Expanding our Relationships with Residential School Survivors

Anishnabek Nation "Knowledge Exchange: Residential School Research and Recovery" Thunder Bay, October 10, 2024

An offering of tobacco leaves and a few blueberries, sprinkled on the grounds of the former residential school at the mouth of the Spanish River.  At dawn on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Remembering Project volunteers joined survivors in mourning the children harmed there.

We’ve seen how shared mourning opens the path to new relationship. That day, survivors opened up to our volunteers, agreeing to share their stories of what life was like at the Spanish Residential Schools.  Elinor Mueller has written a beautiful blog post about the experience, which I highly encourage you to read.

Our relationship with those survivors has blossomed to the point that they are now introducing us to survivors of other residential schools.  Yesterday, I joined our friends in the Nisoonag Partnership at a gathering of 39 First Nations communities in Thunder Bay called the Knowledge Exchange on Residential School Research and Recovery.

The Nisoonag Partnership shared the progress they have made, and the challenges ahead in organizing a search for unmarked graves on the grounds of the two schools at Spanish.  Some churches are forthcoming with their archives, others not. The provincial government have provided stable levels of financial support, the feds more chaotic and unpredictable.  Most locals are sympathetic to the search efforts, but over the years the grounds have been sold off to dozens of homeowners so gaining access for ground-penetrating radar will take time.

When Bob Chiblow, former chief of Mississauga First Nation, stood to address his counterparts across the province, he pointed to two sources of hope.  First, that a group of survivors remain determined to document what happened to each and every child that attended that school before their generation passes into history. And second, that the Nisoonag Partnership had found non-Indigenous volunteers who have offered their help.

“With groups like the Remembering Project” he explained, “you can let your guard down – these people are offering their help for the right reasons. We aren’t alone in this work.”

And sure enough, by the end of the meeting the Remembering Project had a new partner – a team at Fort William First Nation undertaking a search for the St. Joseph’s Residential School in Thunder Bay.

Our relationships with First Nations communities are growing and deepening.  You are invited into these relationships.