Surviving the Kamloops Indian Residential School and the struggle for a settlement | APTN N2N

[Music] tonight on nation-to-nation a special edition on residential school days scholars looking for justice we're coming to you from the to Kamloops traditional territory and the former Kamloops Indian Residential school a survivor tells her story of abuse I have forgiven them I threw my spirituality I was able to do that I'm still struggling with forgetting time is running out for the settlement of the Days scholar lawsuit it makes me sick to think that you know every time we bury somebody that dies a horrific death of suicide or alcoholism or a social issue it affects all of our families and a former national chief is working behind the scenes for that settlement what's always very disappointing you know the government always asking for additional information this is supposed to be a holy room and our people were abused at the hands of priests and nuns and staff from the federal government I'm Todd Lama and welcome to nation and nation as he just heard were here in BC and joining me now is Joanne Gottfredson she's a day-school survivor and one of the leading figures in suing the federal government for a day school settlement welcome to nation to nation join thank you know you sing about one of the Forgotten ones what do you mean by that the day scholars were the ones that were left out of the the residential school settlement at the 13th hour there Harper government said either drop these colors are we don't have a settlement that's right these scholars were left out of the common experience payment process just because they didn't sleep at residential schools but Joanne attended the Kamloops school for several years as a young child she walked these halls just like the other kids residential school survivors of course lived at the schools and were abused what was it like for you somebody who thought she went home there every day actually my best thought was I'm an immigrant on my own land because this is my territory and we were never treated with respect or keepers of the land and we we were often the last person we were sent out in the cold we weren't safe from anything you know whether it was physical mental emotional spiritual you were talking about a lot of abuses and and you suffered abuse by a priest in fact it happened right through that wall just over there I was very young like eight seven years old I could see these hands I can't but I could never see the face and I was sexually abused in that room back there by a very close family friend I trusted priests in my community how does it affect you were growing up there was a program that I went to that helped me advance that because deep down I knew something was wrong and I never told my parents or my siblings or my children until after I went to the choices program I made a phillium of a video and I encouraged my daughters to view it because I have two beautiful daughters and they put the video on the shelf and I told that when you're ready you can watch this it's my story and you've been going through the cross-examinations of world class action I thought to myself why don't I see this person's face what is it that I need to open up and I love that process of healing not only for myself but my family my grandchildren and maybe my great-grandchildren but join wasn't the only one in her family abused by the priest so was her late sister Violet Goff Eaton who passed away three years ago the last thing she told me the day that she died actually two hours before she died I was sitting there I was praying and she says Joe damn she says don't give up what you're doing our people need to heal share your story make it real for our people you were the Chiefs daughter and obviously you weren't safe nobody was safe it sounds like how did the other children treat day schools called scholars kids would make fun of us because we were day scholars they made it sound like it was a dirty thing you ought to remember we're only seven and eight well I was gonna protect my little sister so you know it's um we did have friends but not close friends we as community members from my reserve stuck together more because of that need to protect each other of course not everybody got protected I imagine I guess there's rumors that there is unmarked graves here yes to research delayed journey Jules found through his archaeology expertise there was grave stone and the orchard and back here under the cement and so when we tried to figure out what's the best way to approach that we did a ceremony about that because what what did the priests and nuns use that orchard for that's just south of the school here that that was a place for one they would use the fruit but there was also these statues that we had to go down there and pray the whole school would go down and pray all the reasons you your your story is probably come up to this question is is this why you were doing this lawsuit because of what happened to you and your sister and see other kids here it's a big part a major part for me personally but what more important for me is collectively my community can regain restore our language and our culture and work towards wellness and reconciliation as you just mentioned language and culture is so important but for you is that the biggest things that you've lost through having gone through this experience that's who we are as Aboriginal people is our language and our culture and our connection to the land our language gives us or our identity it gives us who we are it speaks of our values and beliefs and that's vital as Aboriginal people we need to know who we are to create that pride exactly I want to thank you for telling me the story and and telling our viewers your story thank you for doing this Joanne thank you join isn't alone individual days schoolers aren't the only ones suing so our bands 101 of them more on that after the break [Music] welcome back Jo Ann's story is certainly heartbreaking but there's also hope that there will be justice for the forgotten days scholars and our next guests are also part of that fight we have with me Shane garrison former chief of the caverns fan Elvina Paul she's a counselor for the c-shell First Nation and John Phillips he's the lead lawyer on the class action I want to thank you all for coming on