Ancestral Belongings returned by Vatican

 

VIA: Over 80 thousand artifacts – a testament of the peoples and cultures from every part of the world – are on exhibit in the new Anima Mundi Museum, previously known as the Ethnological Museum of the Vatican Museums. 

Pope returns 62 artifacts to Indigenous peoples from Canada

By NICOLE WINFIELD | Associated Press | November 15, 2025, 

VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican on Saturday returned 62 artifacts to Indigenous peoples from Canada as part of the Catholic Church’s reckoning with its role in helping suppress Indigenous culture in the Americas.

Pope Leo XIV gave the artifacts, including an iconic Inuit kayak, and supporting documentation to a delegation of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops during an audience. According to a joint statement from the Vatican and Canadian church, the pieces were a gift and a “concrete sign of dialogue, respect and fraternity.”

The items were part of the Vatican Museum’s ethnographic collection, known as the Anima Mundi museum. The collection has been a source of controversy for the Vatican amid the broader museum debate over the restitution of cultural goods taken from Indigenous peoples during colonial periods.

Most of the items in the Vatican collection were sent to Rome by Catholic missionaries for a 1925 exhibition in the Vatican gardens that was a highlight of that year’s Holy Year.

The Vatican insists the items were “gifts” to Pope Pius XI, who wanted to celebrate the church’s global reach, its missionaries and the lives of the Indigenous peoples they evangelized.

But historians, Indigenous groups and experts have long questioned whether the items could really have been offered freely, given the power imbalances at play in Catholic missions at the time. In those years, Catholic religious orders were helping to enforce the Canadian government’s forced assimilation policy of eliminating Indigenous traditions, which Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has called “cultural genocide.”

Part of that policy included confiscating items used in Indigenous spiritual and traditional rituals, such as the 1885 potlatch ban that prohibited the integral First Nations ceremony. Those confiscated items ended up in museums in Canada, the U.S. and Europe, as well as private collections.

Negotiations on returning the Vatican items accelerated after Pope Francis in 2022 met with Indigenous leaders who had traveled to the Vatican to receive his apology for the church’s role in running Canada’s disastrous residential schools. During their visit, they were shown some objects in the collection, including an Inuit kayak, wampum belts, war clubs and masks, and asked for them to be returned.

Francis later said he was in favor of returning the items and others in the Vatican collection on a case-by-case basis, saying: “In the case where you can return things, where it’s necessary to make a gesture, better to do it.”

The Vatican said Saturday the items were given back during the Holy Year, exactly 100 years after the 1925 exhibition where they were first exhibited in Rome.

“This is an act of ecclesial sharing, with which the Successor of Peter entrusts to the Church in Canada these artifacts, which bear witness to the history of the encounter between faith and the cultures of the Indigenous peoples,” said the joint statement from the Vatican and Canadian church.

It added that the Canadian Catholic hierarchy committed to ensuring that the artifacts are “properly safeguarded, respected and preserved." Officials had previously said the Canadian bishops would receive the artifacts with the explicit understanding that the ultimate keepers will be the Indigenous communities themselves.

The items are expected to be taken first to the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec. There, experts and Indigenous groups will try to identify where the items originated, down to the specific community, and what should be done with them, officials said previously.

As part of its broader reckoning with the Catholic Church’s colonial past, the Vatican in 2023 formally repudiated the “Doctrine of Discovery,” the theories backed by 15th-century “papal bulls” that legitimized the colonial-era seizure of Native lands that form the basis of some property laws today.

The statement marked a historic recognition of the Vatican’s own complicity in colonial-era abuses committed by European powers, even though it didn't address Indigenous demands that the Vatican formally rescind the papal bulls themselves.

The Vatican on Saturday cited the 2023 repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery in its statement, saying Leo's return of the artifacts concludes the “journey” initiated by Francis.

 

EDITOR NOTE:  "ARTIFACT" is the wrong word... it should be an ancestral belongings and not an object to be looted, owned or on display in Rome...These belongings have a spirit...   Trace

 Pope voices willingness to return Indigenous loot, artifacts

READ: https://apnews.com/article/vatican-restitution-indigenous-parthenon-0e486d653bcac89f94854430ce29faf0 

Putting the Pope's "Penitential Pilgrimage" to "Canada" in Context

Pope Francis’ death has brought recollections in the media about his July 2022 visit to Canada, billed as a “Penitential Pilgrimage” to the Original Peoples of that land. The event is being recalled as one of the Pope’s major accomplishments.

