Editor鈥檚 note: This article contains details about experiences at residential schools in B.C. and may be upsetting to readers.
The St贸l艒 Tribal Council is undertaking a mammoth project to interview survivors of St. Mary鈥檚 Residential School in Mission.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a humongous task, but it needs to be done,鈥� said Grand Chief Clarence Pennier, co-ordinator of the interview project for the tribal council.
St贸l艒 Tribal Council is undertaking the task of recording survivor accounts from St. Mary鈥檚 in a methodical way. The children who were forced to attend the Fraser Valley residential school may have been originally from Nu-chah-nulth territory, Lil鈥檞at territory, N鈥檒akapamux territory or Coast Salish territory, with a few from the Central Coast.
For those who are willing to be interviewed, the tribal council is now hiring a team of interviewers to conduct the sessions with the utmost sensitivity and respect, Pennier said.
Following the grisly discovery of 215 unmarked graves in Kamloops last year, it set off a chain reaction of discovery as funding was sought from governments for other similar searches, and research, at former residential schools across Canada.
Soon after the provincial and federal government coffers started opening up to Indigenous groups to search for potential unmarked graves at every institution, St贸l艒 Tribal Council applied to record survivors鈥� stories and experiences, and was successful in obtaining funding of $1.2 million over the next three years to complete the work.
Some survivors may not want to tell their stories, Pennier said.
Others may have already shared their experiences with other agencies, or researchers, as Pennier did himself under the 鈥渋ndependent assessment process鈥� that came out of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
鈥淚t鈥檚 their choice,鈥� the grand chief underlined. The stories may inform future ground searches.
鈥淎t some point, the grounds of St. Mary鈥檚 will also be searched by equipment that will identify different things in the ground that could be unmarked graves.鈥�
They expect interviewers may hear stories of every kind of abuse whether mental, physical, sexual or spiritual. They might hear stories about family members who never came home, from the survivors, their children, and grandchildren.
鈥淲e must listen to the stories and learn about their experiences,鈥� Pennier said. 鈥淲e must support them in their journey as they move on from telling their story. Healing is required for our families and communities.鈥�
Having attended two residential schools over 11 years, including St. Mary鈥檚 and one year in Kamloops, Pennier went through a couple of years of counselling to be able to share out loud what he went through.
鈥淚 can now tell my story. And that鈥檚 where a lot of survivors might need to hear this, if they have been abused sexually, many somehow think it was their fault. But I went for counselling, and it helped me. Maybe it will help others to go that route as well.鈥�
They plan to have counsellors available for anyone who agrees to be interviewed.
The survivors鈥� stories need to be heard, for the benefit of the younger generation and seven generations into the future, to learn about residential schools and the impacts that are still being felt inter-generationally, he said.
It鈥檚 also going to help non-Indigenous people to comprehend the negative effects of colonization, the price of living under the Indian Act, and what impact it had when government decided to remove children from their families and communities with the aim of 鈥渢aking the Indian out of the child.鈥�
In addition to the interviewing process that鈥檚 about to start under the guidance of St贸l艒 Tribal Council, St贸l艒 Nation will be undertaking the ground searches at St. Mary鈥檚 and Coqualeetza, as well as the research of all historical files related to the Coqualeetza site in Chilliwack, All Hallows in Yale, and St. Mary鈥檚 in Mission.
St贸l艒 Nation will also be interviewing Coqualeetza survivors.
Any survivors of St. Mary鈥檚 who are ready to schedule a time to be interviewed, or to get more details, can call Grand Chief Pennier at 604-798-2795, or email kat.pennier@stolotribalcouncil.ca, or email lori.kelly@stolotribalcouncil.ca
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