LEADING, Northwest Territories – Royal visits are often marked by elaborate, carefully crafted ceremonies and lavish evenings. And there was certainly some of it during Prince Charles and his wife Camilla’s three-day visit to Canada, which included a glittering reception in Ottawa at Queen Elizabeth’s official residence in London. Canada.
But on Thursday, the last day of the royal tour, the tenor was much quieter when Charles and Camilla visited the Northwest Territories.
The pair head to a remote indigenous community to the north, the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, which has a traumatic history with the British monarchy.
There is a centuries-old treaty that the community believes the Crown has violated. And there’s a grim legacy of Canada’s now no longer mandatory boarding school system to the native children, for which the Dene holders of the Crown bear part of the responsibility.
The royal couple arrived in Yellowknife, the provincial capital, around 3:30 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, before heading to the community of Dene First Nation. There, they stepped out onto the gravel and conducted a meeting with indigenous leaders, where unlikely questions.
Prince Charles joined the two Indigenous leaders at a large round table, where they exchanged a number of small chats, including previous visits by the royal family to the Northwest Territories, before reporters were escorted out of the meeting.
Charles’ itinerary for his Canadian tour, including a visit to Yellowknives, set up by the government in Ottawa, underscores the extent to which the country’s history of discrimination against indigenous peoples has become a major political problem.
In April, Pope Francis issued Pope’s first direct apology to indigenous peoples about the role of the Roman Catholic Church in neighborhood schools. He plans to visit Canada in July to issue a similar direct apology.
On Monday, Charles and Camilla attended a reconciliation event in the Province of Newfoundland, where they met Mary SimonThe first Native American to hold the post of Governor-General of Canada, the Queen’s official representative to Canada.
In the historic city of St. a new relationship for the future. ”
Edward Sangris, 68, is one of the Dene heads who met Charles and Camilla on Thursday. He was among thousands of children sent to residential schools. His facility was a Catholic-run facility in Fort Smith, Northwest Territory, until his father defied authorities and kept him at home.
He declined in an interview to discuss his experience there, but said the schools – which had become a national scandal and which the government commission discovered were a form of “cultural genocide” – will probably be a topic of discussion.
“This is a way of conciliation,” said Sheriff Sangris. “While they are not directly responsible for the harm and pain caused, they are indirectly responsible for the actions of the Canadian government.”
Convinced that Charles was not yet king, Sheriff Sangris said before their meeting that he did not anticipate an apology from Charles on behalf of the royal family.
Charles and Camilla’s visit to Detah is expected to last an hour. The pair’s agenda includes meetings in the territory’s capital, Yellowknife with members of a special military reserve unit in remote communities to the north, and visits to the rest of the country. a fast-melting ice trail to discuss climate change.
Premier Sangris says he recognizes the Canadian government’s responsibility and role in Indigenous affairs, but believes the monarchy’s symbolic role in making treaties also makes the government responsible for subsequent violations.
In addition to grievances against local schools, Dene believes the compensation they receive for allowing Mining projects on their traditional lands are less than treaty with the Crown.
Ahead of the royal meeting, Chief Sangris said there was no ability to resolve that dispute or address other important issues for Dene, including a severe housing shortage. Sheriff Sangris’ father met Charles in 1970, when Charles and his mother, Queen Elizabeth, visited Yellowknives. Police Chief Sangris also met with them later and said that many of the issues raised at the time remained unresolved.
During Thursday’s visit, Sheriff Sangris said, “I don’t know what it will accomplish for us.”
Broadly speaking, this is a time of tension over the role of the monarchy in Britain’s former overseas dominions. Separate tours of the Caribbean this year by Prince Edward, brother of Charles, and Prince William, son of the future king, was the target of the protests against the monarchy and Britain’s brutal historical involvement with slavery.
In Canada, Charles did not face stiff public opposition. But polls show that a decreasing number of Canadians want to swear allegiance to another British monarch, as the institution proved increasingly irrelevant to their lives.