  READ THIS POST:

https://open.substack.com/pub/peterderrico/p/putting-the-popes-penitential-pilgrimage?r=cbskx&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

 I call it the international law of colonization, because Europeans use this law to colonize Oceania, the New World and Africa as late as the 1880s.

Mixed feelings for Vatican rescinding 'law of colonization'

By Miles Morrisseau
‘This is only a first step in correcting some of the wrongs in history’ ... 

“Native people went to the UN to talk to church leaders in the 70s to repudiate these papal bulls, which is an order from the church from the 1400s. The church claimed that they had done away with those bulls and 1539 in a papal bull that said Indians were human beings,” Miller said. “Well, that's not the way the European countries of the world took it. And this law developed and as you said, the United States 200 years ago this year, in the case of Johnson v. M'Intosh, Chief Justice John Marshall, in the first American Indian law case in the Supreme Court, adopted the Doctrine of Discovery and applied it to Indian rights here.”

continue reading

[AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, file]

👉Johnson v. M’Intosh: 200 years of legal misery for Native people By Renae Ditmer The landmark 1823 Supreme Court case set a precedent that has undermined tribal sovereignty ever since ... continue reading

[AP Photo/John Locher]

The Doctrine of Discovery repudiated

By ICT Newscast with Aliyah Chavez
We meet the author behind the book aiming to support young women called 'Sisterhood.' A short film explores the legacy of the Rapid City boarding schools. The Vatican has repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery. We discuss its influence on tribal sovereignty ...  The Vatican officially repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery on Thursday morning. This comes after Indigenous peoples across the world demanded this action. The Doctrine of Discovery originated in the late 1400s, as justification by the Catholic Church to seize lands that were not inhabited by Christians. continue reading

 

The Pope seems to not know about the Doctrine, according to a twitter Native.

Doctrine of Discovery rescinded?

Editor Note: Colonization and genocide cannot be erased with a press release.

March 30, 2023 (National Native News)

The Vatican has formally repudiated the “Doctrine of Discovery,” which justified colonization and the taking of Indigenous lands.

Two Vatican departments issued a joint statement Thursday saying it’s not part of teachings of the Catholic Church.

Indigenous people have long called for the church to rescind the legal concept.

Joint Statement of the Dicasteries for Culture and Education and for Promoting Integral Human Development on the “Doctrine of Discovery”, 30.03.2023

1. In fidelity to the mandate received from Christ, the Catholic Church strives to promote universal fraternity and respect for the dignity of every human being.

2. For this reason, in the course of history the Popes have condemned acts of violence, oppression, social injustice and slavery, including those committed against indigenous peoples. There have also been numerous examples of bishops, priests, women and men religious and lay faithful who gave their lives in defense of the dignity of those peoples.

3. At the same time, respect for the facts of history demands an acknowledgement of the human weakness and failings of Christ’s disciples in every generation. Many Christians have committed evil acts against indigenous peoples for which recent Popes have asked forgiveness on numerous occasions.

4. In our own day, a renewed dialogue with indigenous peoples, especially with those who profess the Catholic Faith, has helped the Church to understand better their values and cultures. With their help, the Church has acquired a greater awareness of their sufferings, past and present, due to the expropriation of their lands, which they consider a sacred gift from God and their ancestors, as well as the policies of forced assimilation, promoted by the governmental authorities of the time, intended to eliminate their indigenous cultures. As Pope Francis has emphasized, their sufferings constitute a powerful summons to abandon the colonizing mentality and to walk with them side by side, in mutual respect and dialogue, recognizing the rights and cultural values of all individuals and peoples. In this regard, the Church is committed to accompany indigenous peoples and to foster efforts aimed at promoting reconciliation and healing.

5. It is in this context of listening to indigenous peoples that the Church has heard the importance of addressing the concept referred to as the “doctrine of discovery.” The legal concept of “discovery” was debated by colonial powers from the sixteenth century onward and found particular expression in the nineteenth century jurisprudence of courts in several countries, according to which the discovery of lands by settlers granted an exclusive right to extinguish, either by purchase or conquest, the title to or possession of those lands by indigenous peoples. Certain scholars have argued that the basis of the aforementioned “doctrine” is to be found in several papal documents, such as the Bulls Dum Diversas (1452), Romanus Pontifex (1455) and Inter Caetera (1493).

