“We grew up knowing not to speak our language in front of white people. And we always checked first to see if anybody was around and then we’d speak our language. We were not allowed to speak Ojibwe here. We couldn’t; we used to go by the bridge or under the bridge; there we could talk all we wanted.”

“It took me a while to finish my high school. I would get so close to graduating, and then I would sabotage everything. It took me years to get right through. The work was okay. I just didn’t want to finish it. I don’t know if I was punishing myself for leaving.”

“I always used to hear my aunty. She went to the Sagkeeng Residential School, and she said, “I was just a number there.” I never understood her comment until I got here. I had a number too – my bed and my locker were the same number.”

“I got lonesome. I had family here that attended, but I couldn’t see my cousin, because he was on the boys’ side, and we only saw each other at meals. We couldn’t really talk, so we’d just wave at each other. There were days when I needed more than just a wave but we couldn’t have that.”