Indigenous Immersion Experience Regina, Saskatchewan

        After the Winter Semester, on May 5^th 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.