nation nation thank you thank you mr. garrison I'll start with you this class action doesn't just involve survivors and descendants but individual bands why is that well I think when you look at you know the heart of the problem that we face in all of our communities from coast to coast to coast is that you know there's loss of culture loss of language you know many dysfunctions in our communities of innovation in a generational impacts that our people face today it's not just a Kamloops and a seashell problem this is a problem that was created by the government by you know forcing our our families into residential schools and you know that's why we thought you know we would you know move the class action forth because we were left out of the Indian Residential school settlement and you know when you look at the acts of reconciliation that Trudeau talked about he said that there's no relationship more important than the relationship with First Nations and under that reconciliation was a call to action to settle add a scholar's class action suit that means Paul your nation and the Tacoma Lewis band brought this lawsuit on together but for your community what's the damage what damage has been done by residential schools we have some nation members that suffer from the loss of language and culture that they have lost a way of life in regards to wellness so and with this we can hopefully bring it through with the four pillars that we're looking at in this class action when you talk about wellness you talking about the usual some addictions and perhaps even mental health issues yes mental health addictions and to bring that back through language and culture for all communities mr. Phillips the lawsuit is about loss of language and cultures which we've just been talking about what are you hoping to get out of a possible settlement well what we're looking for from the banns perspective and this is a consistent instruction we've received from our executive committee which is members of all representative plaintiffs is but Ms Paul just identified as the four pillars which are wellness heritage language and culture and our objective is to find a way for the Aboriginal peoples themselves the banns themselves can identify where they need to heal from the damage in those four areas caused by the residential school policy and let the bans himself tailor tailor the remedy to the to the destruction that was caused by the imposition of that policy on that local band rather than having for example in a nationwide imposed process it's going to be designed by the band itself and we expect Canada to fund that and to overcome the damage that Canada has done through that policy how do you see this being kind of different than what residential school survivors got with the settlement came out after the apology in 2008 and again what what the focus on this is going to be looking to remedy the very specific damage that was done by the residential school policy the undermining of language and culture led to an undermining of has miss Paul just identified wellness culture heritage language itself and so that wasn't what was tailored than the residential school policy that was looking at the damage that was done to the individuals in the band class we're looking at trying to resolve and remedy those very issues that were created by the policy mr. Phillips again with you what's it been like negotiating with the federal government over this we've had ongoing negotiations now for well over two years without getting into the detail of those which are confidential we're hopeful that we're moving towards some kind of resolution although that frankly remains with this government to decide to follow through on we think the Canadian public once they understand what's happening and what's being put forward through the bad class the day scholars and the descendants that there's a real need across the country to do something about this to really achieve the reconciliation the Prime Minister Harper talked about and Prime Minister Trudeau has echoed mr. Gough feats and current justice minister Jody Wilson Reybold of course was on board with the settlement when she was still be the afms BC regional chief what about today I mean what's your view on this whole thing today well I think you know when we went and filed you know the the class action in federal court in Vancouver the leadership council was all there and Jody was a part of that leadership Council of British Columbia and she gave her full full support towards you know settling our case and I think today you know she's sort of in a in a very powerful position as the Minister of Justice where you know hopefully she will you know look at the facts that are being brought forth and look at you know you know really the heartache and pain from every First Nation not to see Shelton camels but every First Nation is across the country that you know are seeking redress towards the social and the the cultural genocide that took place miss Paul I mean what's it been like for individual bands and these scholars who are waiting for a settlement you know every year they're getting older of course and they're waiting for this so what's it what's it been like to date we are losing day scholars so and to try and get this front and foremost to the Canadian government is the most important message that us as an executive committee for this class action I also believe though that they're losing hope they're losing hope and in another government promise of seeking reconciliation and every day that goes by you know the social issues continue in our reserves and when I think about you know what they feel and what they hope for it's just you know it makes me sick to think that you know every time we bury somebody that dies a horrific death of suicide or alcoholism or a social issue it affects all of our families not just one person when we lose somebody in our community that affects our whole community the whole balance is not there mr. Phillips's this class action possible of days scholars were not included because no one has gone over the feds for damages just two individual bands where this started from the executive committee and going back to station Alden Kamloops at the beginning the focus on bass callers really created a broader focus on who was excluded from the residential