This is part three in a special series prepared by Black Press Media. You can find more of the series and other articles on truth and reconciliation online here.

This article contains descriptions of abuse that may be triggering. Support for survivors and their families is available. Call the Indian Residential School Survivors Society at 1-800-721-0066, or 1-866-925-4419 for the 24-7 crisis line.

Katie ManomieB次元官网网址檚 hands are etched with thin black lines in simple, angled patterns. Traditional Inuit tattoos like this, often seen on hands and faces, are called tunniit. They are more than beatification or a desire to be different; they are a way of reclaiming the Inuit identity after the tattoos were banned by European settlers in the 20th century.

ManomieB次元官网网址檚 fingers work deftly, threading delicate, coloured beads along cuts of seal skin shipped down from Nunavut. SheB次元官网网址檚 practising a traditional Indigenous artform called beading, which uses small beads, a needle and thread to create jewelry or decorate clothing.

Manomie wasnB次元官网网址檛 always so in tune with Inuit culture.

B次元官网网址淎s a kid, I always just told my classmates I was Hawaiian,B次元官网网址� she says.

It was easier than telling the truth: that she was an Inuk girl given to a non-Inuit family as part of the tail-end of the B次元官网网址�60s Scoop.

The B次元官网网址�60s Scoop refers to a government-led initiative to B次元官网网址渟coopB次元官网网址� Indigenous children from their cultures by removing them from their families and entering them into the countryB次元官网网址檚 welfare system. A majority of the time, this meant placing the children in foster care or adopting them out to non-Indigenous families, often without consent or knowledge from the parents. While a majority of this happened in the 1960s, it ran in some form or another between 1951 to the early 1990s.

Manomie was born in 1987 in what is now Iqaluit. Her mother was very young and was strongly encouraged to partake in a custom of B次元官网网址済iftingB次元官网网址� her child to a family who could raise her.

A couple consisting of a Caucasian woman and an Inuk man who were living in the community at the time took Manomie. Soon afterwards, the couple split and the woman took Manomie B次元官网网址� who was the youngest of six other B次元官网网址渁doptedB次元官网网址� children B次元官网网址� to the community of Sooke, the traditional territory of the TB次元官网网址橲ou-ke First Nation.

B次元官网网址淚 wasnB次元官网网址檛 raised knowing any of my culture,B次元官网网址� Manomie says. B次元官网网址淢y adoptive mom would say IB次元官网网址檓 Inuk, but I didnB次元官网网址檛 know what that meant. She didnB次元官网网址檛 even know my biological momB次元官网网址檚 name.B次元官网网址�

Regardless, Manmoie was called upon during social studies classes to speak on behalf of Inuit issues. She was called racialized slurs and felt ashamed of her heritage.

B次元官网网址淚 think IB次元官网网址檓 still trying to let go of that internalized racism,B次元官网网址� she says.

When she was 17, ManomieB次元官网网址檚 adoptive mother abandoned her family to move to Russia, leaving Manomie homeless. She slept on friendsB次元官网网址� couches for two years and got a job in the hospitality industry.

A reliance on alcohol sheB次元官网网址檇 had since she was 13 soon formed into a full-fledged addiction that would last for over a decade.

It wasnB次元官网网址檛 until Manomie was in her late 20s that she first made contact with her biological family; one of her older adopted sisters who had moved back to Nunavut knew who ManomieB次元官网网址檚 mother, brother and maternal grandmother were.

B次元官网网址淲e formed a relationship over the phone. It was a little difficult because they donB次元官网网址檛 know much English, but it was still comforting to hear the Inuktitut language.B次元官网网址�

Going north to visit simply wasnB次元官网网址檛 possible, since flights to the remote town were nearly $10,000.

In 2018, ManomieB次元官网网址檚 grandmother passed away, so she was granted bereavement travel from the Qikiqtani Inuit Association.

When she arrived in Kinngait (previously Cape Dorset), Manomie remembers hundreds of people waiting at the airport to welcome her and show her around.

B次元官网网址淚t was all a big blur,B次元官网网址� she says. B次元官网网址淢y little cousin, who was four, looked at me and asked B次元官网网址榳hy canB次元官网网址檛 she understand us? She looks like us.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

A few years later, when the 2020 lockdowns closed down her workplaces, Manomie enrolled in the Indigenous Studies Program at Camosun College and found a safe space to learn about who she was and where she came from.

B次元官网网址淪tudying at Camosun made me want to reconnect with my Inuk identity B次元官网网址� I didnB次元官网网址檛 even know how to introduce myself before I attended,B次元官网网址� she says. B次元官网网址淚n our cohort, there were Indigenous people from so many different places, and we all were disconnected from our identity.B次元官网网址�

One of the classes through the program was Indigenous arts, where Manomie was introduced to beading.

Picking up the needle and thread came so naturally, that soon Manomie began creating and selling jewelry.

B次元官网网址淚 would sometimes look at what I made and think B次元官网网址榟ow am I doing this? I donB次元官网网址檛 even know what IB次元官网网址檓 doing.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

ManomieB次元官网网址檚 grandmother was also a beader, and she believes the practice of beading is a way to connect to her.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 like blood memory B次元官网网址� I feel like my grandma is with me every time I bead, and thatB次元官网网址檚 why I like it so much.B次元官网网址�

Manomie has been sober for more than four years. She was voted the Indigenous director for the Camosun College Student Society, and this summer she graduated from Camosun College with a certificate in Indigenous Family Support and a diploma in Indigenous Studies. This fall she started at the University of Victoria in the Indigenous Studies degree program, with a goal of enrolling in UVicB次元官网网址檚 Indigenous Law Program.

B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 want to see Indigenous children treated the way I was while growing up B次元官网网址� I just dream of a world where everybody can be kind to each other because thereB次元官网网址檚 been so much in my life that hasnB次元官网网址檛 been so kind.B次元官网网址�

Reconnecting with her Inuit identity has been a slow process. Much like beading, it took time, patience and some help from her ancestors. ItB次元官网网址檚 an identity thatB次元官网网址檚 still growing, slowly revealing something beautiful B次元官网网址� one bead at a time.

READ MORE: Stories about truth and reconciliation