6. The “doctrine of discovery” is not part of the teaching of the Catholic Church. Historical research clearly demonstrates that the papal documents in question, written in a specific historical period and linked to political questions, have never been considered expressions of the Catholic faith. At the same time, the Church acknowledges that these papal bulls did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of indigenous peoples. The Church is also aware that the contents of these documents were manipulated for political purposes by competing colonial powers in order to justify immoral acts against indigenous peoples that were carried out, at times, without opposition from ecclesiastical authorities. It is only just to recognize these errors, acknowledge the terrible effects of the assimilation policies and the pain experienced by indigenous peoples, and ask for pardon. Furthermore, Pope Francis has urged: “Never again can the Christian community allow itself to be infected by the idea that one culture is superior to others, or that it is legitimate to employ ways of coercing others.”

7. In no uncertain terms, the Church’s magisterium upholds the respect due to every human being. The Catholic Church therefore repudiates those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human rights of indigenous peoples, including what has become known as the legal and political “doctrine of discovery”.

8. Numerous and repeated statements by the Church and the Popes uphold the rights of indigenous peoples. For example, in the 1537 Bull Sublimis Deus, Pope Paul III wrote, “We define and declare [ ... ] that [, .. ] the said Indians and all other people who may later be discovered by Christians, are by no means to be deprived of their liberty or the possession of their property, even though they be outside the Christian faith; and that they may and should, freely and legitimately, enjoy their liberty and possession of their property; nor should they be in any way enslaved; should the contrary happen, it shall be null and have no effect”.

9. More recently, the Church’s solidarity with indigenous peoples has given rise to the Holy See’s strong support for the principles contained in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The implementation of those principles would improve the living conditions and help protect the rights of indigenous peoples as well as facilitate their development in a way that respects their identity, language and culture.

: FMI :

George L. Williams (2004). Papal Genealogy: The Families And Descendants Of The Popes. McFarland. pp. 74–. ISBN 978-0-7864-2071-1. 

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ALSO READ: Tribal membership vs. sovereign citizenship

“The ‘enrollment’ process was started by the Feds so they could use ‘blood quantum’ to finish the Genocide of Native Americans. Now we are finishing the job ourselves by continuing to use it as a ‘membership’ requirement. Membership: like the Elks Club or Lions Club or the Moose Lodge. Sad.”

—Harold Monteau, former chair of National Indian Gaming Commission and a citizen of the Chippewa Cree Tribe, today on social media

What's ahead in 2023

Betting, adoption lawsuits pose greatest threat to tribes in decades, experts say

A lawsuit in Washington state and another case before the U.S. Supreme Court are part of a coordinated campaign that experts say is pushing once-fringe legal theories to the nation’s highest court and represents the most serious challenge to tribal sovereignty in over 50 years.

“It could have really big impacts on basically every law Congress has passed that has to do with tribes and tribal citizens,” said Rebecca Nagle, a journalist, citizen of the Cherokee Nation and host of the “This Land” podcast, which explored the Brackeen case in detail. “It’s really the legal foundation for the rights of Indigenous nations in this country.”

The highest courts in Canada and the United States are expected to decide child welfare cases this year that could have far-reaching implications for Indigenous rights on both sides of the border. In Brackeen v. Haaland, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide the future of the Indian Child Welfare Act. And in Attorney General of Québec, et al. v. Attorney General of Canada, et al., the Supreme Court of Canada will rule on the constitutionality of the federal government's Indigenous child welfare legislation, Bill C-92. Although the constitutions and arguments before the top courts in both countries are different, legal experts say the two parallel cases could affect who has the legal right to decide what's best for Indigenous children throughout the continent. Read more here.

 

KEY CASES SHARE ATTORNEY

Maverick Gaming and Chad and Jennifer Brackeen are also backed by the same legal team.

The Brackeens are challenging ICWA, a 1978 law that requires caseworkers to give preference to Indigenous families in foster and adoption placements of children who are members of a federally recognized tribe.

The law was aimed at correcting centuries of injustice.

Between 1819 and 1969, the federal government took many thousands of Indigenous kids from their homes and forced them to attend brutal schools that employed “systematic militarized and identity-alteration methodologies,” according to a report released by the U.S. Department of the Interior in May.

After the federal government ended mandatory attendance at American Indian boarding schools, officials continued to remove overwhelming numbers of Indigenous kids from their families and place them in foster or adoptive care outside their communities.

