Mother, daughter reclaiming Indigenous roots through beadwork
Linda McCullough is healing by reclaiming her Indigenous roots after attending a residential school.
At just seven-years-old, McCullough was taken from her family and forced to attend Timber Bay residential school, near Lac La Ronge.
"I lived in a little remote village in Saskatchewan called Cree Lake and because of where we were located, there's nothing there, there wasn't a school for us to attend (and) we had to go somewhere,” McCullough said. “I know lots of families had their children physically dragged away. (That) wasn't quite the same for us but we did have to go."
She was forced to stay at the school for ten months of the year and said she endured physical, mental and cultural abuse.
"I was embarrassed about who I was as an Aboriginal person, we were taught to hide our identity and be really ashamed, so I didn't talk about it because I didn't want people to know."
Years after her experiences at the school, she continued to feel that shame.
“She just would say she went to a boarding school and I didn't understand what that meant because just like everybody else. Nobody knew about what happened in residential schools or really even that they existed," Roanne Gibbons, Linda’s daughter said.
Residential schools tried to strip Indigenous children of their culture. For McCullough, her love of beadwork suffered because of it.
A few years after leaving the school and Saskatchewan, McCullough was able to re-ignite that love for creating beautiful pieces.
The two women relocated to British Columbia and are reclaiming some of their culture by creating and selling their beadwork online.
"I'm getting so many orders now, that's why my kitchen table is so full of bead work,” McCullough said.
The discovery of 215 children's bodies found in a mass grave in Kamloops, BC has brought some of that trauma back.
The women say now more than ever, people need to educate themselves about what happened in residential schools.
“We've lived this our entire lives, we've all known all the hidden secrets so this has just helped other people besides us finally believe us and start listening," McCullough said.
The women suggest reading the Truth and Reconciliation calls to action or taking the free course “Indigenous Canada” offered at the University of Alberta.
“We totally need allies right now. We need help, we don't want this to just eventually, stop once it's not in the press anymore,” Gibbons said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.