A trucker convoy heading to Kamloops to honour the 215 children whose remains were found at the Kamloops Indian Residential School received honours of its own Saturday as it passed through 100 Mile House.

More than two dozen members of the Tsq鈥檈scenemc people (Canim Lake Band), along with members of the 100 Mile House community, cheered the convoy of trucks as they passed by Saturday morning. A dozen drummers stood on the side of Highway 97 outside the South Cariboo Visitor Centre, playing traditional songs that mingled with the horns of honking semis.

The event was organized by Joseph Archie, Canim Lake鈥檚 cultural enrichment worker, who said he was blown away by the response to his Facebook post. Archie said the gathering was to show solidarity and support for what the truckers were doing. He was proud to see that the District of 100 Mile House鈥檚 Mayor Mitch Campsall and Coun. Chris Pettman, along with the Cariboo Regional District鈥檚 Al Richmond and Margo Wagner, had come to join them.

鈥淚t brings warmth and helps to heal. It shows someone is doing something which is really good to see,鈥� Archie said. 鈥淪eeing the support from different groups of people is pretty amazing.鈥�

This was especially important for residential school survivors like Elizabeth Pete.

Pete attended St. Joseph鈥檚 Mission in Williams Lake for several years, starting in the fall of 1954. Before she went, her mother cut her hair short for the first time in her life. Without her long braid, she looked so different that friends from Canim Lake didn鈥檛 recognize her at the school.

鈥淚n my childhood mind, I think I adapted to the place. My adult mind learned to look back and judge,鈥� Pete said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 call that place a prison when I was a child but my adult mind learned to.鈥�

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While Pete considers herself one of the luckier survivors, she still remembers the impact the mission had on her life. She wasn鈥檛 a victim of sexual abuse, but silence and obedience were expected and enforced by corporal punishment, Pete said. She described how once a nun struck her arms with a yardstick and left a bruise from her elbow to her wrists.

鈥淚 remember all of us. We were supposed to be learning, but there was always this tension - this fear. We weren鈥檛 relaxed in the classroom. If we didn鈥檛 know the answer, then you鈥檇 get the ruler across the desk.鈥�

Archie is hopeful the newfound support from the Canadian public will continue in the future, and encouraged the local politicians to pass the message on to higher levels of government.

鈥淥ur Prime Minister Trudeau is quick to put the blame on the church but the government could have stopped funding and quit the residential schools but they didn鈥檛,鈥� Archie said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 got to be some accountability there for sure.鈥�

Pete questions how much money the government spent operating the schools over the years and wonders if the government officials who funded them cared or simply turned their backs on children unable to defend themselves. To those in government today who are unwilling to confront this history, she says 鈥渟hame on them.鈥�

Chief Helen Henderson was also in attendance and said this experience was as heartfelt as it was heart-wrenching. Henderson said the drumming made her heart happy and that she cried when she heard about the convoy.

鈥淭he tears flow freely now, and when I see non-Indigenous humans reach out and show their support to all Secwepemc in such a public way, (it) means a lot to us as Secwempec people.鈥�

Henderson said it鈥檚 important that everyone remembers that 215 children were denied their 鈥渃ross over songs.鈥� These songs are sung loud to awaken their ancestors to accept the spirits of the children and Henderson said they鈥檒l continue to sing them until those children are brought home.

鈥淲e鈥檙e still here. We鈥檙e still strong,鈥� Pete said. 鈥淲hen I was hearing about the 215 children in Kamloops I was thinking they had parents. That鈥檚 200-plus mothers, 200-plus fathers. They had paternal grandparents, maternal grandparents. Our communities have extended, tight-knit, families.鈥�

Henderson maintains all the stories about residential school, both known and unknown, need to be heard and acknowledged, for the sake of the new generations.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what reconciliation looks like but events like this are a small step towards reconciliation and recognizing this is our history,鈥� Henderson said. 鈥淭he more we connect to non-Indigenous folks and teach the history of our culture, our territory and our experiences, I think that it puts us that much closer truly to reconciliation.鈥�

patrick.davies@100milefreepress.net
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