“My father always believed that education was important for us so we could go further than them, because my parents didn’t have education, but they wanted their children to succeed. We went to – as I recall, they were called Indian day schools back then – from grades one to eight.

“We had no idea that we were going to a residential school. We thought we were going to a regular high school. Of course, at the time, my parents didn’t know. They told my parents that their children were going to a high school, thinking that we were going fifty kilometers away, but 800 kilometers later we end up at Assiniboia.”

“Of course, being just young people, we were bewildered and at first very scared, because it was a new city. We were coming from Longlac to the metropolis of Winnipeg. Of course, you get scared, eh?”

“Of course, we didn’t realize that it was a girls’ and boys’ school. I was separated from my two sisters. I missed talking to my sisters. Back then you couldn’t really interact with your own sisters. You’re a kid. You’re scared.

“And, coming back to Assiniboia, it seems like we were never out of the system they – the government – had. You had to follow all these rules and regulations. At first, it was hard for us. Me, anyway.”