The Survivors Speak

32 • Truth & Reconciliation Commission
dresses, they were beautiful dresses; two pairs of shoes, two pairs of socks, two pairs
of everything.
And we had a number; they gave us a number and that number was tied in our, in all
our clothes; our garments, our jackets, everything was numbered. After that we were
told to be in the, go in the shower; at least fifteen of us girls all in one shower. We were
told to strip down and, with all the other girls; and that was not a comfortable feeling.
And for me I guess it was violating my privacy. I didn’t even want to look at anybody
else. It was hard.
After that, they gave us our toothbrushes to brush our teeth. And they asked us to put
our hands out and they put some white dry powder stuff on our hands. I didn’t know
what it was. I smelt it, but now today I know it was baking soda. I didn’t realize what it
was then. 72
Campbell Papequash had been raised by his grandfather. When his grandfather died in
1946, Papequash “was apprehended by the missionaries and taken to residential school.”
When I was taken to this residential school you know I experienced a foreign way
of life that I really didn’t understand. I was taken into this big building that would
become the detention of my life and the fear of life. When I was taken to that residential
school you know I see these ladies, you know so stoical looking, passionate-less
and they wore these robes that I’ve never seen women wear before, they only showed
their forehead and their eyes and the bottom of their face and their hands. Now to
me that is very fearful because you know there wasn’t any kind of passion and I could
see, you know, I could see it in their eyes. When I was taken to this residential school
I was taken into the infirmary but before I entered the infirmary, you know, I looked
around this big, huge building, and I see all these crosses all over the walls. I look at
those crosses and I see a man hanging on that cross and I didn’t recognize who this
man was. And this man seemed dead and passionate-less on that cross. I didn’t know
who this man was on that cross. And then I was taken to the infirmary and there, you
know, I was stripped of my clothes, the clothes that I came to residential school with,
you know, my moccasins, and I had nice beautiful long hair and they were neatly
braided by mother before I went to residential school, before I was apprehended by
the residential school missionaries.
And after I was taken there they took off my clothes and then they deloused me. I
didn’t know what was happening but I learned about it later, that they were delousing
me; ‘the dirty, no-good-for-nothing savages, lousy.’ And then they cut off my beautiful
hair. You know and my hair, my hair represents such a spiritual significance of my
life and my spirit. And they did not know, you know, what they were doing to me. You
know and I cried and I see them throw my hair into a garbage can, my long, beautiful
braids. And then after they deloused me then I was thrown into the shower, you
know, to go wash all that kerosene off my body and off my head. And I was shaved,
bald-headed.