As the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA) nears completion, a potentially explosive case brought forward by a former national chief is slowly making its way to court.
10 thoughts on “Survivor’s court case could win damages for intergenerational harms from residential schools”
I never realized why my life was so dysfunctional until I figured intragenerational effect from IRS into the equation. Had I realized the root of my suffering was from intragenerational effect from IRS I could have probably dealt with it sooner in my life, therefore preventing me from passing it onto my children.I have.
Hi what about the survivors they told me my late father had to die before the given date
I’m not comfortable leaving a very discript comment on a public forum. But for what it’s worth I hope this goes all the way to the finish line for a win.
Anyone out there who likes phrases like, “that was all so long ago, it’s in the past” or “you didn’t have to go through it your parent did so it doesn’t concern you” or my favorite one to hate, “there are a lot of races who’ve gone through worse, just let it go already” don’t understand what a cycle of abuse even is…
Many tears have been spilled and many more to come as we try to pour all our healing love possible into the next and next generations.
Foster homes followed residential schooling for many a child born of a residential school ‘survivor.
How can we file for misuse of funds that was allotted to us for the suffering we went through when they said, we had $3000.00 for our education and/or we could purchase a computer or donate the money to our children or grandchildren? I wanted to either purchase a computer or donate to my grand-daughter for University, she was happy about that as she could of used the computer but someone I don’t even know whom it was gave that money away. Seems like fraud to me in all aspects of the word. If I did that I’d be sent to jail for sure. It is no less that the nun who told us we were savages and someone needs to pay for a possible crime committed here. Take a good look at the picture, did they do that to the Japanese who were put in camps? This picture is cracked and marred beyond a real recognition in all sense of the word “discrimination against Indian people” and somebody or a body of people are responsible as far as I feel. One crime from the way were treated as children seem to arise again as we go into our Elders age, “abuse of Elders it seems.” Am I wrong on how I feel about this issue? If a sum of money was given to me, no one else has the right to take it away and/or donate to another body of people without my permission and it seems someone else has more say over dollars issued to me and I can’t see how that could be.!!! Abuse is all over this whole reconciliation thing we seem to be going through and no one except us suffer the consequences. Tell me, I’m only a savage person, are we wrong about our feeling of being abused as Elders?????
I guess you can say I am considered a “Child of a Survivor” myself, my Mother as well as 2 of her six siblings were sent away to Spanish Residential School for a period of 9 years. She was an excellent provider, she never abused drugs or alcohol, and I knew she loved all 5 of her children, me being the youngest, but she never showed emotions or gestures that she loved us, (hugging, kissing, etc.) I always had to initiate the hug or tell her I loved her first. At times she was “uncomfortable” or you knew she almost didn’t know how to react to that loving affection we showed her as she wasn’t familiar with that type of emotion. As a parent, I ALWAYS hug and tell my girls I love them everyday. I wanted to break the cycle.
If there is a Class Action Law Suit, I also would like to be a part of it.
I totally agree that children of survivors of residential schools were and still are severely affected by the way we were brought up! So much much abuse of all kinds! If there is a class action law suiet, I as a child of a survivor would like to be on it or see one done!
Great argument and great story as I am the youngest of five who suffered from the intergenerational effects of residential school with drug and alcohol abuse I have a brother with hep C and HIV and all but my sister with criminal records and suffering from alcoholism and drug addiction from a mother who attended Holy Angels residential school for 9 years. They hit her so much for speaking cree on the right side of her face she lost hearing and they broke her wristt and put a Band-Aid over it and it healed wrong as the bone protrudes. She is an alcoholic with a lot of trauma is desensitized but acts like she’s 10 years sometimes, they took her at 5 years old and she never speaks of her abuse she got and she never taught us the cree language, she couldn’t she says they beat it out of her but she speaks of little to her siblings some are all messed up some have died from alcoholism and drug abuse none of us kids graduated as we always moved every year or two years so we had to learn to adapt or fight and fight dirty we did the racism was worst when you’re starting school in December or March in a new town in northern BC. I’m a Bill C31 so I had to apply for my status and it only reaches to my first born not my second and my grandchildren don’t receive the treaty rights or benefits but my mother who will be 80 soon is lost in her own world drinks in silence but I’ve taken counseling four years to accept her the way she is and just hold her and love her and I’ve been clean and sober over 8 years off the drugs and alcohol that ripped my family and kids away from me for 20 years and just now over the last three years they came back into my life so I too have given my children and grandchildren the intragenerational effects of residential schools.
