Monument on Muskowekwan First Nation honours residential school survivors

A new monument recognizing residential school survivors in the Muskowekwan First Nation area was unveiled Tuesday morning.

"This day is truly a memorable day because it's honouring our past, our present where we are, and where we want to go in the future,” expressed Vanessa Wolfe, Muskowekwan First Nation Councillor, and member of the historical site committee who helped create the project.

Every year on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, students and staff from the nation’s school walk towards the First Nation’s former residential school to honour survivors.

Now in front of the building, stands the new monument where it will provide a permanent symbol of healing, according to Wolfe.

“This monument is going to sit here forever and it’s going to be a constant reminder of the history, and honour, and resilience that every student embodied and encompassed,” she explained.

“The survivors that were standing there that we honour today, they survived the worse of it. They are the ones who deserve the recognition and honour for everything that they lived through. They're still here today in resilience."

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The memorial site aims to also spread awareness and educate the public about the community’s history with the residential school system.

Aside from Muskowekwan, students from Kelliher, Punnichy and other surrounding communities were present.

“For the 111 years this place was in operation, it has a very dark history,” Wolfe said.

“All of this is an intention to transform that trauma into an opportunity of honour, into an opportunity of healing, into an opportunity of learning together about the history. This history is not something that is openly shared and talked about.

“Our people have known our truth for generations. In 2021, with the discover at Kamloops that brought the whole world’s attention to what these residential schools were all about. Now as a leader for the nation I advocate for the creating of a sacred space for healing, not just for Indigenous people, but creating awareness for all nations.”

A new monument was unveiled on Muskowekwan First Nation paying tribute to residential school survivors. (Sierra D'Souza Butts/CTV News)

The monument has two sides, one demonstrating the “survivor flag” in honour of every residential school survivor located on Turtle Island. The other side includes information about the former residential schools; one that previously burnt down and the other that has remained since the 1930s.

"It means a lot for our people,” said Harold Lil-tent, referring to the site.

“That's why they kept the school up for people to see it's not going to happen anymore, what happened to us, the truth."

Lil-tent expressed his gratitude of the new site, and said it will inform youth about the nation’s history.

“It’s a big honour to have all of these children behind us. They should know the truth about what happened in this school,” he said.

“It's not my stories, but my mom went to this school and she told me some stories about this school and sometimes it was good and sometimes it was not. Bless her soul for sharing those stories with me. I still tell my children about what happened.”