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| Beautiful Kookum at TRC Report Event Ottawa June 2015 |
Just one of the many many people that were in the Boarding School system of Indian Affairs; Indian Residential Schools.
If you were there you might find your picture here:
https://imageshack.com/my/images/11
A cousin of mine walked into the local restaurant in Sagkeeng. He says, "Look what Father Plamondon bought me!" Outside the restaurant was a new truck. He was teasing of course. Lot of people would say stuff like that about the Residential school compensation process. They would say to someone "what did you get for being "pooch-tay-gade" (did in the bum) by the Father?"
You see they joked about it but that is not really the way people feel. I think its a mask. A mask we put on to protect from the ugly and all that hurt. My Mom and Dad were not much for sharing what took place in the School run by the French Oblates Fathers and Nuns. I don't think many people were.
I mean who wants to admit you were beaten? Or worse?
But I admire and I do like the way we can tease and laugh at the harshest things. It is what makes us part of who we are - Anishinaabe. Cool eh? Some people could stay mad all the time, but many deal with their anger and hurt by teasing.
This Granny you see in the picture, can you imagine what life was like in that school?
But you know what, people are strong, resilient, and they know how to laugh. Not just Neechies but all sorts of people from different walks of life. It is telling how hardship can bring out some of the most craziest kind of laughs.
Bill Erasmus, chief of the Dene Nation
Bill Erasmus, chief of the Dene Nation
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