The Survivors Speak

136 • Truth & Reconciliation Commission
Dora Necan ran away from the Fort Frances school with a friend.
Then we ran away to, me and a girl, we, by Fort
Frances, it’s, you know, the States is on the other
side of the tracks, so we were crawling there just to
run away, that was in the springtime. There was a
lot of ice, and there was river flowing down, down
there. There was a train coming behind us, so we
were crawling to go past this bridge. And it’s a
good thing my friend had long hair, that’s where I
grabbed her, was so she wouldn’t slip into the river,
yeah.
They made it to the United States and stayed there
for three days before returning to the school. 472
Dora Necan.
Nellie Cournoyea was sheltered by Aboriginal
families along her route when she ran away from an Anglican hostel in the Northwest
Territories after a confrontation with a teacher. “It was late Easter time so there was a lot of
camps along the way so everybody said, you know, welcomed me and then, you know, and
we have a lot of love among our people.” 473
When Lawrence Waquan ran away from the Fort Chipewyan school in 1965, there was
no one along the way to support him.
I walked from Fort Chipewyan to Fort Smith, 130 miles. It took me about five days. I
was only about sixteen. And I just ate berries and drank water to survive. But at that
time I knew my brother was living in Fort Smith. Simon Waquan, he was living there
that time. That’s when he took me under his wing, in 1966. 474
There were many students who considered running away but, in the end, decided
against it because they had no place to go. Roy Denny, for example, carefully prepared his
escape from the Shubenacadie school.
It’s been like, I tried running away once; and I saved all my lunch, I hid it away. And
one night I went down and tried to make a run for it. I went downstairs, I was at the
door, big door, I opened it, it was around midnight, after midnight I think. And I stood
there; I’m thinking where in the hell am I going to go? Didn’t have family; the only I
have is my grandmother. So I went back in, I went back to my bed. I felt so helpless or
I couldn’t, I don’t know the feeling I had and I didn’t want to leave my sisters there;
that’s another thing too. I couldn’t take them with me ’cause they’re, they’re on the
other side. So I said I might as well tough it out. 475
Richard Morrison and his friends regularly tried to get away from the Fort Frances school.
We ran and they always caught us because the town, the town people knew the residential
school was there and they’d always report us. They would phone the police