Will they pass it on to my great-grandchildren?
Time will tell.
Langley BC from the
Mikisew Cree First Nation
Both my parents and grandparents were survivors of the IRS. I just recently started to realized why I have gone through such a dysfunctional life similar as yours was. Intragenerational effects from IRS has taken devastating effects on my whole family. Half of my family of 14 siblings died as a result of alcohol. I am 76years old and have worked to survive since I was 14 years old despite suffering from the effects of alcohol. Both my parents suffered from alcohol but still managed to work to raise a family. It amazes me how us children survived the extreme poverty that we lived under. My entire life is a tragic story involving numerous relationship with women and the damage I inflicted by passing down the IRS effects to my children.
My mom and her siblings got taken away to residential school at a very young age. I really feel that shes was abused, even though nothing was mentioned. My upbringing was BRUTAL at times to put it mildly. I was parented the way the nuns and priests parented my mother. Some days it was just pure hell, but she perservered. Kept speaking our language, sat on many boards in our community and was always working on some kind of artistic/craft, be it traditional weaving, knitting, sewing. Classes which she would sign me up for and then tell me later. THOSE memories are the ones I hold dear. Not the damaged, mis-treated little girl that got ripped away by a bunch of abusive, heartless people who hid behind the veil of “religion”…
What would be the process in join your petition for reconciliation? Even if it’s only to get emotional support for my husband, ie… a name of therapist that specializes in IRS trauma. He hasn’t filed nor seeked for help regard his IRS experience.
I never realized why my life was so dysfunctional until I figured intragenerational effect from IRS into the equation. Had I realized the root of my suffering was from intragenerational effect from IRS I could have probably dealt with it sooner in my life, therefore preventing me from passing it onto my children.I have.
Hi what about the survivors they told me my late father had to die before the given date
I’m not comfortable leaving a very discript comment on a public forum. But for what it’s worth I hope this goes all the way to the finish line for a win.
Anyone out there who likes phrases like, “that was all so long ago, it’s in the past” or “you didn’t have to go through it your parent did so it doesn’t concern you” or my favorite one to hate, “there are a lot of races who’ve gone through worse, just let it go already” don’t understand what a cycle of abuse even is…
Many tears have been spilled and many more to come as we try to pour all our healing love possible into the next and next generations.
Foster homes followed residential schooling for many a child born of a residential school ‘survivor.
How can we file for misuse of funds that was allotted to us for the suffering we went through when they said, we had $3000.00 for our education and/or we could purchase a computer or donate the money to our children or grandchildren? I wanted to either purchase a computer or donate to my grand-daughter for University, she was happy about that as she could of used the computer but someone I don’t even know whom it was gave that money away. Seems like fraud to me in all aspects of the word. If I did that I’d be sent to jail for sure. It is no less that the nun who told us we were savages and someone needs to pay for a possible crime committed here. Take a good look at the picture, did they do that to the Japanese who were put in camps? This picture is cracked and marred beyond a real recognition in all sense of the word “discrimination against Indian people” and somebody or a body of people are responsible as far as I feel. One crime from the way were treated as children seem to arise again as we go into our Elders age, “abuse of Elders it seems.” Am I wrong on how I feel about this issue? If a sum of money was given to me, no one else has the right to take it away and/or donate to another body of people without my permission and it seems someone else has more say over dollars issued to me and I can’t see how that could be.!!! Abuse is all over this whole reconciliation thing we seem to be going through and no one except us suffer the consequences. Tell me, I’m only a savage person, are we wrong about our feeling of being abused as Elders?????
