Sounding out about past injustices
Residential schools haunt native activist
When Cheryle Chagnon-Greyeyes was growing up, she didn’t know anything about residential schools. She knew her mother had attended one, where she learned how to cook, clean, sew, write and do everything she needed to “function in a white man’s world.”
“It sounded absolutely wonderful,” said Chagnon-Greyeyes.
But the experience of the residential school haunted and depressed her mother.
“I wondered why my mother had fallen into the bottle, when she had had such a wonderful experience in a residential school,” Chagnon-Greyeyes recalled. “The pain and the hurt came out when she was under the influence of alcohol.”
About 15 people gathered in Central Memorial Park on Thursday evening to remember the pain of Canada’s residential school system.
The quiet vigil was part of a national “day of prayer” for those who survived the residential schools, as well as those who died. Called “Honour the Apology,” the day also recalls the official apology issued by the federal government in 2008 to the survivors of the residential schools, and calls on the government to release all documents related to the system.
It would really hold Canada accountable for its past so we wouldn’t make these mistakes again.
CHANTAL CHAGNON
Earlier this month, new research revealed that the Canadian government performed nutritional experiments on unknowing aboriginal children and adults, many of whom were already malnourished.
Having more knowledge about what went on in the residential school system is an important part of the healing process, said Chantal Chagnon, Cheryle’s daughter.
“It would be traumatic,” she said.
“But it would really hold Canada accountable for its past so we wouldn’t make these mistakes again. We would be almost stirred into action to create a healing atmosphere.”
The government is under a court order to release those documents to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, established to gather information about the residential school system and release a public report.
But it has stalled on releasing all of the documents, something Chagnon-Greyeyes says is necessary to help people move past their experiences.
“We are here to shine a light on the darkness,” she said. “You cannot heal until you know what the affliction is.”
Although Chagnon-Greyeyes didn’t attend a residential school herself, she felt the effect because of her mother.
“I have struggled with my own addiction issues,” she said. “I’ve struggled with my own depression. I struggled with not being able to love myself.”
But they have both begun to heal. Her mother has visited her old reserve, and Chagnon-Greyeyes proudly declares herself as a Cree woman.
“There’s pain,” she admits. “But with pain there are tears, and with tears comes healing.”