Residential school survivors walk home to bring about closure

The Lac La Ronge Anglican residential school burned down in 1947. Fortunately, it happened during the day, lunchtime to be exact. The old wood structure was quickly consumed and the church had to find a new home for the school.

It found a surplus army base in Prince Albert. The facility, located on the south side of the city, had been dedicated to training recruits.

It wasn’t a purpose-built institution, but a sprawling assortment of barracks with a drill hall in the middle.

The original residential school population was about 100 students, which would increase to about 400 in the mid-1960s. The old army base was used mainly as a student residence, with the children attending municipal schools in Prince Albert.

The federal government took over the administration in 1969 and the land was transferred to the Peter Ballantyne First Nation in 1982.

The facility has since evolved into a health centre and as offices for the band and the Prince Albert Grand council.

The final year the residence was open was 1996, making it one of the last residential schools to close in Canada. In its final years, the facility was used by Indian Affairs as a cheap dumping ground for children who had been placed in care. But for many years it was a boarding school mainly for children from northern Saskatchewan and reserves around P.A.

While residential school students from the south had a chance to be home with their parents for Christmas, there was no such respite those further north. They would remain at the school for 10 months — from September through to June. It was a lonely and painful time for the young children. It is no wonder that so many quit school as soon as they reached age 16.

The healing journey has been particularly difficult for these survivors. Residential schools were fundamentally wrong because their premise was to destroy the aboriginal cultures. They failed miserably, and the result is a damaged group of people who have carried their pain through a lifetime.

Young children removed from their homes found themselves powerless to stop the bullying, physical and sexual abuse and lateral violence from other students.

They had no control over their lives. This childhood trauma would lead to addictions and failed lives.

One of the saddest things I remember was a good friend telling me that because of his boarding school experience he “never amounted to anything.”

Sadly, he was never was able to experience the healing that would have helped him before his death.

This year, a group of survivors assembled at the former student residence and made a final trip home from Prince Albert. The event was timed to correspond with what used to be their annual trip back as students to their communities for summer holidays.

It was a unique idea to simulate closure.

The large group of survivors and their supporters walked from the student residence to the Diefenbaker Bridge that spans the North Saskatchewan River.

On their way, they picked up stones to represent their painful memories. As they crossed the river they paused to throw those stones into the river as an act of closure. The bridge also served as a symbol for crossing over to their summer and home, away from the school.

The larger group dispersed after the crossing, with about 100 continuing on. Six days and 345 kilometres later they arrived home at Stanley Mission. It is one of the isolated communities that lost its children for 10 months every year.

The truth and reconciliation process has opened up old wounds, but the healing process has been fruitful for many.

Part of the process has been the education of the rest of the country. For many Canadians, our story comes as a complete surprise and been it’s an eye opener to our social condition. No other group in Canada was treated with such contempt and social engineering.

Little by little, our people are healing from the ravages of the residential schools. It’s a painful process that only can lead to a better life for future generations.