school settlement itself and the theme that we talk about is including the excluded and that is the DES scholars it's the descendants of day scholars and it's the bands that were disregarded in the residential school settlement which are having to bear the burden of the dysfunction that flowed from the the imposition of the residential school policy so the day scholars were the impetus to get us to where we are and just allowed us to focus on that well we're all at a time and fortunately we can sure go on and on about this but I want to thank you all for being here and talking to me on nation and nation thank you after another break I speak to former national chief Matthew Koon come he's been negotiating behind the scenes on a settlement [Music] welcome back a little while ago I spoke to former AFN national chief Matthew Koon come he's been part of a team negotiating a settlement between bands and days scholars and the federal government here's that interview I did with him from a BTS Montreal studio doctor can come welcome to nation the nation and thank you for talking to me it's my pleasure time so how did you first get involved in this loss well the Grand Council recognized the day scholars that were unfairly left out of the Indian Residential school so we want to include those who are excluded in the Cree Territory there are many several Indian Residential schools which impacted our people as residential or as a scholar's and certainly for us we would like to ensure that they that their issues are addressed as a survivor as a descendant and as a band class now the band class is the second reason why we got involved because it's the first time the Jeremy case that would consider the impacts of the residential school policy on our collectivities on our societies and in our communities and that would help us to redress the loss of language loss of culture loss of heritage and to address the wellness and at the end of the day assuming we have a settlement of course we would be the day scholars would be the ones who would oversee the any toilets that we call trust for now and they would be addressing the problems at the local level which would be done by the people who would be drafted images are people many times the top-down doesn't work so I think the dish would certainly help us and then we'd no longer blame anybody else we would be responsible for the outcome are you hoping that I outcome is similar to the settlement before where everybody got a common experience payment for example well certainly that there's an urgency because many have been passed away there was that plaintiffs who had filed a court action and by the way I have to say that that we also support G Shelton Campbells who bore the burden and we wanted to help them also because we also want to have the input in the process which would impact our people and certainly the the certified class action deals with the survivors the survivors of course are many have passed away already who testified back in the 2012 the court case and certainly they would want the 10 3 you'll remember the 10,000 first year 3,000 for every year Geneva tended and of course at the descendants where we're impacted that is the unique part of this of this court case that it recognizes a the intergenerational impact of the date scholars only for loss of language and culture and heritage at the same time very unique it's a it's a real breaker in the case law where you now have a bank class that could consider the the days the in the residence of school policy the impact it has on communities so at the end of the day we'd hope that there would be a settlement that deal with the survivors and then the one with its the descendants and the the bank class and after all several of our there's about tens of thousands of our people but several bands 105 bands that were impacted by this individual policy and that were excluded and we're left unfairly out of the nearest in-school settlement there's been the negotiations been going on for several years with the federal government how has that been going and the negotiation actually start until 2017 January and probably - January 2018 we program about 12 meetings you know and of course we're exes were expiratory negotiations we provide a lot of our information trying to justify why we think that the survivors should get 10-3 and while we think the issues of the loss of language culture and heritage and wellness should be addressed for the descendants and also for the bands and and now we ended up in a mediation process what we call a settlement conference where we have a mediator now which is just as a Harrington and we had a last meeting and and it's always a case well we don't have the the mandate you know we have to go to the higher-ups you know so but the judge who's the mediator has instructed their Canada you know not to report to the court not to not to Canada to respond to it to our proposals for a settlement have you reached out to justice minister Jody Wilson Raybould I know that before she was elected an MP she supported the lawsuit oh definitely I think we've I've met her once when we were first starting to start on the file and certainly she he probably spoke on behalf the plaintiffs to get a special ministerial representative but thereafter of course we would letters to her because at the table came the lawyers from the part of Justice to try to clarify the mandate and she did respond like every other correspondent she received from the federal government they always direct you back to the minister which is in this case that Minister I have been there but we hope that they will get the proper mandate and that we could come to a settlement in the very near future doctor can come for talking to me thank you thank you very much that's our show next week we'll be coming to you from the Assembly of First Nations special Chiefs assembly in Ottawa and if you missed any part of this episode check out our podcast go to apt on USDA slash podcast i'm paula moore and thanks for watching

Channel: APTN News

Views: 91,744

Keywords: aptn nation and nation, residential school, day scholars, survivor, 60s scoop, indigenous, first nations, kamloops, n2n, canada, politics, canadian politics

Id: vJ7qm6m973U

Length: 23min 49sec (1429 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 30 2018