Trigger warning: This article contains details about experiences at residential schools in B.C. that may be disturbing to readers.
When Art Thompson walked through the doors of the Alberni Indian Residential School (AIRS) as a young boy, his name was stripped away. During his time at the school, from ages five to 13, he was known only by a number: 511.
Now, decades later, his story is being shared with the world through his daughter, Evelyn Thompson-George. Thompson-George has published a memoir, titled The Defiant 511 of the Alberni Indian Residential School, which shares the late Thompson's experience at AIRS.
The Great Room at the Tseshaht First Nation administration building in Port Alberni was standing-room only on Tuesday, March 11 for the official book launch.
"Sharing my father's truth made me realize that the residential school experience was still a mystery to some, even children and grandchildren of survivors themselves," Thompson-George told the crowd. "This is what led me to write my dad's memoir."
Art Thompson, a member of the Ditidaht First Nation, was sent to live at the Alberni Indian Residential School (AIRS) on Tseshaht First Nation territory in Port Alberni at the age of five. While living there, he experienced physical, sexual and emotional abuse, as well as malnourishment, forced religious indoctrination and attempted cultural eradication.
After leaving the school as a teenager, he struggled with the trauma he had experienced. As an adult, he ended up in a drug and alcohol recovery centre.
"This is where he first started having the hard conversations and being completely honest with his memories," explained Thompson-George.
In 1995, 22 years after the school closed, Thompson and 17 other former AIRS students successfully sued Arthur Henry Plint, a dormitory supervisor at AIRS, for abusing the boys under his supervision. While writing his victim impact statement, Thompson was encouraged by his wife, Charlene Thompson, to be as visual and graphic as possible. Plint was ultimately sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Thompson passed away in 2003 from kidney cancer, when Thompson-George was still a teenager. One of his final wishes, said Thompson-George, was for his family to continue sharing his story after his death. In 2021, after ground scanning started to take place at residential school sites across the country, Thompson-George decided to write a book, so that the story would be accessible to everyone.
Sharing her father's story, said Thompson-George, is important because it can help people to understand what came after the abuse B次元官网网址� the intergenerational trauma.
"Our intergenerational trauma has trickled through, in the ways that we raise our children and grandchildren, because of what our people went through in those institutions," said Thompson-George.
Thompson-George scoured through pages of court documents and victim impact statements from the 1995 court case in order to compile her father's story in his own words. Re-writing her father's memories sent her into a depression, said Thompson-George. The hardest part, she said, was spending time with her children after writing it.
"It was hard to play with them, because all I could see was my dad," she told the crowd on March 11.
She had some editing help from her aunt, Dr. Charlotte Cot茅, who ultimately told Thompson-George that she needed to include her own story in the memoir. The book was finally published this year, through Friesen Press.
"It's this amazing collaboration," said Thompson-George.
Thompson-George warns that the book might be difficult for some people to read, because it includes explicit accounts of both physical and sexual abuse.
"Those children did not leave [the school] as children," she said. "They left completely traumatized."
Her ultimate goal with the publication of The Defiant 511 is to get her father's story into senior levels of high school, colleges and universities.
"My dream is to have this book in the educational system," said Thompson-George. "I want the raw truth to be out there. So many of our people have not been able to share their stories."
Along with being an advocate for residential school survivors, Art Thompson was also an accomplished artist. He designed both of the medals awarded at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, as well as the Queen's Baton that travelled to every corner of the commonwealth. Thompson-George explained that art was healing for her father, and the experience ultimately helped him become an advocate for other survivors.
"Being able to bring his culture to light, rather than focusing on something so horrific B次元官网网址� I think that very much helped him," said Thompson-George. "It was a part of his healing process. I know those schools really tried to take that piece away from us, the culture and the storytelling."
Thompson-George says she understands that some people may be "unwilling" to hear the truth of the residential school system, or unable to come to terms with it.
"That's ok," said Thompson-George. "For a lot of survivors, it was hard to share their own truth."
Ken Watts, the Elected Chief Councillor for Tseshaht First Nation, was at the Great Room on March 11 to support Thompson-George in her book launch. Watts says the book is important because Canadians need to learn what happened at residential schools, so that the stories are never forgotten.
"These are the truths of what happened," said Watts.
The Defiant 511 of the Alberni Indian Residential School can be purchased locally in Port Alberni through . It can also be purchased through or .
Anyone needing support may call the Indian Residential School Survivors Society 24-hour crisis line toll-free at 1-800-721-0066 or 1-866-925-4419.