When Congress passed ICWA in 1978, studies showed that state child welfare agencies and private adoption companies were taking between 25% and 35% of Native kids from their families. And 85% of those children were placed with non-Indigenous families.

Native families are still four times as likely as white families to have kids removed from their homes, according to the National Indian Child Welfare Association.

READ MORE 

👉MORE👇

Native American News: 2022 in Review  

 

Martha Aupaluktuq-Hickes, left with green hat, and her mother Nancy Aupaluktuq, right, listen to Pope Francis during his visit to Iqaluit on July 29. Seven of Nancy’s eight children, including Martha, are survivors of Canada’s residential school system (Photo by Corey Larocque)

Newsmaker of 2022: The residential school survivors

 

 

 

The sad, surreal visit of an apologetic Pope (UPDATED)

QUEBEC, CANADA - JULY 27: One-year-old Yonnan Flamand is lifted into the air by his father Alland Flamand of Manawan as Pope Francis delivers remarks at the Citadelle of Quebec on the Plains of Abraham on July 27, 2022 in Quebec, Canada. Pope Francis is traveling across Canada for a “pilgrimage of penance,” to meet with and apologize to Indigenous communities for the abuse at Catholic-run residential schools. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Canadian Indigenous peoples face a reckoning after being granted an audience with a major symbol of their oppression.

Rob Capriccioso

Pope Francis is scheduled this evening to complete his week-long Indigenous apology tour through Canada. He’s used his visit to offer seemingly heartfelt condolences to Indigenous peoples throughout Canada for portions of the Catholic Church’s role in their genocidal assimilation. 

Indigenous peoples’ most progressive hope for his trip was that he would rescind the 1493 Papal Bull and related Doctrine of Discovery, which served as the historical Church-sanctioned policy rationale for destroying and subverting Native culture in the so-called New World. But he has not done that — and even the most idealistic of Indigenous advocates suspected he would not.

To do that would have undermined a foundational principle of Christian, colonial and capitalistic ideology, and few contemporary world systems seem prepared for the possible ramifications — financial, social and otherwise.

A brief summary of the 1493 bull follows:

The Papal Bull "Inter Caetera," issued by Pope Alexander VI on May 4, 1493, played a central role in the Spanish conquest of the New World. The document supported Spain’s strategy to ensure its exclusive right to the lands discovered by Columbus the previous year. It established a demarcation line one hundred leagues west of the Azores and Cape Verde Islands and assigned Spain the exclusive right to acquire territorial possessions and to trade in all lands west of that line. All others were forbidden to approach the lands west of the line without special license from the rulers of Spain. This effectively gave Spain a monopoly on the lands in the New World.

The Bull stated that any land not inhabited by Christians was available to be "discovered," claimed, and exploited by Christian rulers and declared that "the Catholic faith and the Christian religion be exalted and be everywhere increased and spread, that the health of souls be cared for and that barbarous nations be overthrown and brought to the faith itself." This "Doctrine of Discovery" became the basis of all European claims in the Americas as well as the foundation for the United States’ western expansion. In the US Supreme Court in the 1823 case Johnson v. McIntosh, Chief Justice John Marshall’s opinion in the unanimous decision held "that the principle of discovery gave European nations an absolute right to New World lands." In essence, American Indians had only a right of occupancy, which could be abolished.

 KEEP READING

 Questions abound: Will the papal bull ever be rescinded? If so, what will that mean? Will the Pope make a similar visit to the U.S. and to Latin America, which both experienced similar atrocities to the Indigenous peoples of Canada? Will anything really change as a result of this sorry snapshot?

**

Papal Visit 

The historic visit by Pope Francis to Canada this week drew thousands of Indigenous people from across Turtle Island to hear the apology they had been expecting for the Catholic Church’s role in the ugly residential school history.

ICT’s special correspondent Miles Morrisseau, Métis Nation, based in Manitoba, Canada, was among them. He witnessed the apology in Maskwacis, Alberta, on the grounds of the former Ermineskin Indian Residential School. He was there for the applause, for the tears and the emotional protest song.

And he was there to gather reaction to the long-awaited penance, from tribal leaders who gathered and the First Nations, Métis and Inuit people who made a pilgrimage to see the Pope.

He followed the Pope to Lac Ste. Anne where the Pontiff sat silently looking toward the lake before blessing the crowd with its sacred waters. And he was there to talk to the Cree woman whose tearful song on Monday brought an outpouring around the world.

