Honouring the Truth Reconciling for the Future

80 • Truth & Reconciliation CommissionStudents also noted that the curriculum belittled their ancestry. Mary Courchenesaid, “Their only mandate was to Christianize and civilize; and it’s written in blackand white. And every single day we were reminded.” 230 Lorna Cochrane could neverforget an illustration in a social studies text. “There was a picture of two Jesuits layingin the snow, they were murdered by these two ‘savages.’ And they had this what wecall ‘a blood-curdling look’ on their faces is how I remember that picture.” 231 When thecurriculum was not racist, it was bewildering and alienating. Many students could notidentify with the content of the classroom materials. For instance, Lillian Elias remembersthat “when I looked at Dick and Jane I thought Dick and Jane were in heavenwhen I saw all the green grass. That’s how much I knew about Dick and Jane.” 232Some students said that the limits of the education they had received in residentialschool became apparent when they were integrated into the public school system. 233Many said there was no expectation that they would succeed. Walter Jones never forgotthe answer that a fellow student at the Alberni, British Columbia, school was givenwhen he asked if he would be able to go to Grade Twelve. “That supervisor said, ‘Youdon’t need to go that far,’ he says. He says, ‘Your people are never going to get educationto be a professional worker, and it doesn’t matter what lawyer, or doctor, or electrician,or anything, that a person has to go to school for.’” 234Some northern schools developed reputations for academic success. GrandinCollege in Fort Smith was established originally to recruit young people for theCatholic ministry. A new principal, Jean Pochat, decided to focus on providing youngmen and women with leadership training. 235 The school became known as a “leadershipfactory,” producing numerous future government leaders for the North. 236Students who attended the Churchill Vocational Centre spoke about how they weretaught by open-minded teachers who were willing to expose them to the social andpolitical changes taking place across the world in the 1960s. 237 John Amagoalik wrotethat at the Churchill Vocational Centre, “we had excellent teachers. To this day westill talk about them.... They treated us as ordinary people. We had never experiencedthis sort of attitude before and it was, in a way, liberating to be with new teachersthat treated you as their equal.” 238 David Simailak spoke of how his time at residentialschool gave him a series of new opportunities. He fondly remembers excelling at mathand spelling competitions, and travelling to Montreal for Expo ’67. 239Specific teachers were remembered with gratitude. When Roddy Soosay lived inresidence, he attended a local public school. He credited his high school principal atthe Ponoka, Alberta, public school for pushing him to succeed. 240 Martha Loon saidthat at the Poplar Hill, Ontario, school in the 1980s, there were staff members whobefriended and helped her and her siblings. There was one staff member to whomshe could tell all her problems. “I could say anything to her, and we’d go for walkssometimes. So, I could tell her anything and she wouldn’t, she wouldn’t say anything