Honoring Indigenous Peoples' Day with Rosella Kinoshameg

"Every child matters," reads Rosella Kinoshameg's fluorescent orange tee-shirt. The shirt is part of a national movement to recognize the harmful history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada. Rosella's shirt commemorates the thousands of children who were compelled to attend these schools, where practicing Indigenous cultures or languages was forbidden in an effort to assimilate children into white culture. Indigenous communities in Canada and the U.S. are still grappling with the impacts of this history. Co-host MegAnne Liebsch talks to Rosella about the ongoing trauma in her community, an Ojibwe First Nation reservation on Manitoulin Island, Canada. Rosella also shares moments of joy from her vast ministry with the Anishinabe Spiritual Centre, which is a work of the Jesuits of Canada. For her, Indigenous and Catholic traditions go hand in hand. Both energize her to serve the community on Manitoulin Island. And her wisdom is widely sought. As she told me, when something happens—a baby’s birth or a loved one’s death—she is one of the first calls that people make. To learn more about the Anishinabe Spiritual Centre visit: https://www.anishinabespiritualcentre.ca/ In the U.S., Congress is currently considering a bill that would create a Truth and Healing Commission on U.S. Indigenous boarding school policy. The Jesuits, alongside six other faith groups that formerly ran boarding schools for Indigenous students, have endorsed this legislation. We ask you to join us in supporting this commission. Learn more at https://www.jesuits.org/stories/jesuits-endorse-bill-to-establish-a-truth-and-healing-commission-on-us-indian-boarding-school-policy/.