The Archive of the Jesuits in Canada recently donated an Ojibwe-French handwritten dictionary to the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre. François Dansereau, recently appointed director of the Archive, says that the gift symbolizes the strong commitment of the Jesuits of Canada to truth and reconciliation.
It also illustrates how the values of spiritual accompaniment—humility, deep listening, mutual encounter, authenticity—are at the heart of Jesuit ministries in Canada, well beyond the typical context of individual accompaniment (see here, here, here, and here). Mr. Dansereau explains the work of the Archive in accompanying and facilitating Indigenous community research.
François, can you tell us more about this major gift recently made by the Jesuits of Canada and the Archive of the Jesuits in Canada?
We donated an Ojibwe-French handwritten dictionary, probably created in the 1860s by Jesuit Brother Joseph Jennesseaux, to the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre, affiliated with Algoma University. It is a very small manuscript, the beginning of a dictionary that has not been completed. However, the document was probably used by several Jesuits to communicate with the Indigenous peoples of Sandwich and Wikwemikong, since it was found among the papers of another brother, Charles Lavoie, who died in the early twentieth century.
The donation is part of the long-term relationship-building process.
The idea to give a language manuscript came from the leadership of the Jesuits of Canada: the provincial, Erik Oland, and the socius, Gilles Mongeau, in discussion with Father Peter Bisson, provincial assistant for justice, ecology and Indigenous relations. We had already had a multi-level relationship with the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre over a period of ten years. The donation is part of the long-term relationship-building process. Digitization is important, but there is something about the physical reality of a nineteenth-century manuscript that is quite powerful.
In the context of this important gift, and beyond, what are the values that guide the apostolic work of the Jesuits in Canada?
Jesuit orientations guide the activities of the Archive. The work of communicating with Indigenous researchers and communities is obviously connected to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), as well as to Jesuit participation in the TRC and the request for forgiveness made by the Jesuits of English Canada, which really emphasized the aspect of opening up the Archive to make it accessible to Indigenous communities.
In keeping with these values, what is the role of the Archive of the Jesuits in Canada, especially in relation to Indigenous communities?
The apostolic work of the Archive, as conceived by the Jesuits of Canada, is essentially to be a tool for communication.
What is the main mission of the Archive of the Jesuits in Canada?
There are several elements. Foremost among them are to ensure the preservation of all that pertains to the Jesuits of Canada since their arrival on Turtle Island in 1611 and to preserve the material and even immaterial culture related to the Archive. The aim is to make it accessible not only to Jesuits but also to researchers, and thus to the general public.
How are Indigenous community relations integrated into external communications with the public?
This is an extremely important issue from both my perspective and that of the Jesuits. Indeed, the Archive is not only a collection of documents that reflect a certain past: there is a whole dimension that becomes activated when people encounter and use the Archive. Different time periods are connected.
Could you tell us more about the importance of digitization and information sharing to facilitate Indigenous communities’ access to information?
We also have a number of elements linked to longer-term projects that are more specific to the concerns of Indigenous researchers, their requests, their requirements. It is important to be flexible, and not rigid, in our approach to these requests. We want to be open, to dialogue in a spirit of discernment, to be able to adapt appropriately. Very often, access to information involves digitization, which requires a lot of time and resources. Digitization and information sharing are the basis for fostering Indigenous research, enabling the communities to make the Archive their own.
We want to be open, to dialogue in a spirit of discernment, to be able to adapt appropriately.
Finally, how is the commitment to truth and reconciliation manifested in the work of the Archive of the Jesuits in Canada?
The gift of the dictionary comes as a result of the Jesuits’ involvement in the TRC and Pope Francis’s penitential pilgrimage in the summer of 2022, as a way to demonstrate the Jesuit commitment to truth and reconciliation and the revitalization of Indigenous languages.
