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The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday March 19, 2003 - A3 Anglican Church seeks atonement (Continued from page A1) information-based, instead of cele bratory. members agreed. `There are very few unanimous votes at the Niagara Diocese." said Spence of the recent decision tojoin the nationwide commitment made by each of the church's 30 dioceses. " It was a moment in which the spir it of God moved through the church. How wonderful that we are all will ing to do our share." And while Spence admitted Niagara hasn't made any previous attempts to foster good relationships with aboriginals, inroads are being made now. (Nationally, there are currently 225 First Nations congre gants and 1 30 aboriginal priests.) " 1hope we can all atone for what we were a part of," said Spence. The Anglican Church of Canada is the first denomination among three others (Roman Catholics, United and Presbyterian) to reach a formal agreement with the federal government. The church has agreed to pay 30 per cent of all claims laid by former students of Anglican-run residential schools, up to $25 million. The fed eral government, which ordered the creation of the schools, is paying the other 70 per cent. But according to Archdeacon Jim Boyles (General Secretary of the Anglican Church of Canada), who also spoke at St. Cuthbert's Saturday, reconciliation efforts began a decade ago. That's when the Anglican Church of Canada issued a formal apology for its involvement in the residential school system. Abuse had lifelong consequences By Melanie Cummings SPECIAL T O TH E BEAVER Geronimo Henry knows firstn hand the abuse that pervaded in residential schools. At 66 years of age. the Brantford native is ready to tell his own story. He unraveled a few heartwrenching details Saturday, at St. Cuthbert's Church before about 110 people who gathered to hear from Anglican leaders about the settlement reached between the church and federal government. Henry was just under six years old when his parents were forced to send him away from all that was familiar to him. on the Six Nations Indian Reserve, to a poorly equipped school in Brantford. Not only wrenched from the bosom of his family. Henry and 90.000 other native Indians were stripped of their language and cul ture too. ensconced in what the political wisdom for more than eight decades called `assimilation'. His siblings were also sent, but it was small comfort to him. " I went to bed nightly, cold, hungry. lonely and without anyone time, but nothing happened," Henry told the church. The whole experience left Henry ill equipped to handle life. He attempted suicide once. His sad childhood experience also left Henry unable to properly parent his own six children. "These schools have created generations of dysfunctional people like me," said Henry. He is also struggling with the process by which claims must be 'validated' before financial restitu tion is paid. (The Anglican Church of Canada has agreed to pay 30 per cent of all claims laid by former stu dents who can confirm sexual or physical abase, and the federal gov ernment is footing the remainder.) Henry is one of the lucky few who can prove he attended the school -- he managed to get hold of supporting paperwork before the school was shut down. " But how do I prove the abuse?" he asked the Archdeacon Jim Boyles. The peipetrator is dead. Henry said efforts by the federal government to reinstil his native language and culture into him are too little, too late. (About $450 mil lion is being earmarked for aborigi nal communities to develop such programs.) " How can you put a price on such mental and emotional pain and suffering?" Nonetheless, he will likely apply for compensation, he said. " If only to show clergy cur rently preaching to realize that they aren't above the law." For now, Henry intends to con tinue telling his personal story of life in the residential schools. After he finished, several of the parishioners who attended Saturday's information session approached him, shook his hand thanking him for his bravery and personally apologized to him on behalf of the church's predecessors. Brennan O'Connor · Special to the Beaver Anglican Archbishop Michael Peers discusses the residential school settlement proposed by the Anglican Church. When stories of abuse began to surface in the 1990s. the church also responded by initiating a - Healing and Reconciliation Fund. More than SI million in grants have been directed to aboriginal communities to operate their own, self-directed programs. Boyles said so far nine abusers from the Anglican-nin schools have been identified as those who inflict ed such physical and sexual abuses, and more will likely be identified as they process the validity of the 2,200 claimants. "This is an agreement, not an ending, but a marker along the way, we've still got a long way to go." he added. Archbishop Michael Peers, who is at the helm of the Anglican Church of Canada agreed. "For real healing we need to look at this moment as a landmark, not a destination." he said. Peers described the apology he himself issued around the residen tial schools abuses as simply " the right thing to do." That was 10 years ago, and he predicts it will be another difficult decade-long journey ahead. Brennan O'Connor · Special to the Geronimo Henry to comfort, hug me or kiss me goodnight, without anyone who made me feel loved." This was the reality of his life for 10 long years between 1942 and 1952. He never went home even during summers. He remembers being sexually abused when he was seven years old by the principal who although appointed by the government, was an Anglican priest. It left him emo tionally scarred. " I had no one to resort to for pro tection. I told a supervisor at the Quick look at history of residential schools ·It's estimated 90,000 aboriginal people attend ed residential schools. · Residential schools predate Confederation in 1867. The last federally run one finally closed in 1996. Most ceased to operate by the mid-1970s. · Stories of abuse began to surface in the 1990s. · In 1993 the Anglican Church's Archbishop Michael Peers, extended a formal apology for the unintended harm done to indigenous people as a result of the residential school system. · In 1996 more than 400 recommendations came from a government ordered Royal Commission on Canada's residential school sys tem. ·Although 12,000 claims from former students have been filed since the mid-1990s, by 2002 only about 630 settlements had been reached and 12 court judgments rendered. ·Among those claims, 2,200 are alleged to have occurred in residential schools operated by the Anglican Church. · The Anglican Church ran 26 residential schools in Quebec, and in all other provinces west ward between 1892 and 1969. ·The Anglican Church will pay 30 per cent of all settlements directly to victims with validated claims of sexual and physical abuse, to a maximum of $25 million. ·The government will pay 70 per cent and any liabilities that exceed the $25 million commitment. ·Although 1 1 Anglican dioceses were named in the lawsuits, all of the church's 30 districts are con tributing to the $25 million fund. ·It will be raised over five years with the General Synod (the Anglican Church's legislative body) con tributing $3 million. ·Only supported cases of physical and sexual abuse will be negotiated. Such abuses are stated in about 90 per cent of the 12,000 claims made. ·Loss of language and culture will not be nego tiated for compensation, but as restitution, the church initiated a Healing and Reconciliation Fund in 1992 and has given $ 1 million in grants to abo riginal communities to operate healing programs. Similarly, the federal government announced it would dedicate $450 million toward expansion of similar programs. ·The Anglican Church of Canada is the first of the four denominations to settle with the govern ment. Roman Catholic, United and Presbyterian religious institutions also ran residential schools. · Of the 130 schools that operated over time, 100 will likely be named in the abuse claims. Residential schools were set up in every province except Newfoundland. New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. FORD ESCAPE 9 ^ 3.0LV6,4X4 EC1749 The D eal You Lease FOCUS USE SPORT 2.0L, 4-cylinder, automatic, air cond., power group. F S 1455 m u sta n g co n v. 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