My Auntie survived residential school. I need to gather her stories before she’s gone | Inendi
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- Опубликовано: 21 дек 2020
- With a pandemic threatening to take our elders, Sarain Fox gathers stories from her auntie and matriarch, Mary Bell, who holds the family’s history: the legacy, the trauma, the truth. #CBCShortDocs #AloneTogether #Inendi
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“Elders are the most vulnerable to this pandemic and they are our knowledge keepers.”
- Sarain Fox
In Sarain Fox’s Anishinaabe culture, women lead the family. Her auntie, Mary Bell, is the oldest surviving matriarch, and she holds the family’s history: the stories, the trauma, the truth. She is a knowledge keeper.
The Indigenous way is to sit with elders while they live. And Fox’s job, as the youngest in her family, is to carry on those ways.
Mary is a residential school survivor who worked with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to document the stories of other survivors. And now that she’s an elder, she’s focused on how those stories will live on.
Elders are knowledge keepers, but they are also among the most vulnerable to COVID-19. The pandemic is threatening to cut a line of knowledge that has survived for generations. Fox reckons with this tension and her duty to sit with her auntie to document her stories before they are lost.
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The fact that this was going on AFTER WW2 and we knew about the horrors of concentration camps is mind blowing to me.
It still is
Exactly
Well we live in a country that invented concentration camps. Hitler literally faceted his evil from the evils of America. This isn’t mind blowing at all actually.
North Korea and China have concentration camps going on as well as we speak
@@TexasMoscows Hitler loved blondes tho, with blue eyes. He was literally killing every other hair color xdddddd
My grandma was in one of the schools and when she used to fix my hair or cook, she would tell me about it. She told me that if they spoke Lakota, the nuns would have them place their hands flat on their desks and they would hit them with a stick until they bled. She said if I looked at some of her old pictures, I could see the scars. So I noticed them in this one picture. It was of her holding me as a baby. You could easily see the scars on her hands. And I cried. I still cry. I can't believe all these ppl went through this...
Wow. Thank you for sharing this
Take positive revenge and speak Lakota. The same thing has happened through history: the Scots were forbidden to wear kilts and speak gaelic. It only survived because they found a handwritten example of Henry VIII's prayer book in gaelic.
I'm not catholic and i never disrespect a religion but i can honestly say, i've not heard many good things about nuns...
@@SuperTruthful they were awful to my mom and her entire family, where she went to school. Nuns were awful people.
@@sarakhaldi5085 I'm so sorry about how they treated your mom...i've actually never heard anything good about nuns in these places. evil hiding behind religion. smh.
“That’s what they are afraid of… Our spirituality is very, very powerful”
That’s true... they are so connected to earth, to God
That’s interesting.
I am drawn to Native art, it’s peaceful.
apparently they're not afraid of evidence though, which is why they didn't provide any.
They ate afraid of anything they dont understand and can't control. Man, woman, child, nature!
@@jitalyj-feelingit1008 "They"?
I'm Canadian and I first heard about residential schools in 2017 as an adult. Someone was telling me about them and I kept thinking, what the hell? In school we learned about the US black history, we learned about WW2, but not about what our own country did.
exactly. we must educate ourselves.. tragedies in black history and the tragedies of WWII are ALSO what our country did.
I didn't hear about this until 2021. Absolutely horrifying and disturbing. As a former Catholic, this makes me further disgusted at the Church. These people and their descendants deserve ample restitution and compensation from the wealthy Catholic Church AND from the country which supported and required these students to attend such residential schools.
I learned of this only AFTER the story of the Dozier School for Boys scandal, here in Florida, broke and reporters looked into the search which uncovered the dead boys cemetery and all those unknown dead little bodies, and which looked into the memories and stories of the survivors. That school was shut down many decades ago, in the '70s I believe, BUT I am still horrified by the thought that Canada's residential schools were still operating decades after the Dozier School closed, up until 30 years ago I think it was. Eighty (80) years ago we knew how abhorrent orphanages were. Why were similar practices allowed to continue for so long??!!!
It happened in America also
@@Hell.0itsMe yeah did they not start it
Exactly.
My name is Cody. I'm from a reserve in Alberta. My grandfather is a survivor of residential school God bless all our elders and residential survivor's. It's very important to gather as much stories, information from our elders so we can pass them down to generations to come. I would love to travel across the country to reserves talking to all the elders collecting information. Together we can break these cycles of addiction, suicide, shame and hate. I can only do what I can for myself. My own healing. Together we can do anything. May we heal from genocide and trauma so we can be the strong, courageous leaders I know we are. Bless all our native communities. Bless all our women and children. Bless our men. May we rise up and be the loving caring nations we were always meant to be. Much love and respect. All my relations. Hihi
I like your optimism. 👍🏻
I wanna make a documentary about this.
I am not of indigenous descent but I do have 2 nieces and 1 nephew who are and I can't imagine them being ripped from us to be placed in one of those hell holes. Devastating and I am so sorry for the losses you have suffered.
Your pain is tangible - and everyone’s eyes are being opened to the injustices your communities faced. More and more are willing to stand with you, and defend you. More are returning to their roots that may have lost them at the hands of these residential schools. Americans need to learn to respect who’s land they are on, and respect the treaties and their culture.
Yes, you will take the first step in the generational curse. Be wise. Be strong. Go with the Spirit. May the Spirit protect you.
Intergenerational trauma is why we need to support indigenous people to this day. It hasn’t been long since the last residential school closed. People and their kids are still affected.
the people who I know that went to the last schools in the 90's liked the schools. by then it was ran them and the local community. its been detrimental to the surrounding reservations as no new school has ever been put up
Immensely!!
@@jrodrc4137 Don't spread misinformation. Some First Nation bands (like the Bloods) have started their own school boards now in an attempt to keep this ever happening again.
