The Survivors Speak

34 • Truth & Reconciliation Commission
when I look back, probably long enough to know that my grandma was long gone.
They let me go, and they started yelling at me to shut up, or I don’t know, they had a
real mean tone of voice. It must have been about, when I think about it, it was in the
morning, and I just screamed and screamed for hours. It seemed like for hours. 76
Rachel Chakasim and her friends were excited about the prospect of going to residential
school from their home community of Moosonee, Ontario. They all ran down to the
water’s edge to get on the float plane that would take them to school. On their arrival, they
were taken to the school by the same truck that was used to haul garbage to the local refuse
site. From that point on, the experience was much more sombre.
And I can still recall today the, the quiet, the quiet,
and all the sadness, the atmosphere, as we entered
that big stone building. The excitement in
the morning was gone, and everybody was quiet
because the … senior students that had been there
before knew the rules, and us newcomers were just
beginning to see, and we were little, we were young.
I remember how they took our clothes, the clothes
that we wore when we left, and they also cut our
hair. We had short hair from there on. And they put
a chemical on our hair, which was some kind of a
white powder. 77
Rachel Chakasim.
Linda Head was initially excited about the prospect
of a plane trip that would take her to the Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, school. “My dad
kissed me, and up I went, I didn’t care [laughs] ’cause this was something new for me.” The
plane landed on the Saskatchewan River. “There was a, a car waiting for us, or the truck.
But I got into the car, and the boys were in the truck, like an army, an army truck. They
stood outside the, outside, you know, at the back, not inside.” The students were driven to
the school, which was located in a former military barracks.
And we all, there was a crowd when we got there, a crowd of, you know, other students,
and we went to the registration table. They gave us, told us which dorm to go,
and, and there was a person standing, but the kids were, you know, lining up, and
this person took me to the line. And when the line was full, I guess when we were,
they took us to the dorm…. We had our numbers, and a bed number. And she told us
to settle down. Well, I wasn’t understanding this ’cause it was English, but I followed,
you know, watch, watch everybody, and … she took my hand, and guided me to the
bed, and the number showed me what number I was, number four, and we had to
find number four. So that’s how it was then.
My stuff, I had to set it down, then I, I was under, under the bed, not the higher up, I
had the lower bed. So, I was just lying around there … the music was loud, the radio.