Never forgotten: Fort William honours memory of 215 children in Kamloops
Trigger warning: readers may be triggered by the subject matter of Indian Residential Schools. To access a 24-hour National Crisis Line, call: 1-866-925-4419. Community Assistance Program (CAP) can be accessed for citizens of the Anishinabek Nation: 1-800-663-1142
By Rick Garrick
FORT WILLIAM — Fort William held an Honouring The Children in Memory of 215 Children Kamloops, B.C. Every Child Matters event on May 27 at the Fort William band office site.
“This is our way to ensure that those children and our children that went missing and never came home are never forgotten,” says Luanne Maki, health manager at Fort William. “I think that more events like this should occur and that we should always continue to remember this struggle just keeps going, don’t let it die, keep moving forward with it, keep pushing the issues, keep ensuring that our people are not forgotten no matter what the issues our First Nations are facing.”
Anishinabek Nation Northern Superior Regional Deputy Grand Council Chief Melvin Hardy stressed the importance of education and awareness for children and parents.
“We have to teach our kids to be aware and ensure the parents are listening as well,” Regional Chief Hardy says. “One of the ways we lose our kids is through child welfare, that’s why we have to ensure we’re doing the things we have to to ensure that our kids are safe.”
Regional Chief Hardy also raised the need for a hospital for Indigenous people in the Thunder Bay area.
“We’re going to try to have a meeting with Treaty #3 and NAN (Nishnawbe Aski Nation) to talk about this issue of trying to get our own Indigenous hospital in this territory [with staff who] know how to take care of our people,” he says.
Liz Esquega, community coordinator at Fort William who works with Fort William’s St. Joseph’s Residential School project, says it was wonderful to see all of the children in attendance as well as their parents and grandparents and other people at the event.
“It’s to honour the memory of the (potential) 215 children and to bring together the community and to provide information and educate them about the legacy of the Indian Residential School [and] at the same time remember our own Survivors within our community as well,” Esquega says.
Yvette Greenwald, who was re-elected as a councillor in Fort William’s May 27 band election, says it was important to let people know what happened to children in Indian Residential School.
“I do agree that every child matters — it doesn’t matter [their] colour — every child matters on this whole Earth,” Greenwald says, noting that her father and his siblings were sent to Indian Residential School. “I was so happy it stopped because maybe we would have had to go. Now it’s our role as leaders that we have to stop all the injustice.”
Desiree Morriseau-Shields, who was re-elected as a councillor in Fort William’s May 27 band election, says the event was successful with a lot of Survivors and citizens in attendance.
“It’s important to remember all that has impacted our community in terms of loss by the Residential School System and the policies that were put in place to remove our spirit and our Indigenous heritage from ourselves, our community, our people,” Morriseau-Shields says. “By gathering like this and talking about it and coming together and taking care of one another, it’s imperative to our healing and looking towards a brighter future and gaining strength together to be a strong nation here in Fort William First Nation.”
Fort William Elder Marlene Pierre, who delivered the opening prayer, says they have a responsibility to remember and honour the children that did not return home from Indian Residential School.
“We had a (Residential) School here so we take a high interest in making sure that the people in our community have the knowledge about what took place,” Elder Pierre says. “And we speak to our responsibilities to make sure that this does not have to happen ever again.”
Tannis Kastern, a former Fort William councillor, says the turnout for the event was wonderful.
“Liz and her team have done an outstanding job, and look at the kids,” Kastern says. “Those children that are lost, that are in heaven with the Creator, are shining down saying: ‘You know what? They’re doing something about it.’”
Belinda Robertson, a Residential School Survivor and Fort William citizen, says there was no love in the Residential School.
“That’s the worse part of the whole thing — I wasn’t taught what it meant because I was there,” Robertson says. “There were four of us (siblings) that went and we were separated because we were different ages. I would never want to do it again and I hope anybody else doesn’t have to do it because it’s very painful to be away from people you love.”