Editor鈥檚 note: The story below may trigger difficult or traumatic thoughts and memories. The Indian Residential School Survivors Society鈥檚 24-hour crisis line is available at 1-866-925-4419.

By Rochelle Baker, Local Journalism Initiative ReporterCANADA鈥橲 NATIONAL OBSERVER

Homalco Chief Darren Blaney has the tragic distinction of being a third-generation residential school survivor.

Like his father, and grandfather before him, Blaney was forced from his home, family, and culture in the small community of Church House in Bute Inlet along B.C.鈥檚 remote central coast.

鈥淢y great-grandfather was the first one from Homalco to go to residential school in 1875,鈥� said Blaney.

Blaney鈥檚 ancestor came home 12 years later, a victim to the cycle of violence, disconnection, and trauma associated with residential schools that would also ensnare his relatives and others of the Homalco Nation (named the 鈥減eople of fast running waters鈥� after the turbulent tides of their inlet).

鈥淭here鈥檚 been a lot of destruction from residential schools,鈥� Blaney said. 鈥淢y dad went, my brother went, and I went.鈥�

When he sees archival photos of Indigenous children in dormitories packed with beds, Blaney recalls the isolation he felt in his early teens during his first year at Sechelt Residential School, and the next five years he spent even farther from home at St. Mary鈥檚 Residential School in Mission, B.C.

鈥淚n Sechelt, my bed ended up being by the windows. I remember looking out the window at night time and I could see the lights of Nanaimo across the water,鈥� said Blaney.

But escape to the Vancouver Island city and possibly home was next to impossible because the only way out of Sechelt was by ferry, he said.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e really homesick in residential school. You count the days before you go home,鈥� Blaney said. 鈥淎nd when you come back, you count the days since you鈥檝e been home.

鈥淚t was just a lonely place.鈥�

The Sechelt facility, also known as St. Augustine鈥檚, was established in 1904, run by the Catholic Church, and funded by the federal government. Parents withdrew their children from the school in 1923 to protest the poor education, harsh discipline, and inadequate diet. Although funding at the school did increase, the facility did not ultimately close until 1975.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a whole generation of Homalco people (who) didn鈥檛 come home from that residential school,鈥� Blaney said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e buried somewhere in Sechelt.鈥�

Blaney thinks the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a good opportunity to educate Canadians about the harms and pain residential schools caused Indigenous children and communities.

But it was confirmation of 215 children buried at a gravesite at a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C., in May that sparked a wider consciousness in Canadians about the issue, Blaney said.

There鈥檚 a better understanding of what happened, he said, adding residential schools didn鈥檛 only expose children to violence, sexual abuse, malnutrition, and disease, but set out to destroy Indigenous culture and identity.

鈥淏efore (Kamloops) 鈥� nobody took the genocide seriously,鈥� Blaney said.

But, the new national day of commemoration and findings by the Tk鈥檈mlups te Secwepemc band, followed by subsequent burial sites confirmed by other First Nations, are only an initial step toward reconciliation, he added.

鈥淚 take a look at all these investments with the orange flags. Those are fine and bring educational attention to residential schools, but it鈥檚 action that鈥檚 needed. Nobody in government is dealing with the trauma.鈥�

First Nations governments don鈥檛 have and are denied the resources they need to establish long-term treatment and healing for members in their communities, he said.

Indigenous groups are always scrabbling to generate revenue, not solely for the sake of economic development, but to help their communities overcome the legacy of the schools, Blaney said.

鈥淥ur economic development will only go as far as our healing,鈥� he said.

鈥淎s much as we鈥檇 like to move forward, the instruments of residential schools are still tying us down.鈥�

First Nations leadership is left to struggle to rebuild governance and capacity with little support from governments that have long monopolized the wealth of Indigenous people, he said.

鈥淩esources in our territory have been stripped,鈥� Blaney said, citing forestry as an example, an industry where even now, the province is only offering up a slightly bigger piece of a very small and diminishing pie.

鈥淎ll our opportunities for revenues are gone and poverty is a weapon for the government,鈥� he said. 鈥淔irst Nations trying to defend their rights in court are easier to defeat if they don鈥檛 have money.鈥�

Regardless, Indigenous people are overcoming obstacles to provide better lives for their communities, he said.

The Homalco have invested in a number of tourism ventures and a radio station to build capacity and employment.

Funds from the non-profit station will go into cultural programming and healing for the community, especially to ensure youth don鈥檛 become intergenerational victims, Blaney said.

鈥淭he shadow of residential schools gets longer and longer, and the potential of our people is lost in alcohol and drugs from trauma,鈥� he said.

鈥淏ut we鈥檙e working to shield people and give them a better chance,鈥� Blaney added.

鈥淓verybody wants to be useful, happy and whole.鈥