Treaty 6 First Nations organization providing guidance, information for papal visit
On and off-site support will be available for residential school survivors
The Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations wants to ensure residential school survivors have accurate and timely information on attending events for the Pope's visit to Alberta.
The first event is on July 25 when the Pope will visit Maskwacis residential school site.
That event is ticketed and intended for elders, residential school survivors, day school survivors, intergenerational survivors, Indigenous community members, their families, and those accompanying survivors for support, the Confederacy said Monday in a news release.
An open-air mass at Commonwealth Stadium and the Lac Ste. Anne pilgrimage will be held the next day, on July 26. Both events are ticketed. The Confederacy is recommending that people choose either the stadium mass or the pilgrimage that day, due to traffic and logistical issues.
MacEwan University will be providing a gathering space during the visit on July 25 and 26. The space will have sharing circles, refreshments, access to a live stream of the papal visits, elder support, and ceremony. There will also be a sacred fire on July 26. The events at MacEwan are open to everyone.
City of Edmonton support and social workers will also be stationed at the events on July 25 and 26, as well as at MacEwan and the Indigenous Peoples Experience at Fort Edmonton Park.
Those who wish to attend can reach out to their respective National Indigenous Organization, Catholic diocese travelling with survivors, or regional AFN representatives to register for these events.
If people don't know who to contact at those organizations, there are email addresses to use to register:
Maskwacis
- maskwacis@papalvisit.ca
- groups@papalvisit.ca
Lac Ste. Anne pilgrimage
- LSA@papalvisit.ca
- LSA@visitepapale.ca
- groups@papalvisit.ca
Commonwealth Stadium
- commonwealth@papalvisit.ca
- commonwealthgroups@papalvisit.ca