‘We need to start healing’
Welland survivor of residential school says too many lives stolen
Lori Marquis’ childhood was taken from her when she was five years old, living in Lac La Ronge in north-central Saskatchewan.
Marquis, born Patricia Ann Charles, was sent to a residential school with her two sisters, and from there the three bounced between foster homes.
The three Cree siblings were part of a mass removal — ‘scooping’ — of Indigenous children from their families across Canada, starting in the 1960s, and put into the child welfare system. The goal was to place the children, taken without consent, with white families.
By age nine, she’d been in nine different homes.
Shaken by the discovery of unmarked Indigenous children’s graves at sites across Canada, the Welland woman wants her story heard now because “what happened to us was not right.”
She was adopted in 1981 by a non-indigenous family who were members of the French-catholic community in both Port Colborne and Welland.
“The Marquis had two boys, and they brought me and two sisters together,” she said, adding one of her sisters became separated after being in their second foster home.
With their names changed, the girls were urged to forget their past.
They were told they no longer had family back home in Lac La Ronge.
Once in Welland, Marquis said her adopted father acted “inappropriately” toward her.
“When I was 12, I told the preacher (at Église du Sacrécoeur) what was happening and nothing was done. I was tapped on the shoulder and told, ‘Things will get better.’ They never got better.”
As the years went by, Marquis lived with the experience of her time at the residential school, in foster homes and her adopted home.
The 49-year-old said she drifted away from one sister, and her other sister took her own life.
“It was too much for her, the nightmares. She came to me not too long before she passed and said, ‘Lori, I just want to sleep. I want to be able to close my eyes and have no nightmares.’ She’s resting now.
“I just feel like I could have done more for her … it was too much for her to handle.”
Marquis, one of four children, said her other sister moved away to get away from everything.
The residential school system and the ‘scooping’ destroyed families, she said.
“You have families that don’t talk to each other.”
Six years ago, Marquis moved back to Lac La Ronge to reconnect with her family, including a brother she had been told didn’t exist.
“It was too much for my mother, the hurt,” she said. “She started having flashbacks. She
was young when she had us. By the time she was 17, she had four children.”
After four months, Marquis moved back to Welland and said her relationship with her mother is now stronger than ever with the distance between them.
As she dealt with her past, Marquis said she was trying to figure out what to do when news of the remains of approximately 215 children found buried at Kamloops Indian Residential School at Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation in British Columbia broke in late May.
“I knew I had to do something.”
What spurred her to action were comments by Monsignor Owen Keenan, of Merciful Redeemer Parish in Mississauga, in late June.
“I couldn’t believe he said residential schools did some good,” she said of the priest, who has since resigned and is on an indefinite leave of absence.
As the number of Indigenous children — both undocumented and in unmarked graves — who never made it home grew, Marquis decided to place shoes to represent the loss on the steps of Église du Sacré-coeur, on Empire Street, this past weekend.
She called on friends and family to help.
“At midnight Saturday, my husband and I were counting the shoes. In our first batch, we had 215. I looked at my husband and said it was a sign.”
At 4:30 a.m. Sunday, a small group placed more than 250 pairs of shoes on the church steps.
“A woman came across the street and yelled at us as we laid out the shoes,” said Marquis.
“It’s sad this is happening, there are still people who don’t believe it. I’ve had messages from people saying it’s not real, that it’s a government hoax.”
She said in Lac La Ronge, they are now searching for unmarked graves at a former residential school.
“There’s so much information out there now for people to find. Just read up on it. I want people to know this is real, and this is happening,” she said.
Marquis said for those ignorant of what transpired, she smudges and asks for forgiveness. Smudging is a ceremony for purifying or cleansing the soul of negative thoughts.
When all the shoes, and several signs, were placed on the church steps, she stood back and looked over what had been done.
“It was 5 a.m., and I just stood there. I knew I did something right. I knew I did something for the children that need to be heard.
“All of our children have to come home. They need to be brought back to their families to start their new journey in life. I hope they find everyone. We need to start healing.”
Despite a past negative experience with the parish, Marquis said the church ensured the signs, toys and shoes stayed in place.
Thursday, some of the signs had been taken down, with three remaining near the entrance.
One of the signs placed Sunday morning was Marquis’, with the message, ‘Hear Me Now.’
She said one particularly touching sign had the message: “…and a small voice whispers ‘They found us.’ ”
Marquis said every voice needs to be heard, and that every child matters.
“All of our elders told us about this … that family members were not coming home (from residential schools).
“What happened to us was not right. It’s my time to tell people this is happening. To tell my story.”
Marquis is still writing her story.
She said things didn’t hit her until a couple of years ago when she wanted to know more about her heritage and where she came from.
A video posted to her Facebook account takes people through from the time she was adopted until now.
“I am still learning new things. It hasn’t been easy for my family and friends, but they have stood by me. I thank them for listening to me … my voice has been heard.”