Peri Omesu finds comfort in cooking at her Vancouver home. He welcomes moments of peace – finding peace has been a struggle for decades.
“I had a good spiritual upbringing and they took me away from him and put me in an Indian residential school,” he said.
When Omesu was five years old, he was separated from his family and put in a home Erminskine Residential School – One of the largest in Canada.
“What a difficult and ugly change in my life. It gave me nothing but devastation,” Omesu said.
“Earlier, I don’t remember my grandfather hitting or yelling at me more. I remember that I was fed proper food by my grandmother. I remember being allowed to play and be a little boy. ,
Omesu said he was abused and lonely. He did not understand English but was not allowed to speak Cree.
“My cousin said, ‘Don’t get caught speaking Cree or you’re going to get hit.’ For a year, I hardly spoke to anyone… I’ve never felt so lonely.
“All of a sudden, I was a soldier when I went to residential school,” he said.
Omesu felt raw when 215 unmarked graves were discovered in a former residential school in Kamloops. He remembers crying for days as more and more communities found unmarked graves.
“I’ll keep getting triggered.”
Omesu is from the Maskawasis, but he will not travel to hear the Pope’s apology. For him, it is a symbol of pain.
“There’s a whole bunch of different emotions that come with the arrival of the Pope,” Omesu said.
“I tell people that I’m going to carry the darkness of the residential school until the day I die.”
The Pope’s visit has opened a flood of emotions, especially for those living in the communities the Pope is heading. Josh Littlechild, 39, is grateful he didn’t go to residential school, but his father did. Littlechild has felt a setback her whole life.
“My dad was the longest living residential school in the country. He’s gone for 15 years,” Littlechild said.
“It affected my life to a large extent because the Catholic Orthodox values that our people are starting with are deeply woven… Have given.”
Now that Littlechild has children of his own, he realizes that even though he didn’t go to residential school, it affected his upbringing.
“I really had to start over and understand that these people weren’t really taught to be parents, so I had to start from scratch,” Littlechild said. “When I asked my dad for advice, there are some things he can’t answer – he can’t because he was raised by a nun.”
Littlechild said that he is not going to see the Pope, he has booked a therapy session instead. He said he is feeling good about this visit because those who need it will be there.
“(My dad) grew up in a rural area, in central Alberta, where it’s cowboy country and cowboys don’t cry, so it’s tough, get some beers in you, you should feel better. I’m with that I’ve grown up and with the Pope coming, I’m starting to see an 80-year-old man ready to recover.”
Preparations before the Pope’s visit to Maskavasis
Pope Francis announced that he would be coming to Canada in May, and over 11 weeks, volunteers pulled together to make it happen. Father Cristino Bouvet is with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary, and is indigenous. He will lead Francis during his journey.
“As a priest, when you think about the possibility, and it’s really only a possibility that someday you might meet the Holy Father, you can take a brief hand in a crowd passing outside the Vatican or something. I would never have imagined being in the position I am in now,” Bouvet said.
In 1926, Bouvet’s Kokum – his grandmother – went to residential school.
Huge crowds, road closures and heavy security expected for Pope Francis’ visit to Alberta
“My grandmother spent 12 years of her life in the Indian residential school system … I always knew she was in one of these schools, but there was no controversy around her until I was in my teens Then I realized he never really talked about school.”
Bouvette hopes to represent his faith and culture.
“I have had this interesting dynamic of being a Catholic priest and serving and representing my church well, but also knowing that before I was ever a Catholic priest, I have been an indigenous person from the moment of my conception And I want to make sure that I am representing and advocating fairly and fairly for my people as well.”
On Monday in Maskavasis, the Pope will visit the former Erminskin residential school site and Bear Park to hold a formal event. He is expected to apologize for the role of the Catholic Church in residential schools.
“I hope for those who have been waiting for it, or hoping for it, what they have been waiting for; if it is an aid to their own healing and progress in their personal journey of reconciliation “
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