ICT National Correspondent Mary Annette Pember also joined the coverage, gathering perspectives from Indigenous people in the United States who hope the Pope will make a similar “penitence pilgrimage” to apologize for the U.S. boarding school system. She explored Indigenous demands that the Catholic Church return the tens of thousands of sacred artifacts stored in Vatican museums.

ICT gave readers the Indigenous perspective of a story that is very personal for many of us.. 

Here’s a round-up of ICT’s coverage of the papal visit:

Sunday, July 24

Pressure mounts for residential school apology By Miles Morrisseau and Mary Annette Pember A six-day swing through the heart of Indigenous Canada is meant to be a ‘penitential voyage’ ... continue reading

[AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski]

Pope takes first step toward apology By ICT Pope Francis arrived Sunday in Canada to high expectations that he will apologize for the Catholic Church’s role in operating Indigenous residential schools ... continue reading

[AP Photo/Eric Gay]

Monday, July 25

Apology at last in Canada By Mile Morrisseau Pope Francis tells thousands gathered at Maskwacis he is sorry but the question remains: 'What's next?’ ... continue reading

[AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia]

Tuesday, July 26

'It's going to take a long time' By Miles Morrisseau The Pope’s apology brings renewed calls for reconciliation, reparations ... continue reading

[Photo by Miles Morrisseau/ICT]

 

Do the children in unmarked graves know you are sorry?

 

Papal Visit: Apology at last in Canada

By Miles Morrisseau
MASKWACIS, Alberta, Canada – Saying it is time to find a pathway forward for healing, Pope Francis issued a long-awaited apology to the Indigenous people of Canada for the Catholic Church’s role in the brutal residential school system that separated children from their families, culture and language. ... continue reading

...But it also brought tears – tears for the children who never came home, whose remains were dumped in unmarked graves.

Do those children who died hear your apology? Who will pay for their murders? We don't want an apology, do we? How about arrests?... TLH, blog editor

What is Doctrine of Discovery?

 The Doctrine of Discovery: Its effects are still being felt, but only the Pope can rescind it

Truth and Reconciliation commissioner says it's 'a matter of time' before doctrine dies 

Bryan Eneas · CBC News · May 12

Indigenous leaders and residential school survivors in Saskatchewan called on Pope Francis to rescind the Doctrine of Discovery. The Archbishop of Canterbury, one of the highest officials in the Church of England, also recently promised to see what he could do about the doctrine. (Gregorio Borgia/The Associated Press)

When the Archbishop of Canterbury visited Saskatchewan earlier this month, those who spoke with him made him aware of the damage caused by the Doctrine of Discovery.

Many survivors tie its existence to the creation and presence of residential schools, and a commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recently said its ripple effect is still being felt in schools today.

The commission's findings, as survivors told the archbishop during his visit, show residential school policy could be traced back to the doctrine and the papal bulls.

Chiefs and leaders who attended the archbishop's visits in James Smith Cree Nation and Prince Albert commended the promise to discuss the doctrine with the Roman Catholic Church. 

"How can we dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery in a way so it can never be  used again?" Rev. Justin Welby asked the crowd who gathered to meet him in James Smith Cree Nation.

Rev. Justin Welby visited the James Smith Cree Nation to listen to residential school survivors earlier this month. He promised to aid in dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery by engaging with local officials and with the Roman Catholic Church. (Bryan Eneas/CBC)

The doctrine and its powers

The Doctrine of Discovery's supposed power came from the Roman Catholic Church. 

Papal bulls, edicts from the pope guiding colonial powers on the treatment of Indigenous people, were issued in the 15th century. 

The bulls, which empowered Christian colonial expansion, said any land "discovered" by colonial powers could be claimed as their own.

They also stated Indigeneous people who inhabited those lands were not Christian and could be subjugated and converted to Christianity. 

Sol Sanderson, a Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations senator and former chief, says colonial powers and nations eventually formed via the doctrine would create their own policies designed to terminate the rights of Indigenous people. 

Only Pope Francis can rescind the papal bulls issued in the 15th century that gave colonial nations the power to ignore the rights of Indigenous people. (Vatican Media/Reuters)

In Canada, the termination of Indigenous rights came through the Indian Act, and policies within the act led to the creation of residential schools in Canada — a system, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission says, was designed to destroy Indigenous people's sense of cultural identity. 

