Tag Archives: survivors

Module #4 Post #5 – Legacy of Hope – Survivor Stories

Stories

These are the stories of survivors.  There is a disclaimer to look at. Warning: These videos contain subject matter that may be disturbing to some visitors, particularly Survivors of the Residential School System. Please call the Health Canada 24-Hour National Survivors Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419 if you need assistance.

The following is a selection of Survivor stories drawn from the Our Stories…Our Strength video collection. We are grateful to the men and women who have shared their personal and often painful accounts of their experiences of residential school and its legacy. It is by sharing these truths that we can all continue to work toward understanding and healing.

Please contact us info@legacyofhope.ca if you are a Survivor who participated in the Our Stories…Our Strength project and would like to have your video posted on this site. If your story appears here and you would like it removed from the site or the collection, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@legacyofhope.ca

I was able to watch a few of the stories but I have not watched all of them.  They are a powerful testament to the gift that the survivors have given us.  How interesting. 

Module 2 Post #3 TEDxVancouver A History of Residential Schools

Ginger Gosnell-Myers on June 25, 2018, tells a powerful story of her father.  He is a hunter, a friend, and strong ready to help his community. When she was 17 she saw her uncle on TV talking about residential school.  Her father had passed away and she never could talk to him about that time.  About the mass Post-Traumatic Stress and the Intergenerational Experience where no healing and limited truths existed.

Through her conversation in this talk, Ginger Gosnell-Myers talks about the 2007 class-action lawsuit that resulted in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.  She talks about one story in 2013 from the survivors who told their story where the father told his story for 10 minutes and the son said that this was the first time he ever heard this truth for the other 10 minutes.  She goes on to say that hearing the stories was an awakening and that there were the 94 Calls to Action and then they were done.

She speaks about the risk of continuing as a country and not having all 80,000 stories told and the risk as a country.  She compares reconciliation with Germany and the Jewish communities and how they have been using all the actions necessary.

She asks us to educate ourselves.  Only 1 in 5 Canadians can name a residential school in their community.  She encourages us to watch A Secret Path championed by Gord Downie and she says this is a place to start learning.

She talks about New Zealand and how they move forward with a respect for Maori culture and how the goal for all New Zealanders to have Maori pride with place names, representation in government, incorporating the Haka in sport and how everyone knows their connection to the land that they share through Indigenous knowledge.

Ginger Gosnell-Myers challenges us to look at reconciliation not as a time-defined program but rather a process that has no expiration date, and if it takes forever, then we should be ok with that.

Module 2 Post #2 Truth and Reconciliation – Lamoureux

Kevin Lamoureaux in a Tedx talk on January 3, 2020 talks about the best day of his life being on June 2, 2015 when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released their final report.  That we as Canada were given a gift with the 94 Calls to Action and that they are considered our Road Map Home “Our way back to the country we would want to leave behind for our children”

He goes on to share a story that is both powerful and poignant and speaks to the meaning of family and love.

He also asks two important questions about the 94 Calls to Action

  1. Why is this being asked of us?  – The Truth in Truth and reconciliation and that it exposes us to stories we may not have heard before.  That we may feel frustrated and angry.  And he states that the Federal government spends more money litigating against First Nations than supporting them. (Incidentally, I just read an article that there is a motion on the floor for the Federal government to stop litigation action.  I have to explore that one further.)
  2. Would our society, our community and our country be better or worse if this Call to Action were fulfilled?  – The Reconciliation part and that if we would be a better society, then we have been given a gift and an opportunity.  We get to be part of the solution which is both powerful and humbling (in my opinion).

He speaks of the Canada we want to be and because of the strength of the survivors and the elders, we can engage in a relationship.  Because even though as a people the First Nations have been hurt in so many ways they still stand there and say, let’s engage in a relationship and try to accomplish something beautiful together.

I found out today that this amazing speaker is being brought in by our school district to speak to teachers during our August Professional Development days.  What a powerful way to start our year of relationships, listening and accomplishing something so meaningful.