For Matthew Wildcat, a member of the Cree Nation’s Ermineskin community and professor of political science at the University of Alberta, it’s a Excellent news. He notes that the doctrine still has implications for current Canadian policy that cannot be changed. overnightbut it is a step in the right direction in his opinion.

I think this is historic and should be celebrated. This is a great symbolic victory for the indigenous peoples, he says. According to him, this means that there is one real will the church to recognize that concept of doctrine was something particularly bad.

I think that’s a sign that the church is ready to take on the claims [des peuples autochtones] more serious and confronting [aux pensées liées aux hiérarchies créées par la colonisation] within your own institutionhe adds.

However, Matthew Wildcat points out that that doesn’t mean it will lead to it significant changes.

He admits it was a little shocked this announcement, since the Pope visited Canada last summer, he did not think it possible: I hope this is a sign that a deep listening has been made.

Matthew Wildcat believes that in the future Indigenous nations as a whole should break away from their relationship with the Church. According to him, the Pope’s rejection of the teaching is one Good signhe does not believe that the indigenous people should continue to put energy into this relationship.

At the same time, in the future, the Church wants to be an ally of indigenous peoples and defend them in our relations with the countries we live in, and if that’s what the Church wants to do, I would be happyhe says.

For Tamara Baldhead Pearl, Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta School of Law, who is originally from the Cree community An arrow in Saskatchewan, this is a significant statement.

While this apology does not directly change Canadian state law, it reinforces the argument that the Doctrine of Discovery is fundamentally racist and inconsistent with the equality of indigenous peoples.She says.

” Hopefully, this will result in Canadian courts and politicians no longer relying on this doctrine to define the rights of indigenous peoples. »

In her opinion, the rejection will help move the conversation about the damage colonialism has done to indigenous peoples in a way that contributes to collapse the resistance that the Catholic faith, but also other religions, may still have.

It’s the kind of thing that kickstarts and drives this conversation to bring new meaning to reconciliation and what we’re really trying to push forward, also with the truth.

She also hopes it will force courts to recognize that indigenous nations are sovereign and adopt treaties as a basis instead of the doctrine of discovery.

A great recognition

First of all, I think it’s a great tribute to the indigenous peoples of this country.says Blake Desjarlais, MP for Edmonton Griesbach for Canada’s New Democratic Party. Finally, one of the most incredible symbols of Western supremacy, the Pope, has finally discarded one of the foundations of colonialism as we know it.

” For tribal peoples, this is the kind of recognition we need to understand that what happened is really not our fault. »

The next step, he said, is for governments to recognize that the Doctrine of Discovery was used as a tool to deprive tribal peoples of their land rights and that the land should not be considered crown land.

“A Door Has Opened”

Edmonton City Councilor Dene Ward Aaron Paquette also believes the doctrine has given government agencies carte blanche. expropriating indigenous peoples from their lands in Canada […] and control all aspects of their lives.

According to him, the Vatican’s announcement “means that a door has now been opened to change legislation because Canada itself was founded on this understanding, which the Catholic Church believes was a misunderstanding.” .

Recognizing that there are “enormous deficiencies on Crown land,” he urges local, provincial and federal authorities to immediately discuss this with Aboriginal communities and take proactive action. Especially since, in his opinion, the rejection of the doctrine of discovery could have legal consequences.

The doctrine of discovery from the 15th century^e Century, was decreed a year after the arrival of Christopher Columbus in New world . Europeans used it to justify the confiscation of lands owned by indigenous peoples.

With information from Madeleine Cummings