Band overcome residential school legacy

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Caribou Shuswap Natives who lived horrific experiences in church-run schools are showing Indians throughout Canada that victory over the trauma is at hand.

"In other parts of the country, we mostly hear problems. But here, we hear solutions. There are amazing lessons to be learned from villages such as Alkali Lake and Canim Lake," said Chief George Erasmus, co-chairman of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.

"The important thing that's happened here is people have taken control of their own lives. If everyone was doing this, the turnaround in Native communities in this country would happen in a decade," Mercredi told approximately 300 people at the hearing.

The Royal Commission came to Canim Lake in mid-March for a special hearing on residential schools. For decades, many of the band's children were forced to attend St. Joseph's Mission School, along with children from Alkali Lake, Soda Creek and Williams Lake.

In 1987 former RCMP member Bob Grinstead unearthed painful tales of sexual abuse on investigating complaints from Natives who had attended St. Joseph's. Former students testified about the fear and pain they endured as young boys when priests intent on sex prowled their dormitories at night. Some boys had been assaulted 30 times, Grinstead told the commission.

The impact of the abuse often left victims fearing they were homosexual. In later years, they had difficulty relating to others and turned to alcohol, drugs and, in numerous instances, committed suicide.

At the circle of healing held at the hearing, David Belleau, his brother Steve, and sisters Josephine Johnson and Jeannie Dick spoke of the abuse they had experienced, and of the years of trauma that followed which eventually led them to seek professional help.

But Belleau said he wasn't seeking revenge despite the trauma. "I am the only person who can make that choice. I have learned to respect myself."

The Royal Commission received five recommendations following the March Canim Lake hearings. The federal commission was urged:

- to issue a statement of accountability identifying the federal government and churches as"morally, legally and financially responsible" for the abuses imposed at residential schools;

- to establish funds for therapy for victims suffering traumas;

- to set up a public inquiry;

- to recommend federal funds be allocated to local and regional First Nations initiatives dealing with the aftermath of residential schools;'

- to ensure national Health and Welfare not restrict counselling services for victims in need of them to on-reserve Natives.

St. Joseph's was one of 46 residential schools for Aboriginal administered by the Olates of Mary Immaculate, for the federal government. It housed 300 students at a time and was open from 1866 until 1981.