The digital storytelling project for First Nations women, which I described in my previous post, led me to the corresponding project posted by the Oral History Centre, which is known as ININIWAG DIBAAJIMOWAG: FIRST NATIONS MEN AND THE INTER-GENERATIONAL EXPERIENCES OF RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS. The men’s digital stories associated with this project are equally poignant to those of the women mentioned in my previous post. However, the one that I found most impactful was the story called Second Chance, by Dan Highway. He is a residential school survivor, who shares in simple and clear terms how the theft of the opportunity to be with his own parents impacted his abilities as a father and how his process of healing has resulted in a second chance to be a parent to his children and grandchildren.
Numerous other stories emerging from this project can be found on the Oral History Centre’s YouTube Playlist.