Sanderson says as he sees it, historically, the Canadian government has made numerous attempts to diminish Indigenous rights, based on the ideas passed through the generations that colonial powers are better suited to govern Indigenous people, thanks to the doctrine.

But Sanderson says Indigenous people's inherent rights aren't and weren't ever superseded by the doctrine, just ignored by it.

"People don't know nothing about inherent rights … they supersede everything, but what are they, where do they come from?" Sanderson said.

"When you look at the inherent rights we have, the inherent sovereignty of our nations and inherent rights to self-determination, the inherent right to education, health, social development, lands, resources, economics, justice … that's the inherent rights we have."

Sanderson says he hoped the Archbishop of Canterbury would come to an agreement with the pope to implement a plan and put teeth into a strategy resulting in the rescinding of the doctrine.

He says such an agreement should recognize the sovereignty of Indigneous people, their natural power to govern, their natural power to make treaties and their natural power to legislate internally and externally both at home and abroad — terms he says need to be dictated by Indigenous people.

Old history, modern effects

The doctrine itself might seem like a relic of the past but retired Senator Murray Sinclair, a commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, says its effects are still very much being felt today.

There's no doubt the doctrine contributed to the creation of residential schools, Sinclair says. 

But the doctrine also allowed for and created the thinking that colonial powers could occupy Indigenous lands and territories — and in turn the thinking that Indigenous people are inferior to non-Indigenous people, particularly European settlers.

Thinking that colonial powers are superior to Indigenous people is something he says permeated the education system even beyond residential schools and is still being felt today, even if schools have taken a "softer, more gentle approach" to Canada's history.\

"They still talk about the beauty of colonialism, the beauty of European growth, the wisdom and intelligence of the leaders of Confederation, the wisdom and intelligence of the people who've been in charge of government over the years," Sinclair said. 

"It's Indigenous people who are made to look bad in the history books in this country and that not only has a negative effect on the Indigenous children, it also has a negative effect on non-Indigenous children."

He says non-Indigenous children taught in school early on to believe they're superior are potentially jeopardizing their relationship with Indigenous people. 

Sinclair says that factor is something that affected him and other Indigenous people as children and caused a deep distrust of all levels of non-Indigenous society — churches, educational systems, government and many others.

'A matter of time'

The Archbishop of Canterbury himself can't rescind the papal bulls making up the Doctrine of Discovery. 

His promise to survivors gathered in James Smith Cree Nation and Prince Albert earlier this month was to engage in discussions with the Pope about the harms he learned about the doctrine while in Saskatchewan. 

Rescinding of the document would come down to the Pope.

Murray Sinclair says he expects the Doctrine of Discovery will be rescinded in the near future. (Darin Morash/CBC)

Sinclair says that's something this generation could see in its lifetime — and it's something that needs to be done now for survivors' sake. 

"I think it's a matter of time before the Doctrine of Discovery is ruled as being an irrelevant doctrine," Sinclair said. 

He says the question of what legal basis the Crown has to justify its legal title over Indigenous people has appeared in the Supreme Court of Canada a number of times, but hasn't been properly answered. 

In reading through legal decisions, he says, he's seen justices point out the major act of reconciliation that needs to happen in Canada is reconciling Crown sovereignty and Indigenous sovereignty.

 "We're hoping that the parties can do that, but if they leave it to the courts to do that, then they may not be happy with the result," Sinclair said. 

MORE

• Low-profile apologies from Archbishop of Canterbury amounted to a missed opportunity, says former TRC chair

• Archbishop of Canterbury promises release of residential school records in England following survivors' calls

 Residential school survivor hopes Pope Francis brings more than an apology to Canada

• Indigenous student praised after altering 'European discovery of Americas' worksheet

Pope Francis to make 3 Canadian stops in July to meet residential school survivors, sources say

Pope Francis is expected to visit at least three cities during a late July trip to Canada, CBC News has learned.

Sources involved in the planning of the trip say the Pope will likely make stops in Edmonton, Quebec City and Iqaluit during what is scheduled to be about a four-day trip to the country. CBC News is not identifying the confidential sources because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The pontiff initially announced plans for the visit during his Vatican meetings on April 1 with Indigenous delegates from Canada, where he offered an initial apology for the actions of individual Roman Catholic Church members in Canada's residential schools.

KEEP READING 

Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Gerald Antoine, centre left, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed and Métis National Council president Cassidy Caron walk in St. Peter's Square after a final audience with Pope Francis on April 1. (Yara Nardi/Reuters)