Why. My step dad and his brother was raped by Catholic priests in a residential school. They had a family..raised good kids. Held a good job..and helped their community native and white. They lead healthy normal lives and were able to give and show unfathomable love.
Quit buying into this victim hood from 60 years ago. It's over. It's done. It's not still happening..they got money and they got land. They got power. The debt is paid.
@@christinenadeau6371 it's not misinformation. Back in the 80s the catholic church gave control of the lebret Indian school over to the local band. My friend went to it and loved it, got him out of his broken home and food in his belly. When it closed he had to move to the city and attended public school with us whiteys, he hated it and dropped out as soon as he was old enough. Never finished school. When they ripped that school down it was a huge loss for the native community. But because of its history and people's ignorance they ripped it down. Now they are bussed to other public schools.
Does everyone fall in love with Auntie?? She is incredible.
Yesss
3 of the women in it are beautiful.
She's super cute!
all of our Women are Aunties
Native woman become super ungly after 25 hahaha
I feel so cheated out of my education. How could we not be taught this?
I call it! White fragility
Of course they don't wanna tell all these crimes in schools
I had a teacher who at least mentioned how horrible the colonists were to the First People. Only one..
Shame or self-righteousness?
because the powers that are in charge don't want their dirty history exposed then they can't came to be bringers or freedom and democracy. freaking hypocrites..and this government still under funds and mistreats native americans.
I'm Australian Aboriginal and I believe, we share a lot of similarities. I hope these stories are shown and accepted more freely. The past defines us and accepting the past is one of the ways of moving forwards.
The xtians, the Church was doing the same thing in the British Is. Ireland, with the Celtic Race children. All of you have Genes & the ability to use the 95% of the brain that the rest of Humanity doesn't use. ALL religions want to destroy that. cont'd
cont'd. THAT's what you all have in common. And so do the Tibetans. I just made the connection ...You have the ability to Evolve Humanity to another Time/Space., to leave here ...Religions want control, they want to destroy you all.
@@allatgoddess8961 You are mistaken. Jesus is real and was telling the Truth. You are correct that evil people try to use Christianity to do evil. But those people serve the enemy and would like to make Christianity look bad. When you really pay attention you will see the Gospel is the Truth and the whole world will only unite under the king Jesus. No point trying to argue with me about this.
😊❤️👍🇦🇺
If we don't learn from our past the we will repeat it in the future!
Gazing in awe: How your Auntie stroked your hair with her feather as you cried freely... emotions allowed, acknowledged. How lovely this is ~
Am sorry about those atrocities ur aunt and the other children went through that has given them trauma. On the other hand i admire the indomitable spirit she has. I jst can't help but cry.
her tears say more than real evidence ever could
I cant even imagine being at such an age just 7 years old being separated from your parents and little brother,I cant even imagine all the emotions
Neither would any 7 year old and that’s exactly how they brainwashed them. It’s so sick and it makes me ashamed of my own skin to think my ancestors were involved in the slaughtering of an entire race I wish I properly knew how to go about fixing our society and have reparations put in place but the government is set up very sneakily so that’s not possible
I don't need to imagine it, sadly. My own experiences still haunt me.
@@skillybiskuit12 It will become possible. I believe this deeply.
The horror these sweet innocent children had to endure is repulsive. The terror that they had to live through is unimaginable. Bless her for surviving and telling her story.
All these atrocities meted out to these innocent children in the name of the church and a dreadful dictator in the sky.
All these atrocities meted out to these innocent children in the name of the church and a dreadful dictator in the sky.
@@angelladavis2250 Many of these stories are exaggerated or false to serve the agenda of the luciferians who run the media and hate the Catholic Church. Some of those who sought compensation for their time at residential schools were not even students at the schools they claimed to have harmed them.
Brought to tears from the minute she began to tell her story. What a beautiful documentary, wish it could have gone deeper and longer to be honest. This is what Canadians need to see and most of all grow to appreciate about First Nations
This mix people protect and tell no mix with white and mix people they are in etxtintion in many years only in photos see real people here in América spanish protect and expulse the foreing of their twrrotiories and Christian sects but young people go outside and washing theur brind with the modernity and no come buck to the territorie... the pure no mixed because we are in etxtintion need more children pures
I started crying at that same point💗💗💗
#instalove
Same thing happened in Australia and same thing we have white Australians that would prefer to just pretend it just never happen 😢
OMG Im only half way through & just had to stop to check if other's were also loving this. God Bless Aunty Mary Bell 🙏🙏 Her story should not be forgot xxxx🙏🙏❤❤
@@glennferris5056 not really something you just get over. It’s called trauma what happened to them whether you agree if it was right or not was traumatic and that’s not something that just goes away.
For her to say that she wasn't sure how much she was be allowed to say when speaking about the government. "Because government will usually make you take this off." Why does our government have permission to control people like this? No words 😟
All government is corrupt in one way or another. Nobody is free.. not even in “the best country ever.”
@@xochxrry6857 only in
the existing ones
there could be endlessly better systems but its in the interests of the rich and the powerful that it doesnt happen.
That had me in tears... (Ex State Ward.)
I am of Irish descent. I was neglected and physically abused. I was taken away at 5 years old and put in a state orphanage. It was very sad and scary. I kept believing that my mom would come and pick me up and take me back home. I was innocent and naive. I definitely was affected negatively. I later was to learn that the catholic church was responsible for abuse of many people through out history. Unfortunately, these native children were enlaved, taken away from their parents, culture, language, abused sexually, and enslaved. I have a kinship with them. What I have learned is through out history there has always been domination of
ohers by marginalization.
HAHAHAHA....where have you been for the 2020/21 lockdowns???
