M3 P3: Glen Jack

This morning I read the horrifying account of Kamloops Residential School from survivor Glen Jack. The stories that he has been sharing for 50 years, which have not been made public until today, are shameful. Shameful for Canada, Shameful for the Catholic Church, Shameful for the RCMP. Completely and utterly Shameful.

That I am taking ETEC 521 right now is really important. It has given me a complete perspective, not only on what Canada did by implementing residential schools, but more so the culture which this country attempted to destroy. Glen Jack was stripped of his voice and his dignity when he arrived at the Kamloops residential school. He was stripped of his innocence when he was raped by a catholic priest and then told that he needed to pray away what he made the priest do. He was stripped of his culture and heritage when he was told that he was a heathen. Through this course, I have learned so much about what that heritage was that was stripped away from him. Every day, as more news comes out about unmarked graves and testemonies of residential schools, I mourn more for the beautiful traditions and the incredible spirituality that was taken away from an entire group of people. Cultural Genocide indeed.

Woo, Andrea. “Glen Jack Experienced the Horrors of the Kamloops Residential School. He’s Been Trying to Get People to Listen for 50 Years.” The Globe and Mail, 16 July 2021.