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Despite deep scars from historic attempts to suppress the culture of Canada's Indigenous peoples, there are initiatives to give First Nations spirituality a greater place in the Catholic faith
By Alexis Gacon | Canada
"The first time I did a sun dance during a Mass, a parishioner told me: 'You're moving too fast, we're not ready for this!'," recalls Father François Paradis, an Oblate of Mary Immaculate (OMI) missionary in the Canadian province of Alberta.
"For a long time, I have been interested in how the faith of Indigenous peoples is expressed," explains the 75-year-old priest with a bearded and long white hair.
Expressing the Catholic faith differently
Father Paradis, who marks the 50th anniversary of his priestly ordination this summer, studied the traditional beliefs of the First Nations peoples for a long time before he began adding some of their elements into liturgical celebrations.
"I'm still a novice, but I'm incorporating Indigenous dances and practices that allow me to express my Catholic faith differently," he explains.
He is particularly involved in ceremonies that take place in "sweat lodges".
"There are healing rites, and in the heat and discomfort, you can have great spiritual experiences," he says.
"But there are questions: does God want me to get so close to Indigenous spiritualities? It's a long road of reflection," Father Paradis adds, pointing out that his OMI confreres share his approach.
Louise Royer, director of the social pastoral office of the Archdiocese of Montreal, notes that a tentative movement towards inculturation took place after the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).
"It introduced practices and symbols of traditional spiritualities," she says.
"Many of the faithful resisted this movement because they wanted to distance themselves from what could be perceived -- and had been presented to them -- as pagan practices. But the movement continues," Royer says.
Until the mid-20th century, Indigenous spiritual practices were demonized in Canada.
The Indian Act of 1895 outlawed certain rituals, including the sun dance.
Nicole O'Bomsawin, a member of the Abenaki tribe, had no choice but to be Catholic when she was a little girl.
"At the time, it was like that, we needed to silence our beliefs. But the priests didn't know what we had in our heads, who exactly we were praying to," she recalls.
"As my grandfather used to say, whether you say 'Great Spirit' or 'God', they are not two different figures," says O'Bomsawin, an anthropologist originally from Odanak, an Abenaki reserve north of Montreal.
The Great Spirit, according to The Canadian Encyclopedia, is "a mythical hero who dove, or commanded other animals to dive, into the original waters to bring back mud from which the Earth was fashioned."
Father Peter Bisson, who is assistant to the Jesuit Provincial of Canada for Indigenous Relations, says the Society of Jesus has made more efforts over the last decade to better understand First Nations spiritualities.
He began his own education on the matter, as it were, in 2008.
A strong connection to nature
That's when Canada set up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to better understand the effects of residential schools on the First Nations peoples.
Indigenous children were forced to attend these institutions. They were forbidden from speaking in their native languages and many were abused. Thousands even died.
The commission concluded with recommendations for greater equality.
"It got me interested in reconciliation and in their wisdom," Father Bisson says.
Since then, he's been deepening his understanding of Indigenous beliefs by organizing discussion groups chaired by First Nations peoples.
"It's just listening, not a discussion. It's not about solving problems, like those caused by residential schools," the Jesuit points out.
"We're leaving behind our old habits from colonialism, of wanting to offer them something, as if we know more than they do... It's a humbling challenge for the church," he admits.
Father Bisson notes that the Indigenous peoples more naturally emphasize the spiritual aspects of life.
"Their relationship with nature is clearer, more direct. And now, with the ecological transition, we need the help of Indigenous spiritualities to reintegrate a strong spiritual connection between us and our environment," he says.
"I have two hopes: the decolonization of our Christian mindsets and ecology. If we are more interested in nature, we will listen more to natives and their beliefs, and we will understand each other better."
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