After the Winter Semester, on
May 5th I left for Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada for the Indigenous Immersion Experience for
Scholastics Regina, Saskatchewan for two months. Four Canadian Scholastics
and I were commissioned as pioneers for the program as a response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of
Canada (TRC). We mainly focussed to respond to Calls to Action, #60 of TRC: “We call upon leaders of the church parties to
the Settlement Agreement and all other faiths, in collaboration with Indigenous
spiritual leaders, Survivors, schools of theology, seminaries, and other
religious training centres, to develop and teach curriculum for all student
clergy, and all clergy and staff who work in Aboriginal communities, on the
need to respect Indigenous spirituality in its own right, the history and
legacy of residential schools and the roles of the church parties in that
system, … the responsibility that churches have to mitigate such conflicts and
prevent spiritual violence.” The two months in Regina have been very fruitful and
overwhelming experiences for us. We took couple of courses at the First Nations
University of Canada in University of Regina where we learned about the past
history of Indigenous peoples: their ways of living, spirituality, and
traditions.
The Elders of various communities welcomed us warmly in their
spiritual ceremonies and imparted to us their sacred teachings. Their witnesses
and heartbreaking experiences at the residential schools often moved us to
tears. The program made us aware some of their cultures, traditions, and
spirituality. It led us to realize that we can make reconciliation with others only
if we know them, their traditions, and their cultures. This pilot program is
meant to work for the reconciliation process between Indigenous and
non-indigenous peoples. It is also a step forward for hope in the future to
create “a new Canada”. The scholastics also helped out at Mother Teresa Middle
School (MTMS), Regina that caters mainly to the Aboriginal students and also students from poor families who have potentials but do not have access to good education. MTMS makes them
aware with Jesuit pedagogies of learning: committed to do justice, open to growth, men and women for others, loving, and religious.