I guess you can say I am considered a “Child of a Survivor” myself, my Mother as well as 2 of her six siblings were sent away to Spanish Residential School for a period of 9 years. She was an excellent provider, she never abused drugs or alcohol, and I knew she loved all 5 of her children, me being the youngest, but she never showed emotions or gestures that she loved us, (hugging, kissing, etc.) I always had to initiate the hug or tell her I loved her first. At times she was “uncomfortable” or you knew she almost didn’t know how to react to that loving affection we showed her as she wasn’t familiar with that type of emotion. As a parent, I ALWAYS hug and tell my girls I love them everyday. I wanted to break the cycle.
If there is a Class Action Law Suit, I also would like to be a part of it.
I totally agree that children of survivors of residential schools were and still are severely affected by the way we were brought up! So much much abuse of all kinds! If there is a class action law suiet, I as a child of a survivor would like to be on it or see one done!
Great argument and great story as I am the youngest of five who suffered from the intergenerational effects of residential school with drug and alcohol abuse I have a brother with hep C and HIV and all but my sister with criminal records and suffering from alcoholism and drug addiction from a mother who attended Holy Angels residential school for 9 years. They hit her so much for speaking cree on the right side of her face she lost hearing and they broke her wristt and put a Band-Aid over it and it healed wrong as the bone protrudes. She is an alcoholic with a lot of trauma is desensitized but acts like she’s 10 years sometimes, they took her at 5 years old and she never speaks of her abuse she got and she never taught us the cree language, she couldn’t she says they beat it out of her but she speaks of little to her siblings some are all messed up some have died from alcoholism and drug abuse none of us kids graduated as we always moved every year or two years so we had to learn to adapt or fight and fight dirty we did the racism was worst when you’re starting school in December or March in a new town in northern BC. I’m a Bill C31 so I had to apply for my status and it only reaches to my first born not my second and my grandchildren don’t receive the treaty rights or benefits but my mother who will be 80 soon is lost in her own world drinks in silence but I’ve taken counseling four years to accept her the way she is and just hold her and love her and I’ve been clean and sober over 8 years off the drugs and alcohol that ripped my family and kids away from me for 20 years and just now over the last three years they came back into my life so I too have given my children and grandchildren the intragenerational effects of residential schools.
Will they pass it on to my great-grandchildren?
Time will tell.
Langley BC from the
Mikisew Cree First Nation
Both my parents and grandparents were survivors of the IRS. I just recently started to realized why I have gone through such a dysfunctional life similar as yours was. Intragenerational effects from IRS has taken devastating effects on my whole family. Half of my family of 14 siblings died as a result of alcohol. I am 76years old and have worked to survive since I was 14 years old despite suffering from the effects of alcohol. Both my parents suffered from alcohol but still managed to work to raise a family. It amazes me how us children survived the extreme poverty that we lived under. My entire life is a tragic story involving numerous relationship with women and the damage I inflicted by passing down the IRS effects to my children.
My mom and her siblings got taken away to residential school at a very young age. I really feel that shes was abused, even though nothing was mentioned. My upbringing was BRUTAL at times to put it mildly. I was parented the way the nuns and priests parented my mother. Some days it was just pure hell, but she perservered. Kept speaking our language, sat on many boards in our community and was always working on some kind of artistic/craft, be it traditional weaving, knitting, sewing. Classes which she would sign me up for and then tell me later. THOSE memories are the ones I hold dear. Not the damaged, mis-treated little girl that got ripped away by a bunch of abusive, heartless people who hid behind the veil of “religion”…
What would be the process in join your petition for reconciliation? Even if it’s only to get emotional support for my husband, ie… a name of therapist that specializes in IRS trauma. He hasn’t filed nor seeked for help regard his IRS experience.