La Ronge monument honours children who attended residential school
- Larissa Burnouf | September 26, 2014
"Even though I got no teeth, I still smile" laughs Elder Albert Ross. The occasion was one of pride, honour and remembrance. Ross was one of many Indian residential school survivors that helped to unveil a monument on the grounds where two schools once stood. The commemoration honours the hundreds of children who attended the Lac La Ronge Indian Residential School during the early 1900's. Both schools burned down before it was moved to Prince Albert in the 1940's.
"It was so hard for us," remembers Ross. "We
had to work in the mornings very early before we even had breakfast. We were
hunger a lot of times. We got strapped for nothing, for speaking Cree.” Ross
says he has a lot of memories from the time he spent in the residential school,
“all bad memories."
Residential school support worker Tom Roberts says
the monument is a dedication to the people who passed through the doors of the
two schools that once operated in La Ronge. He says the stone will stand so
people can remember and reflect. "It is for them, not to try to remember
what happened here, but that there was a school here and there was abuse here. We
want to make sure it is never forgotten."
The unveiling was held in part with the Woodland
Cree Gathering opening ceremonies hosted by the Lac La Ronge Indian Band. For
Chief Tammy Cook-Searson, a survivor herself, emotions were at an all time
high. She is the third generation in her family to attend residential school. Her
parents and grandmother also survived the experience.
Struggling to speak through her tears, Cook-Searson
explained the power of seeing the elders and their resilience when they see
their own faces in the photos engraved upon the monument stone. "To see
the elders that attended school here, standing there knowing they were once
children here. Yet, they're still standing there proud."
Many of the elders in attendance were happy to be honoured in the ceremony for their experiences at the schools. For Ross, he says although he was abused during his short stay at the Lac La Ronge Indian Residential School, he is grateful for the little education he did receive. "I don't know where I would be if I didn't go to school like today I am able to speak a little bit of English I learned from this school. I'm very glad I went school even though I was abused."