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Warning: This story contains details of residential schools that may be upsetting to some readers. Find the 24-hour Indian Residential School Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419.
The Government of Saskatchewan issued an apology on Monday for its role in the operation of the Île-à-la-Crosse School, and agreed to pay millions in restitution to the school’s former students.
The boarding school housed First Nations and Métis children in various capacities from 1860 until the 1970s, when its operations were assumed by the Île-à-la-Crosse School Division. Former students said they suffered abuse at the school, recalling horrid living conditions, mistreatment at the hands of staff and losing connections to their culture and traditions.
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“On behalf of the Province of Saskatchewan I offer a sincere apology to the survivors and their families,” Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said in a statement.
“Saskatchewan is at its best when we are working together with Métis and First Nations to make our province a place that everyone is proud to call home, and where we all have equal opportunity to prosper and live in safe, healthy communities. It is our sincere hope that this agreement provides closure to the former students of the Île-à-la-Crosse School, and that it serves as a foundation for continued collaboration and success in the future.”
The provincial government’s apology also comes with some action. The province said it intends to provide $40.2 million in restitution to the school’s former students, “and to promote reconciliation, healing, wellness, education, language, culture and commemoration in the community of Île-à-la-Crosse.”
The Government of Saskatchewan said it expects the proposed settlement will be approved by the Court of King’s Bench early next year.
“The province supports a claims process for individual abuse claims that is simple, expedited, trauma-informed, and cost-effective,” the provincial government noted. “The claims process will be administered by a third-party class actions administration firm approved by the Court of King’s Bench.”
In March, the federal government announced plans to pay up to $27 million to former Île-à-la-Crosse students and $10 million to projects that address healing, education, language and culture, following a lawsuit launched by the school’s former students.
“It’s a relief to reach this agreement in principle with Saskatchewan,” Margaret Aubichon, a former student and plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in a statement.
“It’s been a very long battle, and we’ve lost a lot of Survivors on the way here. Finally, we’re close to having some closure for the remaining Survivors of Île-à-la-Crosse School, and recognition and compensation for all the harm that we experienced as children.”
“I was taught at the Île-à-la-Crosse School that my heritage, language and culture were shameful,” added Emile Janvier, another former student and plaintiff.
“I’m proud that I’ve worked hard to reclaim my Indigenous identity, and that we’ve made our voices as Survivors heard by these governments. This is an important step in our healing and in the process of reconciliation.”
Treatment at school equated to criminals
Even though it’s a step in the right direction, Louis Gardiner said the school left its impact on several generations.
Gardiner started going to Île-à-la-Crosse in 1961 when he was aged five and attended it for the next nine years.
“Imagine sending your kid to somewhere strange at five years old. I think there would be lot of battles at this time if that ever happened,” he said.
During his time at the school, Gardiner said he couldn’t speak his language and said mental, physical and sexual abuse were all used as weapons against the children. Gardiner equated his treatment to that of criminals.
“I couldn’t use my name. I had a number given to me. Where do you see numbers today? In prison,” he said.
Gardiner wasn’t the first in his family to attend Île-à-la-Crosse though, with his dad going to the school from 1941 to 1949. But, what confused him as a child, was how his dad wasn’t able to write his own name. Instead, Gardiner remember his mom having to teach him.
“So what was the purpose at that time? Why he attended Île-à-la-Crosse school? They say it was for education, but I think for something else,” Gardiner said.
For Gardiner, looking back on those memories, he said the agenda was simple. It wasn’t about education and was instead to take “the culture out of the child,” he said.
School seen as part of a larger colonial agenda
It’s a sentiment that Alvina Aubichon, another of the school’s survivors, also shared.
“It is important to acknowledge the very purpose of the school as part of a larger colonial agenda and cultural genocide,” she said.
Aubichon recalled how lonely she felt when her parents dropped her off at Île-à-la-Crosse, which she also began attending when she was aged five.
Then on her second day there, Aubichon said the students all had their hair cut. Before that, her hair was down to her knees. While her parents packed her clothes, she never got to wear them because students were assigned clothes. Punishments were also doled out for any small infraction.
While reaching this agreement with the provincial government isn’t the solution to these traumatic experiences, Aubichon said it helps promote healing, moving survivors one step closer to closure.
— with files from Marija Robinson
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