Her story should to be made into a movie, it’s incredible and deserves a platform to share the TRUTH of what really happened on behalf of all Native survivors. Aho 🙏
There will be no movie who could tolerate watching it the physical abuse the sexual abuse to young children it would never be in a movie
@@shelldavis161 stay mad 😘
@@shelldavis161 if Hollywood can monetize it, they will make it. There is no doubt there are several movies that discuss abuse and trauma in a gross and commercialized way even against children. A few films especially that always want to discuss American slavery. If this were ever made into a movie they would probably choose a majority non-Indigenous cast or make it into some white savior complex film. Much like the inaccurate movie Pocahontas who was a real Powhatan, Matoaka… The Disney movie just changed the story and made it a musical and filled with a romance with John Smith. He goes back to England for what?
Did you know the last residential school supposedly closed in 1996. Disney was making a film telling a false narrative about Pocahontas for a 1995 audience.
There is a movie called Indian horse it is very heartbreaking and hard to watch but It covers all this
We Were Children is a movie like this, check it out, i think netflix or crave
I feel like after I graduated high school I had to relearn so much when it came to history. Colonizers were romanticized and we celebrated them when I was growing up. It’s sad that things aren’t being taught how they actually happened. Thank you for this video and the education. ❤️
The same for me as well.
I feel like after I graduated high school I had to relearn so much when it came to history. First nation's culture was romanticized and we celebrated them as peaceful, passive people who didn't participate in frequent and very blood wars over territory, pillaging and enslavement of the losing tribes women/valuables and use of the death penalty as a means of justice. It’s sad that things aren’t being taught how they actually happened, and that we can't just see all people as flawed and products of their time.
@@TJ-bu9zk nah, I said what I said. Be original and write your own comment. Thanks.
@@champagnesupernova777 nah, i said what i said
Abusers aren't going to tell you they abused. The conqueror writes the history and in it they will shine...
When she stroked your hair with her feather I cried with you. 🪶
That was so moving. What a strong, beautiful woman. Despite having to recount the horrors of her past, she sat and comforted someone else touched by the pain.
The trauma passes down generations. This is what many people do not understand. I pray and I hope that the younger generations break the chains of this trauma and that the Indigenous peoples come back strong. It is a beautiful culture and their traditions bring a lot of wisdom. No, I am not fawning. I remember as a child I could see that there was something very "special" about who they were. I have always loved the beadwork, the art and the connection to the earth and "stars". What was done to these people was truly evil.
You're right. And it can be broken and severed from the bloodline in Jesus name. We free them from any bonds of trauma and tormenting memories in His mighty name 🙏
And if you are wondering how I van say this was it was a "Christian" place, let le tell you very clearly that catholicism is *not* true christianity. It doesn't obey the bible and it is actual satanism. And I am not just saying that. If you listen when they pray in latin they sing to lucifer.
We judge by the fruit. Anyone who mistreats and abuses is not of God
😜
Well....they should know or just WANT TO BE BLINDED TO TRUTH...black Americans have been saying this for years.....it takes generation to work out the poison others created with no remorse it's so sad.
@@mysterygirl30011 let's not bring religion into this. Religious indoctrination happened in residential schools. Jesus should have no place there
@@SerenaYip I am not talking about religion. That is not what true christianity is. It does have all it a place here and everywhere else whether you like it or not.
I am not talking about concepts here. Deliverance is real, I have seen people receive and perform it as I have received and performer it myself. Your unbelief doesn't make it untrue.
Every bless shall now and every tongue confess. You will be without excuse for having chosen to ignore this warning
I don’t know if forced coupling /marriage was sometimes a practice at “Indian schools” . My great great grandma was married straight from her “school “ to an older Dutch man in Michigan . For all I know he was her “teacher “. I really don’t know. The way the story was told to me, it wasn’t a voluntary union on her behalf. She was Saginaw Chippewa. I’ve seen a couple old black and white pics of her . I wish I knew more about her and her experience.
that's horrific and I wouldn't be surprised if they sold her off. so it was raped and forced to be domestic to a stranger the whole time until she was brainwashed into accepting him...
@@ClayMastah344 that’s sick just like other incidents in the past
This has traumatized me and I wasn’t even there. How many evil people participated in this is insane. So many innocent children. Parents pain. So called “good” people did the most evil. 😟
'i wasn't even there but i believe it all without question'
@@uberneanderthal what stfu
@@user-po9iy3pk2y another solid argument from the prosecution.
@Disappointed Person i believe in due process and not trial-by-media.
(second time i'm posting this, apparently youtube doesn't like the message)
@@uberneanderthal Due process? What the hell does that even mean, really? This is a discussion - not trial by media! How can you dismiss people's experiences so easily? Oh! I know. It's called the Convenience of Ignorance.
This part of Canada's history needs to be exposed and if there is any way to make restition for ALL affected by this atrocity.
It will destroy the foundation of the government and Canada as we know it
@@allanallan4791 you could do like your southern neighbors?? I think most people see the good ideas of Canada, the States, the good places in Europe and many other countries & it seems the people need to implement a government by and for themselves. We need to fix our own problems in the States & Canada isn't really all that much different. I'm not sure if you would want to change the ways or what. I think it is best to take the best ideas and especially the ideas that have worked and reform for the better. I could use a bit more education about Quebec, but from going to Canada, I really liked it. Thought about moving there, but it would likely have been B.C. I don't know much about the Eastern side except the basics.
The Liberal government is they could start with clean drinking water and get rid of government "safe injection sites" that are killing so many of their people and help them recover and return to their culture
@@realcanadiangirl64 I don't know much about the safe injection sites except some about the Amsterdam version. I think it is Amsterdam- they have nurses, clean drug, and it actually is safer than other ways. It apparently brought down crime drastically and kids know they could do that but they choose not to as the kick of doing something illicit is gone and they see others using and don't want to follow. I don't think all such programs are created and run equally. It's a touchy subject, it seems. Shouldn't everyone have clean and pure water always? It could be accomplished if better people were making decisions. No one needs starve, freeze, or go without basic necessities. The world is still quite screwed up. Maybe people will read these posts and help make things better...
