The Survivors Speak

Sports and recreation
“This gym was a saviour.”
The opportunity to participate in organized sports was limited in residential schools.
Many schools didn’t have a gymnasium, a skating rink, or a playing field. Equipment was
often in short supply or poor repair, or was improperly sized. But, where it existed, many
students seized the limited athletic and recreational opportunities presented to them.
Many students claimed that sports helped them make it through residential school.
Christina Kimball attended the Roman Catholic school near The Pas, where she experienced
physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. She believes that it was only through her
involvement with sports that she survived. “I was very sports-oriented. I played baseball.
Well, we play baseball, and even hockey. We had a hockey team. That was benefited, benefited
me in a way ’cause I loved playing sports. Well, that’s one way, too. I don’t know how
I did it but I was pretty good in sports.” 695
Noel Starblanket said that at the Qu’Appelle school,
I had some good moments, in particular in the sports side, ’cause I really enjoyed
sports. I was quite athletic, and basically that’s what kept me alive, that’s what kept
me going was the sports. When I was forced to go back after holidays, or things like
that, the only thing that I wanted to go back for was for the sports, nothing else. I
didn’t want to go back for the teaching, for the teachers, for the, the Christian indoctrination,
or, or the strapping, or any of the other abuses. I wanted to go back for the
sports. That was the only thing I went back for. 696
At the Lestock school, Geraldine Shingoose took refuge in extracurricular activities.
One of the good things that I would do to try and get out of just the abuse was try to,
I would join track-meet, try and be, and I was quite athletic in boarding school. And
I also joined the band, and I played a trombone. And, and that was something that
took me away from the school, and just to, it was a relief. 697
Paul Andrew spent seven years at Grollier Hall in Inuvik. One of his strongest and most
positive memories related to school sports. At a Truth and Reconciliation Commission of
Canada public dialogue in the school gymnasium in the Inuvik school, he recalled that he
ran around this gym a lot of times, and this gym was a saviour for a lot of things
because we were good at the physical stuff, we were good athletes, we were good at
the sports. I don’t know about people, I didn’t do very good in classrooms because
I didn’t have the basics, the background in education. And there was times when
I was called dumb and stupid and there were times when I felt dumb and stupid.
But put me in a gym, there was not too many people better than I am. There were