By meadowlakeNOW

Elders speak to Makwa Sahgaiehcan students for Orange Shirt Day

Sep 29, 2017 | 6:00 PM

For their very first Orange Shirt Day, Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation School (MSFNS) near Loon Lake connected youth from Grades 5 to 12 with residential school survivors in their community – to show that every child matters.

Teachers Sheridan Longjohn and Melinda Hoff organized the day’s events and started the presentation with a selection of videos, including a residential school promotional video from 1955, readings from Gord Downie’s Secret Path, and a video from Orange Shirt Day founder Phyllis (Jack) Webstad.

Longjohn said the mix of the videos and real life talks from local elders was a way to connect the community.

“I think it’s important [for the survivors] because they need to tell their story to start healing,” he said. “Also, to show to the younger generation that you can start healing at any age, and to share their wisdom. The videos do appeal to the younger generation too.”

Douglas Morningchild and Freda Angus were the survivors who spoke to the students.

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Morningchild attended residential school in Beauval until he was 10 years old, and afterward dedicated his life to learning from the land. He said children were disciplined with a strap if they acted out or disobeyed rules. He said he wasn’t allowed to speak his Cree language in school, but reconnected with his language later in life. He touched on suicide – as his he lost his sister in that manner. He encouraged the youth to connect with their ‘old ways’ of living with the land and the language, connecting with family, and find themselves.

Angus said she tried to run away from residential school in Onion Lake a few times and had her mouth washed with soap. She had to clean floors with a toothbrush. She was troubled from her experiences and turned to alcohol and drugs in her teens and beyond and experienced much trauma. She is now 62 and has seven children and 27 grandchildren she helped raise over the years. Angus said she began her healing process through therapy and hypnosis and said connecting with culture also heals and helps her, and she smudges daily.

Hoff said this was the first year for an official Orange Shirt Day event at MSFNS, and it fits well into some of the work the school is doing. She said it was an excellent opportunity for the school and community to come together to in the spirit of reconciliation for generations of children to come.

“We’re bringing the language back to our children, and we have four part-time elders, we’re trying to reconnect them to the younger generation,” she said. “The students will often ask to come in and smudge. We’re noticing a difference.”

Freda Angus’ sister Irene Kyetwayhat did the opening prayer for the event, and was part of the Sixties Scoop.  She said she was moved by her sister’s resilience and strength for sharing her story.

“I want to thank my sister… I know she went through a lot,” she said. “She had to relive everything that went down behind closed doors. I was surprised how much she shared with everybody, with all the students. Because I know she kept it inside over 50 years. It brought tears to my eyes.”

She said her sister always tried to be strong, but Kyetwayhat could see the little girl inside Angus while she spoke to students today.

“I’m so happy the kids were able to listen, to hear what happened, that they’ll start to understand what the survivors went through,” said Kyetwayhat.

Orange Shirt Day has typically taken place on Sept. 30 since its inception in 2013. Schools throughout both the Meadow Lake Tribal Council school system and the Northwest School Division honoured the day as well.

kathy.gallant@jpbg.ca  

On Twitter @ReporterKath