@@realcanadiangirl64 I don't know how bad the addiction stuff is in Canada. I have only rumors and a few stories of people from Canada & a few that have visited. I didn't see any when I was up there, but I don't think I was in the areas where it really takes place.
When Sarain was crying, she didn't realize how strong she is. She spoke of her biggest fears, losing her auntie and mom. She will never lose them. They are a part of her and she is telling her people's stories.
My paternal grandmother ran away from a reservation in the United States. Unfortunately, they did break her.
It makes me feel good to know that there are those who survived and overcame the brutality of people trying to break their spirit.
Auntie’s testimony of finding infant skeletons in the walls, reminds me of convents in which this occurred. In particular during the expansion of Spanish missions throughout North America. Prayers to all people who suffered these traumatic experience. RIP to my Zapotec ancestors.
And they're against abortions🤪🤥😱
Except that it isn’t true.
@@ImToastAlsohow so?
I couldn't help but cry as I listened to your auntie, thinking of my ancestors and yours and the stolen children who were deeply traumatized and killed by the colonizers. May we find unity in our collective pasts, and may there be healing.
🙄
I was driving through North Dakota with a Native American bestie of mine and we stopped to see one of her Blackfoot friends. The Blackfoot woman was a high school teacher on the reservation and told me if I ever wanted to work there, her students react much better to Black people then to white. It’s because of our shared trauma with colonization and the “Americas“. They don’t see a reflection of a colonizer looking back at them when they see our black skin.
100% in agreement. "We live "as aunty says.😇🙏--👿☠
I’m an indigenous and latinX musician from Colorado. I’m Apache and before covid started I was on a path to find spiritual healing and to claim my tribe. I’m still absorbing knowledge but I feel so far away from everything at the same time. I need to heal. I feel responsible in being apart of the necessary healing of generational trauma. I identify with everything in the doc so much. I am a natural born leader and I will never give that up. I am the next matriarch. I too am a survivor of genocide.
Love to you!!
I checked out your channel. Terrific singer! 😊👌🏽
I highly suggest connecting with creator. I didn’t gain my full identity till I was 30 and finding creator definitely helped, also connecting with Mother Earth. Good luck on your journey
im hoping all goes well for you. im wishing you a long and happy life and i hope you find yourself at a pace you can relax and enjoy in as much as possible.
I am plains Nehiyawak from Canada and I am also on my path for healing and getting back to my culture. I wish you so much love and acceptance and healing and learning 🖤🖤
I don't understand how the teachers could be so heartless towards terrified, heartbroken children.
Because they weren’t real teachers. They were religious extremists. ‘School’ was just an excuse to get control of these children so that they could indoctrinate them.
The teachers themselves were indoctrinated
Government schools.
You can see similar behaviours at many Catholic boarding schools throughout history. It wasn't just Natives that were mistreated, and I don't say that to devalue this documentary. It's pretty disgusting all the way around.
@@celticcheetah6371 exactly, when politicians oppress one group they dont release press statement telling you how they going to oppress this group. They use fancy names and terms, for example if they want to take away your rights through some bill they will name the said bill "Bill of Rights", When they want to send rural farmers to cities to acquire their land for factories they will come up with land annexation bill which will be named along the lines of "Farmer's care bill", "Prosperity for farmer's bill" etc
I'm from Uruguay. My great-great-grandmother survived a genocide (first years of the republic, they wanted to "clean" the land...). I only knew her through my grandma's stories. And I love her so, so much. Every day I'm so grateful for her life and I cry thinking and wondering what she had to go through. We are mixed, we don't know exactly where we come from, but we are children of this land and our elders live within us.
The whole world has been colonized and in effect people destroyed
I wish I could have collected my grandmother's stories but she didn't want to talk about it. Your auntie is a jewel ❤️ PLEASE collect all of her stories they're so valuable.
I don’t understand, and I detest how these people are suppressed and ignored. What has and is being done to them is evil only. . I pray their identity and population are restored.
Look what is being done to American families and children ..... family and all culture not just usa - in every society...country culture of nations, tribes, clans, family units will be no more...so they say..the human will is strong ...it will survive
We will all be restored sooner rather than later.
@@allanallan4791 Yes, humanity is getting restored, but too many also right now are getting genetically modified by the "luciferase" nano particles, which are in the covid vaccines AND TESTS! The same satan-worshipping scum, which enslaved all humans, WHITES INCLUDED, is now feverishly pushing for ALL OF US to take THEIR mRNA MARK!
The devil is in the vaccine ahhhhhh. Makes perfect sense. Looking forward to my jab in April. Hail satan? Sure. Whatever. If satan is the one letting me go kayaking after being homebound for a year I'll buy him fillet mignon. Well done I assume.
Please make more of these! We need 100s of these videos to save the wisdom of the Elders!
I am not native but we all need to hear these stories over and over again. Unfortunately my culture is the one that did this to these people. And it’s sad that she is still afraid of the government. So sad
@@andreesimoneau6167 Yes. That she was still afraid, broke my heart.
Hello Julia, how are you doing today, how’s everything going over there 👉 Julia?
I can think of no reason to steal children from loving homes and try to beat who they are out of them. My heart broke when I heard of the unmarked graves in Kamloops. Now things are coming to light and now I hope that answers will come to light. . There is no more hiding which I hope will bring healing in time. I can't understand fully what this atrocity has taken away from our indigenous peoples .I can only hear the stories and hope to learn and hope that there can be healing . Much love and many gentle hugs to those who are mourning their lost family .
