Indigenous community leaders reflect on resilience of residential school survivors
As Canadians mark the country's first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, two Indigenous community leaders are reflecting on the resilience that helped them and others survive the brutal residential school system.
That system stole approximately 150,000 children from their homes, and sent them to institutions designed to rob them of their language and culture. Dr. Ron Ignace was one of them.
He was taken to the Kamloops Indian Residential School, the same site where hundreds of unmarked graves were detected this year using ground-penetrating radar.
Inside, he was beaten for speaking his mother tongue – but he refused to abandon the Secwepemctsin language.
"I thought in Secwepemctsin and spoke in English, knowing full well that they could not beat me for what I thought," Ignace said.
In 1962, he was allowed an unsupervised leave for his 16th birthday. With the help of his uncle, Ignace ran away from the school and never returned, escaping what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has called a campaign of cultural genocide.
"They failed in that, as I still stand here, and I've been fighting for our rights ever since," he said.
Outside, Ignace has lived a distinguished life. He spent 32 years as chief of the Skeetchestin Indian Band, earned a PhD in anthropology, and was recently named Canada's first-ever Commissioner of Indigenous Languages.
"Our languages are who we are," he said. "The best way that we can honour those people that didn't make it home is to ensure that our languages do not die."
As many as 15,000 residential school students perished, according to the commission, and the harm inflicted in those institutions caused inter-generational trauma that continues in Indigenous communities decades later.
Brenda Dubois tries to help fellow survivors of colonial violence process their experiences.
"I think the most important thing I've done over the last many years is telling people it's OK to cry. It's OK to feel. It's OK to be a human being, because that's what they tried to take away from us," Dubois said.
Dubois, of the Muscowpetung First Nation in Saskatchewan, was separated from her family at just four years old and forced to attend the Qu'Appelle Indian Residential School. Today, she is a knowledge keeper at the University of Regina, providing cultural insights on ceremony and traditional teachings.
When speaking to survivors, she encourages them not to let the past dictate their future.
"If you are granted a day tomorrow, you are granted a day to make something different," Dubois said.
Both she and Ignace have tried to use their experiences to make a difference in a nation that needs their wisdom, maybe now more than ever.
"What we want to see happen here is to ensure that we have the ability to contribute to building a country that is great and good for all," Ignace said.
If you are a former residential school student in distress, or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419
Additional mental-health support and resources for Indigenous people are available here.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.