Nation-20-11

Facing the past
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearing in Chisasibi airs a painful
chapter of Cree history
by Jesse Staniforth
In the lead-up to its four-day Quebec
National Event in Montreal at the end of
April, the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission (TRC) held the last of its
four Quebec regional events in Chisasibi
on March 19-20.
Following hearings in Sept-Îles, Vald’Or
and La Tuque, the Chisasibi TRC
hearings offered an opportunity for local
survivors of the Indian residential school
(IRS) system to share their experiences
either publicly or to have them recorded
in private.
The community of Chisasibi, at the
time it was located at Fort George, had
two Indian residential schools, both of
which opened in the mid-1930s – Ste-
Thérèse-de-l’Enfant-Jesus, run by the
Roman Catholic Church, and St. Phillip’s,
run by the Anglican Church (the only
Anglican residential school in Quebec).
Chisasibi’s Eddie Rupert is the
Residential Schools Coordinator for the
Grand Council of the Crees and a member
of the Special Committee that is
organizing the national event in
Montreal. He says he suggested holding
a commission hearing in Chisasibi
because of the two schools that were
located there.
Rupert explained that students at St.
Phillip’s came mainly from the coastal
Cree communities, while students at
Ste-Thérèse-de-l’Enfant-Jesus came
largely from other communities, including
Moose Factory, Attawapiskat, Fort
Albany and Pointe-Bleu. According to
TRC documents, both schools were
seriously overcrowded by the 1950s,
suffering from shortages of food and
fresh water.
Ste-Thérèse-de-l’Enfant-Jesus was
transferred to the provincial school
board in 1971; St. Phillip’s was taken
over by the federal government in 1969
and turned into a residence for students
from other communities attending local
schools. By 1973, its staff was entirely
composed of Aboriginal people. Both
schools were closed by the end of the
1970s.
Larry House, the local coordinator
for the Chisasibi hearing, said it was long
overdue. “The leadership needs to make
it a priority to address the social issues.
[Aboriginal people] still top the list of all
the wrong stats. Right now we’re the
majority incarcerated in prisons and
we’ve got the highest number of kids in
state care. Obviously something is amiss.
I connect it to the history of colonialism
and residential schools is a big part of
that.”
Overall, said Rupert, the hearings
went well, “We did have people who
made the decision to go to the commissioner
and tell their stories,” he said.
“We also had private rooms available and
some people decided to take that
approach. The main room was for the
public – people were invited to attend
and listen to the stories.”
Rupert’s only complaint was that
fewer people came than he expected.
“I was hoping to have students coming
in from the Cree communities who’d
attended those two schools. There were
not as many as I had hoped or expected.
I know in some of the other hearings – in
La Tuque, for example, the commissioner
said they had about 80 people [making
statements]. I’m not sure we had that
many. The hearings did go very well,
with those who volunteered to tell their
stories. The overall message was that it
was time to reconcile and forgive.
“In the beginning it was really slow,”
House noted. “I had to register to make
a statement. I wanted to, because there
was about 900 pounds of religion on one
side of the room, there – two bishops
and the minister from Great Whale.
That’s kind of an intimidating setting
when you’re sitting in the room. I spoke
about organized religion and the problems
I see there. I said, I had never been
to residential school, but that’s not to
say I haven’t been affected.”
House downplayed the importance
of his own comments, but Rupert
praised him for speaking about the
www.nationnews.ca April 5, 2013 the Nation 23
photo courtesy of Val-d’Or Native Friendship Centre