How do we stop being upset, but being able to to understand
Let’s not forget these were CATHOLIC NUNS doing the abusing! They were catholic concentration camps….oh, I meant “catholic schools”! There have been so many horrific atrocities committed in the name of Christianity……going back thousands of years…and yet our history books seem to forget all of them! Religious organizations hold so much power…. And are worth billions….so it’s no wonder they have controlled ….what…or should I say…. What we don’t… learn in schools in regards to their heinous crimes to humanity.
And yet people STILL to this day….defend Christianity…turning a blind eye to all their crimes…past and current…..all the babies born at those schools through rape by catholic priests…. And it never stopped… it’s still happening today… religious leaders luring children and women into a false sense of safety and god like love…. Only to molest and rape them. When is enough …ENOUGH?
No evidence of bodies in the alleged "unmarked graves" in Kamloops -- just tree roots and rocks. Watch the 1960s BBC documentary on the Kamloops Indian Residential School children and teachers getting ready for Christmas -- presents a different picture to the one presented by the cultural marxists.
I didn’t know about the schools until recently watching documentaries & educating myself / listening to survivors stories. Absolutely heartbreaking , there’s no words.
@Deborah Brennan I was in one of those damned convents in New Zealand. Same bunch of nuns! Ugh!
What tears me apart inside is how powerless those children were-no one to save them from abuse. The hypocrisy of those so called believers of Christ got away with all the evil things they did to those children. My heart goes out to all of them. If only I had supernatural powers, I’d go back and saved them.
Rest assured that a sparrow doesn't fall to the ground without the Father knowing it. How much more does he care for us, whom he made in his own image? He has seen and heard everything: every numb cry and every tear from every single child who has been killed, raped or abused, beaten, slandered. There will come a day of reconing: He is justice personified. While I wait I keep on praying. "Does he who created the eye not see; does he who created the ear not hear?"(Psalm 94:9)
They haven't gotten away with anything. God sees everything! Judgement day will not be good for them!
@@leelee-ht4vi those were my exact thoughts and was going to write!
Me too and fix a lot of wrongs in America
Religions suck...
My godess is mother nature and my god is the universe, Peace 💪🙏✌❤
"My auntie... now can take off wen ever she wants in good fashion."
Man, that women is a lovable person.
Thank you for sharing your stories, I wish I knew my family's history, but listening to your stories helps me and for that I thank you. I don't know what tribe my family's from but my grandmother on my mother's side came from Arizona and my dad's mother was from California.
I wonder how many children’s parents said the would be waiting when they came home and they never made it…😢😭
Even as a little girl she refused to let them break her spirit. This woman is beyond admirable.
It's sad that she was scared of reprisals if she said too much even now. PTSD lasts forever😥
My great great grandfather survived the TOT. His parents did not. He went on to be assimilated, as many remaining Indigenous people were, but our stories and Tsalagi pride was passed down. I’m white, but I honor my ancestors and their struggles. I honor my relatives still suffering today. Thank you for this video. America needs more of this. There are VERY stubborn misconceptions about what happened. America NEEDS to know. Stay well my friends.💐
Oh Auntie, I'm so sorry. You and all the others that suffered through these schools deserved so much more respect.
I can’t imagine what it’s like to feel like you can’t talk about your childhood because of the GOVERNMENT.
The catholic and Anglican church ran these schools
I'm one survivor of nuns and forced dogma, and abuse. I never let anyone tell me what to do ever again too.
Separating family members from one another as soon as the train pulls up, being done to the "undesirable" cultures. Violence involved. Removal of hair... where have we seen THIS before?!
I had to laugh, because I said the same thing. My Daughter's and I had this conversation regarding the stories of colonized Africa and African Americans. One of the many ways our Ancestors were raped: shave their heads and don't allow them to bathe. The mental torture passed down is a real thing. Peace to you 🙏🏾
@@dawnsfit2bfree I was talking about train arrivals at concentration camps, but you are SO RIGHT about the hundreds of years of THIS as well. Wear your hair proudly in honor and may God bless you!
Agreed, assuming were talking about the holocaust. This is all just as sad.
This poor woman had been through hell.
It happens every day, in every culture. It's commonplace. I'm not sure why people haven't learned to take care of each other yet... We hear these stories, we know our own and still it happens. It's very disheartening.
And don't forget the catholic church's involvement in giving both the holocaust and this situation legitimacy and allowing it to happen. (No offense to Catholics. Nearly All religions have been behind aborrhent actions while at other times have helped humanity.)
This was one of the worst atrocities in recent history.
I was born in 1961, raised Catholic, went to Catholic school for 12 years. Most of the nuns who were teachers were mean. I remember only 2 who treated us with love and kindness. The brothers who taught the boys were violent, as were some of the nuns.
Even at a very young age, my intuition told me there was a wrongness involving some of the nuns, priests and brothers. The hypocrisy was very apparent to me, even at a very young age.
What happened to practicing what you preach?
As a result, I left the Catholic church in the 8th grade. I continued attending the school until graduation only because it was better than the public school.
The true stories coming now, in Canada and about the Vstican are heartbreaking 💔😢😞.
They need to be told.
Many thanks to the elders who are brave enough to tell their stories.
Love, peace and prayers 🙏❤for them.
Who was gonna say that half year later, tombs of kids were going to be found under some of those schools!
Hundreds of graves😭
@@Howto-uy7vo Exactly.
There were bodies buried there of indigenous people it should be considered to be sacred land to the natives it belongs to them now this land needs to be given to these people who have suffered
I agree. It’s a burial ground now.
It was always their land
From a mother's perspective, just imagining what these poor children suffered through breaks my heart in pieces.
