said. “Today I feel hurt, I feel sad, but I feel happy, and I feel rejoiced.”

“I feel good, and I accept it.”

In a statement released Friday, Saskatoon Tribal Council Tribal Chief Mark Arcand said it was a historic day for all Indigenous people.

“We welcome and support today’s apology from Pope Francis to Residential School Survivors and their families as a positive step in the right direction towards reconciliation,” he said.

“We look forward to the Pope’s visit to Canada in July as he promised to fulfill the TRC Calls Action #58.”

Kewistep says he also looks forward to Pope Francis’ visit to Canada.

“For him to come here, I hope that I could be in amongst the crowd where he's at,” he said.

“I will travel to be close to him, and when he says those words again on our land.”

Kewistep says that while this is a big step forward, there is still work to be done in order to achieve true reconciliation.

“We need to sit with one another and listen,” he said. “All that colonization, it's still amongst us and we still face a lot of racism in this country.”

“Today I feel proud, I feel sad, I feel recognized, I feel that we can do good things together, listen to one another, and make a better life for everyone.”