The former chief of a southern Saskatchewan First Nation will be part of a delegation of First Nations leaders meeting with the Pope next month. Chief Marie-Anne Day Walker-Pelletier of Okanese First Nation is one of 13 delegates who travel to Vatican City in December, according to a press release from the Assembly of First Nations. Day Walker-Pelletier was one of the longest-serving chiefs in Canada, leading Okanese First Nation for nearly 40 years before she retired in 2020. She was named to the Order of Canada in 2019. The group is made up of First Nations representatives from across the country and will be led by AFN Northwest Territories Regional Chief Norman Yakeleya. They will travel to Rome on Dec. 14 before meeting with the Pope on Dec. 20. Indigenous leaders have previously called on the Pope to apologize for the role the Catholic Church played in residential schools. It was listed as Call to Action 58 in the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation report.
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