I have a 5 year old and I dont even want to imagine what it would be like having him taken from me by strangers who brutally mistreat him and never knowing what's going on
I cannot imagine such evil atrocities is only increasing as man becomes more and more liberated.
Not only that but to have them forget your native language so that when you saw them again, they couldn’t understand anything you said. It had to have been so horrid. They lost their children... alive or not...😭
Me too and my son is 6
My husbands grandmother never drank her whole life. Her kids were all taken and put in residential schools. She drank herself to death.
I’m a mom too. I get it. I’d have burned the place down if my kids were taken.
Emily Carr wrote about a First Nations woman she knew with her babies removed at one point and children constantly dying from pox (which we now know was done intentionally the smallpox infected blankets distributed was an actual idea some British guy came up with to "exterminate" the natives) and mentions were censored and removed except briefly published I think in the 90s the original way. She would talk about how the lady suffered so much and was so resilient still. My mother in law used to take my baby at night and lock the door and not give him back till morning while he was crying. During those times I knew he was with her and I couldn't hold him or feed him to comfort him(and this is only something that happened for a few weeks or months can't remember) I began self harming because my mind seemed to break. Now multiplying that a hundred times over daily for years I cannot imagine the feeling.
"One good thing about our culture, we don't die"- Auntie ❤
The North American citizens owe your tribal families a massive apology. These evil doers had no right to these atrocities
100%
If I recall correctly this was done years ago by the Canadian government.. Natives who attended these schools were financially compensated as well.
@@banker1313your recalling is a bit short !
An apology is empty without change of heart, change of policies, change in mankind, empathy and action….
More than an apology
These stories are so raw, you can feel them carved into the DNA of the people... I’m a First Nations from Australia and these stories are similar to our own.
Yes. I'm non indigenous and live in Australia, although I was born in NZ. Happy to be able to call myself an activist. Old blockader. Am privileged to have been accepted by those ones whom I love and respect and to be able to pray at the Sacred Fire (Tent Embassy, Canberra,) on more than one visit. I could say more, but this is not my place to do so. Always was. Always will be...
God bless your Auntie... may she live a long life yet to come! Many of us white folk see the hurt and want to make changes... and often we don’t know what to do. I try to watch these types of videos, read books and listen to survivors... I try to educate myself and anyone who will listen. I pray that reconciliation can come swiftly for survivors and their families. My fear is that our govt will only pay our indigenous people lip service and not actually make any real changes. But I pray more will stand up and demand the much needed change to happen!
I love her warm laughter that shakes her body...as she laughs . What a sweet soul.
Hello Naro,, how are you doing today, how’s everything going over there Naro?
5:39 The fact that she was afraid of the government doing something to her, for saying the truth that they've tried so hard to keep hidden, speaks volumes. The colonizers have done so much harm to the natives of various lands, and other communities of color.
Every Native tribe, race and country was a colonizer. 90 countries have indigenous communities. Canada is rank #1 for largest budget and land given to help indigenous people.
It makes my skin crawl I wish I could travel in time and save them 😢😢😢
I am native from the US, at one point it was illegal for Black Indians to tell their kids about their heritage and there would be punishment for trying to identify as such
I am a black Indian as well. It’s crazy being told these Indian stories but having black skin.
No such thing.
@@niamtxiv shut up, you don't get to erase me or anyone who looks like me
@@niamtxiv you are full of it. My family is from Eastern North Carolina and there are a lot of black Indians in the Lumbee tribe.
@@niamtxiv Just cause you have a limited view of the world doesn't mean something doesn't exist. It just means you're ignorant and you need to go out more.
Heartwrenching story. These atrocities against children by the Catholic church have taken place for hundreds of years and still taken place today.
And people are still catholic 🐑
This doc is so beautiful. Speaking on this topic, it would be easy to focus on trauma, but this story goes so far beyond that. It showcases heritage, strength, preserverance, love, and joy. Thank you for sharing 💖
"The survivor of genocide." Ugh!! Haunting. Grateful she survived and is continuing to give. Her story and her story and her story continues...
I knew a man who had been forced to go to one of these boarding schools. He was deeply traumatized, thank you for sharing Auntie’s story.
I am a Circassian and a Russian genocide against the Circassians took place between the 1700's and the 1800's. We never attacked them. We never wanted to conquer them. They murdered over 2 million Circassians. I understand what ancestral trauma is. I pray for healing and forgiveness. ❤️
"the persistent tension of loss..." The ending scene of the beautiful Elder holding the bowl on the dock was absolutely stunning. I live in Sault Ste. Marie and I am so happy you made this documentary. I am so shocked by the specific events she outlined in her story. And I hope she can be free as well. Also...that song was so beautiful...I think I can see my spirit in the nature around me too (Batchewana sure is gorgeous).
I will not be celebrating Canada's day this year. Instead I will spend my time learning about the indigenous of these lands, and their survival through the cultural genocide that was put upon them.
This documentary broke me, and opened my eyes even further to the pain and suffering of our indigenous peoples. And with news of the poor children who were murdered in residential schools coming to light, it Is even more necessary than ever.
As a white person, I want to say from the bottom of my heart I am infinitely sorry for the evil that was done to your people. I pray to my Gods that true reconciliation and healing begins, and that the ignorant in our society start to open their hearts and minds to the past, and acknowledge your suffering. I feel great pain, and shame in my heart for what was done in the past, and how its scars are still prevalent to this very day. I will forever offer myself as a silent ally to the indigenous populations, I will forever listen to and learn from those who wish to share their stories and culture with me, and I will never judge or condemn those who wish not to as that is their right.
If I recall the Canadian government apologized years ago and financial compensation was paid to many Indigenous peoples with regards to residential schools. Throughout history Every race/ethnicity of peoples including Indigenous peoples have committed acts that are very regretful. The point is to learn from it and to move forward.
