A focus on residential school survivors

By Brenden Harris
Kenora Online
March 25, 2014

http://www.kenoraonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8461&Itemid=160

Stanley Jack describes his residential school experience

It was a day to remember and commemorate those who lived through the residential schools across the Treaty 3 area. Members of First Nations communities and survivors gathered at the Best Western Lakeside Inn Monday, where a commemoration was held, which focused on all of the residential schools in the area.

Organizer Richard Green noted the major focus of the event was to educate the public on the issues, as well as providing a chance for those who attended the schools to share their stories.

"One reason is internal to the students themselves that survived this ordeal, this era of residential schools. The other part is it get the public to come to terms with all of the things that happened. Children were removed from their homes. They were made to speak a different language and take on a different culture. I think Canada and its citizens need to realize that every language, every culture and every nation is sacred," he said.

He also notes that while the residential schools have closed down, there's still a lasting effect.  

"I think our people have been moving forward. There was a set back at that time, but we're still dealing with the after effect. Even the policies today, that deal with our rightful place in Canada and North America, perhaps, are put on the back burner sometimes. We want to assure that we can move ahead. We were already here. We had our culture and language, education system and economy. Our economy was the richest in the country, with all of our resources here. The implications are, well, look around. We're the poorest people in Canada," he said.

Stanley Jack of Big Grassy First Nation was one of the survivors, who took the time to share his story with those in attendance.

"Residential school for me, wasn't a good thing. It wasn't a good foundation to have a good life, because it made me an angry person," he said.

He notes the challenges didn't stop with those who were actually in the schools, describing the inter-generational impact the school had on his family.

"I know that myself, I forgot how to be a parent. I had three sons and a daughter. There's a love and understanding a good parent should have. I didn't have that and I didn't see that in my parents either. They became alcoholics, just like I did. That was the examples I saw," he said.

Jack notes that only once he saw a return of certain cultural aspects to his life.

"I got tired of it four years ago, and found myself a halfway house. The sweat lodge came into my life. That's the Anicinabe way and in a way that's my church. That's my Anicinabe people. That's how it is. Finding that sweat lodge saved my life," he said.

Drumming, feasts, and even a comedian -- Moccasin Joe -- were all a part of the agenda for the commemoration event.