Descendant of residential school principal brings U.S. students to Manitoba on journey of discovery
When a University of Wis‐ consin professor discov‐ ered her grandfather was a residential school principal she went on a journey searching for truth and reconciliation.
Kirsten Lindbloom grew up in Portage la Prairie, about 85 kilometres west of Win‐ nipeg, knowing that her grandfather William Warren was a principal and that there was a former residential school in the city. She learned about her family's connection to the facility during a casual conversation.
"It took the air out of my breath," Lindbloom said. "I knew what that meant in a way that I'd never under‐ stood it before."
Her grandfather was the principal of Portage Indian Residential School in 1958. This knowledge led Lindbloom to connect with the National Indigenous Resi‐ dential School Museum of Canada Inc. located in the for‐ mer school.
The collaboration culmi‐ nated in the University of Wis‐ consin course "Canada's First Nations Truth and Reconcilia‐ tion," which saw seven stu‐ dents explore Manitoba over 10 days learning about the history of Indigenous people in Canada.
They spent Wednesday creating a community Healing Garden at the museum as a way to build relationships and live out reconciliation.
"We don't talk about it in the States. And so oftentimes students are hearing about the boarding schools for the first time in college. It's not uncommon," Lindbloom said. "These kids want to go home and help ... they're talking about how we can take what we're learning back to the uni‐ versity, how we can expand what we're doing there."
Understanding the trau‐ ma of residential schools
Dennis Meeches, of Long Plain First Nation, is chairper‐ son of the residential school museum. He says seeing the university students has been powerful and showcases the growing international interest in residential schools.
"Their presence here is part of reconciliation," Meech‐ es said.
The Portage Residential School opened in 1915 and ran until 1975. It was one of 17 residential schools in Mani‐ toba. An estimated 150,000 children from First Nations,
Métis and Inuit communities attended these residential schools.
Meeches has many family members who were forced to attend Portage Residential school — including his moth‐ er Dorothy Meeches.
"She ran away from the school with a few of her friends," Meeches said.
Dorothy wanted to escape home to Long Plain Nation but was caught.
Her head was shaved as punishment.
She and her friends tried to use paper bags to hide their shaved heads, but they were removed by the school administrators.
"They were quite ashamed of what happened to them," Meeches said.
His uncle Norman Peters almost died at the facility. Pe‐ ters was very sick in Grade 2 and staff left him outside be‐ cause they thought he would not live through the night. A friend tended to him, nursing him back to health.
"They're such heartwrenching stories, but at the same time stories of resilience and hope ... they needed to get through this, survive this experience," Meeches said. "You think about the trauma that our people went through, intergenerational trauma and how it affected … family lines."
Residential schools, by de‐ sign, were intended to de‐ stroy and take away Indige‐ nous language, culture and customs, Meeches said. To this day, they still face chal‐ lenges with racism.
He has hope for the future because the next generation is learning about truth and reconciliation through actions — like the journey the stu‐ dents from Wisconsin are on.
Students heard from sur‐ vivors, had a detailed tour of the museum and participat‐ ed in activities. The goal was to learn about the culture and history to understand the on‐ going impacts of residential schools.
"For us to go forward, in order for us to heal, we've got to understand the truth," Lindbloom said. "We can't just wipe those stories to the side or hide them."
Hard truths and healing While there are efforts for truth and reconciliation in the United States they are not as expansive or as significant as what Canada is doing, Lind‐ bloom said.
"There aren't people shar‐ ing those stories. We don't have the living memory," she said. "I think it's hard, to tell the truth … when you don't have the living memory."
She said the trip is a cata‐ lyst to talk about the history in the United States and Canada, while also learning what makes these experi‐ ences different in each coun‐ try.
Elementary education ma‐ jor Julia Sylvester said stu‐ dents were transformed by the trip.
While she had read books and done academic studies she said it was incredible to learn about residential schools firsthand from sur‐ vivors.
"Having that impact of someone telling their story is just a whole different side," Sylvester said. "I would love to be able to use these stories and say that I have met someone and had these ex‐ periences and bring it back to educate not only kids, but the people I know ... in Wiscon‐ sin."