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Stólō Tribal Council embarking on interview project for survivors of St. MaryBԪַs Residential School

BԪַItBԪַs a humongous task, but it needs to be done,BԪַ said Stólō Grand Chief Clarence Pennier
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EditorBԪַs note: This article contains details about experiences at residential schools in B.C. and may be upsetting to readers.

The Stólō Tribal Council is undertaking a mammoth project to interview survivors of St. MaryBԪַs Residential School in Mission.

BԪַItBԪַs a humongous task, but it needs to be done,BԪַ said Grand Chief Clarence Pennier, co-ordinator of the interview project for the tribal council.

Stólō Tribal Council is undertaking the task of recording survivor accounts from St. MaryBԪַs in a methodical way. The children who were forced to attend the Fraser Valley residential school may have been originally from Nu-chah-nulth territory, LilBԪַwat territory, NBԪַlakapamux territory or Coast Salish territory, with a few from the Central Coast.

For those who are willing to be interviewed, the tribal council is now hiring a team of interviewers to conduct the sessions with the utmost sensitivity and respect, Pennier said.

Following the grisly discovery of 215 unmarked graves in Kamloops last year, it set off a chain reaction of discovery as funding was sought from governments for other similar searches, and research, at former residential schools across Canada.

Soon after the provincial and federal government coffers started opening up to Indigenous groups to search for potential unmarked graves at every institution, Stólō Tribal Council applied to record survivorsBԪַ stories and experiences, and was successful in obtaining funding of $1.2 million over the next three years to complete the work.

Some survivors may not want to tell their stories, Pennier said.

Others may have already shared their experiences with other agencies, or researchers, as Pennier did himself under the BԪַindependent assessment processBԪַ that came out of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

BԪַItBԪַs their choice,BԪַ the grand chief underlined. The stories may inform future ground searches.

BԪַAt some point, the grounds of St. MaryBԪַs will also be searched by equipment that will identify different things in the ground that could be unmarked graves.BԪַ

They expect interviewers may hear stories of every kind of abuse whether mental, physical, sexual or spiritual. They might hear stories about family members who never came home, from the survivors, their children, and grandchildren.

BԪַWe must listen to the stories and learn about their experiences,BԪַ Pennier said. BԪַWe must support them in their journey as they move on from telling their story. Healing is required for our families and communities.BԪַ

Having attended two residential schools over 11 years, including St. MaryBԪַs and one year in Kamloops, Pennier went through a couple of years of counselling to be able to share out loud what he went through.

BԪַI can now tell my story. And thatBԪַs where a lot of survivors might need to hear this, if they have been abused sexually, many somehow think it was their fault. But I went for counselling, and it helped me. Maybe it will help others to go that route as well.BԪַ

They plan to have counsellors available for anyone who agrees to be interviewed.

The survivorsBԪַ stories need to be heard, for the benefit of the younger generation and seven generations into the future, to learn about residential schools and the impacts that are still being felt inter-generationally, he said.

ItBԪַs also going to help non-Indigenous people to comprehend the negative effects of colonization, the price of living under the Indian Act, and what impact it had when government decided to remove children from their families and communities with the aim of BԪַtaking the Indian out of the child.BԪַ

In addition to the interviewing process thatBԪַs about to start under the guidance of Stólō Tribal Council, Stólō Nation will be undertaking the ground searches at St. MaryBԪַs and Coqualeetza, as well as the research of all historical files related to the Coqualeetza site in Chilliwack, All Hallows in Yale, and St. MaryBԪַs in Mission.

Stólō Nation will also be interviewing Coqualeetza survivors.

Any survivors of St. MaryBԪַs who are ready to schedule a time to be interviewed, or to get more details, can call Grand Chief Pennier at 604-798-2795, or email kat.pennier@stolotribalcouncil.ca, or email lori.kelly@stolotribalcouncil.ca

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Jennifer Feinberg

About the Author: Jennifer Feinberg

I have been a Chilliwack Progress reporter for 20+ years, covering city hall, Indigenous, business, and climate change stories.
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