Canada is a wonderful country and in every single country there are things in the past that were done that were wrong.
This didn't just happen in canada but also in america.
Honestly you shouldn’t be celebrating Canada day ever lol. It’s celebrating all these different traumas that happened to people of color at the expense of white colonizers.
@@banker1313 Oh dear. If the wrongs are in the past then where is the justice for those native women who are currently being kidnapped, raped and murdered even as we speak here. "Sorry" doesn't butter any parsnips, my grandmother used to say. It is action that counts.
@@thatbird2 oh dear? Wrong doing has happened in the past and continues to happen and will probably always happen in the world unfortunately. Many of the crimes against indigenous women are committed by other indigenous people. I can think of one case off the top of my head right now.
There are many women of other races who share this fate not just indigenous. Some of these cases are hard to solve especially if the victims lead high risk lifestyles...many people refuse to offer up info as retribution is severe a very unfortunate fact.
Their resilience is so powerful...it transcends .."in our culture we don't die" very touching.
I watched this 6 months ago and once again today. I cried again not only for the culture that has been manipulated and lost but for all of us. Thank you for your touching documentary.
Please do. This is a horrific event in our culture. Even the U.S. had Indian Boarding Schools. My Uncles and my Aunts were destroyed by what happened in these schools. Thank you for sharing. I hope you will write a book. I support your efforts. I know that we are a verbal in our passing down the events of our Ancestors. But, it's time we share this with the world.
She never forgot all the morals and culture her mom gave her even when they tried to beat it out of her she never forgot who she was this is beautiful 😍
My father was Choctaw and was sent to residential school with his siblings. He didn't talk much about it. From the few things he did tell me, it was a horrible place.
I am wishing for strength & healing for your father 🙏🏿 the government & public MUST support him now, bc they turned their back on him & so many others back then. it's shameful.
Having watched more times than I can count, having listened even more when my eyes could no longer bear, I've carried Elder Mary's story in my heart through some of its darkest journeys this year.
With love from cousin in diaspora. 🕊🌈🔥
What an eye opening documentary. I have been hearing about these former schools, but to listen to one of the survivors talk about the horrific treatment she and many others suffered, was shocking and heartbreaking. I cried for all the suffering that was inflicted and for all those children who passed away. What a wonderful and strong woman Auntie Mary is. Thank you for sharing this documentary. Everyone should see this.
My grandma is always telling me "the government could come get us." When i talk to her about our family history she gets very upset and says she doesnt want to talk about the past.
Sending love to you and your grandma
My grandma gets upset too 😩
I can’t imagine the fear as a kid being on a train to an unknown fate while the sun is going down waiting for the train to turn around. The anger and hate
Don’t cry my girl she says 🥲🥲🥲 (we don’t die) 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾
Your Auntie Mary is a beautiful, brave, wise soul. What an amazing woman!
Thank you for sharing this painful story. What was done to our First Nation's people in the many residential schools across the country is horrific. Sending love to you and your auntie XX
My grandmother, whom I've never met, had my mom at 15 years old. She had run away from residential school. They took my mom from her at 9 months and sold her to a white family. My mom is metis. She only recently learnt this. She was lied to her entire life. She was told it was an adoption. When my grandparents sold their house my mom found the information .
I hope they can find each other
What happened afterwards?
@@ericarodriguez4200 well, my grandfather died last month , my grandfather and my mom were close. But since he died noone in the family contacts her anymore. She knows its because she started asking too many questions. It's a shame. I know shes love to learn more about her natural mothers life and what she went through
But now that my grandpa is gone, they're treating my mom like shes the one who died. Heartbreaking . So many unanswered questions. So many unresolved feelings. I feel for my mom. I have questions too. I wish I knew how to go about finding more information.
My mom has a similar story.
@@vulnikkura ❤🙏
i completed 2 documentaries on my family history. one for my maternal grandmother and one for my paternal grandmother. Please everyone watching these please capture your stories. please document your history. ❤️🖤💚
I am so sorry
As an American and a Catholic, I see the value and gift of this doc. I’m sorry all of this happened. I stand with the indigenous tribes of Canada. I’m glad she was able to forgive, love, and find peace. Glad this is all be shared. Remember, honor, and pray.
Thank you for this story. We are listening.
Protect our elders! They are our history! ✊🏾❤️
This isn’t my auntie but i’m an emotional wreck. You remained so strong to follow this documentary through, you must come from a strong stock. ❤️
My grandmother passed away when I was too young to remember much of her teachings. Though I remember as a child running around with my cousins trying to catch frogs and my dad bringing a snake home and my tiny Grandma laughing with him when everyone ran off. I remember my dad's sisters braiding my hair when I was a child. But after my dad passed away, there was a huge distance that grew between me and our family. My mom's side of the family is half from France half from Innu tribes. Again, I have memories with my cousins, making bracelets, picking berries, making dream catchers, but I never was close enough to meet our elders, to learn much more deeply of the culture, and as an adult, it feels like a huge hole inside. It's like a part of me is missing. Watching this made me cry so much.
the tenderness in the “my auntie” and “my baby girl” made me cry so much. the whole video made me sob, but that doubly so.
Agreed! and the sweet, gentle way they treat each other throughout this terrible but important story. Such beautiful souls
i cried for an hour when it was over
As soon as Auntie said that she couldn't tell her truth because of the government the memory of my mom popped up as the day that I asked her what she went through and she anxiously said she was sworn to secrecy. She kept saying, 'No, No, NO!" Thank you for the gift of creating this documentary. My next call to mom will to tell her the strength she has carried throughout her life.
that thing she said about finding your spirit in nature, I felt that,it made cry and took me long to realize it 🧡 Thank you.