Hifadhi ya Maandishi ya Wayesuiti nchini Kanada hivi karibuni ilitoa kamusi ya maandishi ya mkono ya Ojibwe-Kifaransa kwa Kituo cha Shule za Makazi cha Shingwauk. "François Dancereau, ambaye hivi karibuni ameteuliwa kuwa mkurugenzi wa Hifadhi ya Makumbusho, anasema kwamba zawadi hiyo inaonyesha kujitolea kwa nguvu kwa Wajesuiti wa Kanada kwa ukweli na upatanisho. """ Pia inaonyesha jinsi maadili ya uandamani wa kiroho - unyenyekevu, kusikiliza kwa kina, kukutana kwa pamoja, uhalisi - ni kiini cha huduma za Jesuit nchini Canada, zaidi ya muktadha wa kawaida wa uandamani wa mtu binafsi (tazama hapa, hapa, hapa, na hapa). Mheshimiwa Dansereau anaelezea kazi ya Archive katika kuandamana na kuwezesha utafiti wa jamii ya wenyeji. "Mwanamke huyo alitoa taarifa kuhusu ""mali ya ukarimu"" iliyotolewa na Kanisa la Jesuit la Canada." "Kama mfano, katika mwaka wa 1860 kamusi ya Kiingereza ya Ojibwe-Kifaransa ilitolewa na Joseph J. Jennessey, ""Mwanamume wa Yesu"" na ""Mwanamke wa Yesu"" na ""Mwanamke wa Yesu"" na ""Mwanamke wa Yesu"" na ""Mwanamke wa Yesu"" na ""Mwanamke wa Yesu"" na ""Mwanamke wa Yesu"" na ""Mwanamke wa Yesu.""" Ni hati ndogo sana, mwanzo wa kamusi ambayo haijakamilika. Hata hivyo, hati hiyo ilitumiwa na Wajesuiti kadhaa kuwasiliana na wenyeji wa Sandwich na Wikwemikong, kwa kuwa ilipatikana miongoni mwa karatasi za ndugu mwingine, Charles Lavoie, ambaye alikufa mwanzoni mwa karne ya ishirini. Mchango huo ni sehemu ya mchakato wa kujenga uhusiano wa muda mrefu. Wazo la kutoa hati ya lugha lilitoka kwa uongozi wa Wayesuiti wa Canada: mkoa, Erik Oland, na socius, Gilles Mongeau, katika majadiliano na Baba Peter Bisson, msaidizi wa mkoa wa haki, ikolojia na mahusiano ya wenyeji. Shirika hilo limekuwa likifanya kazi na Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika la Shirika. Mchango huo ni sehemu ya mchakato wa kujenga uhusiano wa muda mrefu. Digitization ni muhimu, lakini kuna kitu kuhusu hali halisi ya maandishi ya karne ya kumi na tisa ambayo ni nguvu sana. Katika muktadha wa zawadi hii muhimu, na zaidi, ni nini maadili ambayo huongoza kazi ya kiapostoli ya Wajesuiti nchini Canada? Maelekezo ya Wayesuiti huongoza utendaji wa Hifadhi ya Mambo ya Kale. Kazi ya kuwasiliana na watafiti na jamii za asili ni wazi kushikamana na Tume ya Ukweli na Upatanisho (TRC), kama vile ushiriki wa Jesuit katika TRC na ombi la msamaha lililofanywa na Jesuits ya Kiingereza Canada, ambayo ilisisitiza sana kipengele cha kufungua Archive ili kuifanya iweze kupatikana kwa jamii za asili. Kwa mujibu wa kanuni hizi, ni nini jukumu la Archive ya Jesuits katika Canada, hasa kuhusiana na jamii za asili? Kazi ya kitume ya Archive, kama ilivyofikiriwa na Wajesuiti wa Canada, kimsingi ni kuwa chombo cha mawasiliano. Ni nini utume kuu wa Hifadhi ya Wajesuiti katika Kanada? Kuna mambo kadhaa. "Miongoni mwa mambo hayo ni kuhakikisha kuhifadhiwa kwa kila kitu kinachohusiana na Wayesuiti wa Canada tangu kuwasili kwao katika Kisiwa cha Turtle mnamo 1611 na kuhifadhi utamaduni wa vitu na hata vitu visivyo vya vitu vinavyohusiana na Hifadhi ya Makumbusho.""" Lengo ni kuifanya iweze kupatikana si kwa Wajesuiti tu bali pia kwa watafiti, na hivyo kwa umma kwa ujumla. Mahusiano ya jamii ya wenyeji yameunganishwaje katika mawasiliano ya nje na umma? Hii ni suala muhimu sana kutoka kwa mtazamo wangu na ule wa Wajesuiti. Kwa kweli, kumbukumbu si tu mkusanyiko wa nyaraka kwamba kutafakari zamani fulani: kuna mwelekeo mzima kwamba inakuwa kuanzishwa wakati watu kukutana na kutumia kumbukumbu. Nyakati tofauti-tofauti zimeunganishwa. Je, unaweza kutuambia zaidi juu ya umuhimu wa digitization na kushiriki habari ili kuwezesha jamii za asili kupata habari? Pia, kuna baadhi ya mambo yanayohusiana na miradi ya muda mrefu ambayo ni maalum zaidi kwa wasiwasi wa watafiti wa asili, maombi yao, mahitaji yao. Ni muhimu kuwa na kubadilika-badilika, na si ngumu, katika mbinu yetu ya maombi haya. Tunataka kuwa wazi, kwa mazungumzo katika roho ya utambuzi, kuwa na uwezo wa kukabiliana ipasavyo. Mara nyingi, upatikanaji wa habari unahusisha digitization, ambayo inahitaji muda mwingi na rasilimali. Digitization na kushiriki habari ni msingi wa kukuza utafiti wa Wenyeji, kuwezesha jamii kufanya Archive yao wenyewe. Tunataka kuwa wazi, kwa mazungumzo katika roho ya utambuzi, kuwa na uwezo wa kukabiliana ipasavyo. Kwa nini ni muhimu sana kuwa na uhusiano wa karibu na watu wa Mungu katika kazi ya kuhifadhi habari za Kanisa la Yesu? "Toleo la kamusi hiyo linatokana na ushiriki wa Wayesuiti katika ""TRC"" na ziara ya toba ya Papa Francis katika majira ya joto ya 2022, kama njia ya kuonyesha kujitolea kwa Wayesuiti kwa ukweli na upatanisho na uamsho wa lugha za asili."