Wilton Littlechild

Pope Francis died Monday at the Vatican. He was 88. Canadians remember Pope Francis for his historic apology in 2022 for residential schools that he made to thousands of dignitaries, Indigenous leaders and residential school survivors who travelled from across the country to powwow grounds in central Alberta.

For minutes Pope Francis sat in his wheelchair, staring at hand-painted crosses marking graves.

Leaders from four First Nations in central Alberta say the Pope's upcoming visit could help the world understand the trauma the residential school system caused to Indigenous people.

When Lance Cardinal was approached by the Edmonton Oilers to act as an Indigenous consultant, the Cree artist and designer knew the first thing he wanted to do was create a land acknowledgment.

Five years after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued its final report, commissioners Murray Sinclair, Wilton Littlechild and Marie Wilson are coming together to voice their concerns about the slow pace of reconciliation in Canada.

"UNDRIP has become — depending on your politics — a key to transforming Canadian laws in an extraordinary act of reconciliation or a 'bogeyman,'" writes Karyn Pugliese, a.k.a. Pabàmàdiz.