Gray, reached in Victoria while on tour with a new edition of her book, First Nations 101.Īt stops in Yellowknife and Dettah, however, Charles was warmly received by people he met. “They have documents in their possession about the treaties – the true intent of the treaties – (as well as) about residential schools, at least the Anglican Church does,” said Ms. Gray says there are many meaningful things the monarchy could do immediately to show sincere desire to address past wrongs, even without an apology. Leaders with the Assembly of First Nations and the Metis National Council had requested an apology from the Queen as head of the Church of England. Harris said, the couple displayed the Royals’ traditional approach to controversy – “commemorations of various kinds, acknowledging past wrongs, rather than a formal apology.” Royal historian and author Carolyn Harris said the Platinum Jubilee visit was unlikely to produce a formal apology to Indigenous Peoples because the royals generally refrain from wading anywhere near politics. Gray, a member of the Tsimshian First Nation, on the northwest coast of British Columbia, said the tour amounts to “just another PR event.” It wasn’t enough for Indigenous author and community organizer Lynda Gray, who said there was plenty of listening and reflecting instead of concrete action.

“On behalf of my wife and myself, I want to acknowledge their suffering and to say how much our hearts go out to them and their families,” he said of the survivors, stressing the need to listen to Indigenous Peoples and work to better understand their pain. John’s, N.L., with a moment of reflection on residential school deaths and ended in the North, where Charles met with First Nations chiefs to discuss Indigenous-led solutions to climate change.Ĭharles, in his final speech of the tour, directly acknowledged the suffering of residential school survivors – but he stopped short of issuing the apology some Indigenous leaders have called for. The couple departed Canada Thursday night after a three-day tour that began in St.

Charles and camilla