I am a Maori from Aotearoa (New Zealand) our schools were called native schools run by the government to assimilate Maori into the English culture. Or take the Maori out of the child. Children attended these schools daily, they were not put into "camps or boarding schools" or taken away from their parents, but the treatment and curriculum were exactly the same. This assimilation nearly worked until the 1980s our language was disappearing until it was revived through the establishment of kohanga reo. We are lucky so to speak as we have Te Tiriti O Waitangi to use in our fight for Maori and our rights. My mum told me she was whacked and shamed if she would speak Maori at school this was further enforced by giving the children English versions of their Maori names. Our fight is ongoing and we will fight for our rights.
I was once told that when we cry our Creator cries with us, he feels our pain. I have lost 7 of my immediate family but they walk with me every day of my life. Blessing on you and your families.
These stories must be recorded and shared, so that we never forget.
Good job for preserving the stories of yesterday. Remember and never forget.
the connection that the three women have is beyond beautiful. i cant imagine being sent to school and never coming home again.
The people who raised me, used to tell me forgive and forget.. only to make me the fool all over again , hearing this from auntie and following her guidance ,feels like i have freed myself from the burden of judgement i had wished on these people , thank you auntie
forgive, BUT NEVER FORGET
@@researchbear3960 i too did some research ... i can forgive ,who truely asks forgiveness , i can forgive myself ,for walking in a trap ,when i was desperately seeking help and expected it from someone who does not care for others , i can learn who has no place inside my heart ,because of how they make me feel . forgetting is easy in a place, where they don't traumatise you constantly ,to try keep you from healing and healing anywhere is strength and knowing i am not alone
It is impossible to forget the past but I have learned that forgiveness is a process and part of that process is learning to let go of the pain of being hurt. It is a human expectation to be treated with love, dignity respect etc. whether as children or adults, by those with whom we associate or have a connection with. To feel the loss of that connection creates an imbalance in the spirit that can be difficult to restore. As we begin the process of healing our expectations of those who have hurt us begins to change and we grow into the realization that as horrible as our past was the possibility exists that perhaps their life experiences left them deficit in their ability to truly love. They may not have chosen the healing path, and may never choose to heal and we can respect that choice however in our choice to become healthy we choose to let them be who they have chosen to be. At this point, we begin to let go of our pain and begin to find balance physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
@@margaretno211 watch Dolores Cannon. We have soul contracts with our soul family. Her past life regression technique accesses the subconscious mind to reveal why we arrived on Earth. It's a great tool to heal our pain body that carries/ stores trauma in our DNA that can last four generations. When you heal, your ancestors also heals
..they tried to come back into my life as if nothing ever happened , at the beginning my heart was still clinging on to wanting a loving parent but it also confused me so I dug a bit deeper and realised their approach wasn't to comfort me but themselves . I have started to write down some of the boundaries that had been violated in my childhood. I addressed it at them but never send the message , instead i took screenshots for myself .. every full stop after every sentence helped keep the pain of the past from dwelling into the future
I'm dating a Metis man. He is going through the same experience.
He is going to his grandmother to ask her questions about the past
It’s traumatic to bring up, my grandma has nightmares amd flashbacks whenever it’s brought up
Do schools residential schools okay I feel bad for all of those people
Excuse my ignorance, but what is a metis man?
@@jonnyOATH A person of mixed indigenous and Euro-American ancestry
@@kenziemarshall2268 Oh okay. Thanks!
I am a 58 year old white woman in the United States. I went to public schools growing up. I was an adult before I heard about residential schools. The government and whoever else is involved in choosing school curriculum concentrated on how the Europeans “found “ the world and how society has progressed. It wasn’t until I took University classes that I learned the devastation the Europeans made. As kids, we only got to hear the white people’s sides of everything. As little kids, we learned about Christopher Columbus, and Thanksgiving. But they left out the parts about the diseases they brought that wiped out so many indigenous people, We never heard that the Buffalo slaughter occurred because the government want to eliminate Indians by starving them to death. In watching this documentary, I cried because sharing the respect you have for your Auntie, your Mom , the Elders and the land strongly rooted. Your Auntie is right. Your culture won’t die as long as you keep your culture, and pass all the history and stories on to the next generation. Your Auntie really is a treasure, and now I am missing my parents and grandparents.
My sister and I are trying to find out what tribe my dad's grandfather was from, but with name changes and adoptions things get wonky. Thank you for this, it helps give an understanding of what first nation families were put through.
Do Ancestry DNA.
@@annecaulder9495 don't they are scams...Twins have being send very differents DNA result...Misty Vaughn I'm sorry, I hope you find your roots. Don't waste your money on DNA testing
Do DNA for sure! Don’t listen to the tinfoil hats, DNA testing will help you put your family tree together!
@@babywrapper we are thinking about it, and I won't be shocked if my sister has more genomes from my dad's side because she actually looks native american, whereas I got the pastier side of the gene pool from our momma.
Doing a DNA test will help you find the tribe.
I can't imagine the heartbreak of all the parents and the children who were affected by the forced separations.
Now I understand why we struggle with alcohol :(
why stop there? why not shift blame for all your character flaws?
@@uberneanderthal your username speaks volumes! :)
and its poisonous to natives, because you dont have the enzyme to break it down
the evil colonialists of back then knew that, and gave you alcohol in hopes to destroy you and take your home away
bhhhhhh
@@26cybruh the neanderthal humans were according to estimates as intelligent as Homo s. sapiens.
This idea of them as disproportionately dumb savages needs to cease.
humans are just dumb savages, but not Neanderthals more than S. Sapiens people
@@Kookie-fx1rr 🙄
My mother installed in me the appreciation of the american natives and what their wisdom can teach us and I am forever sorry about what happened to them. And so happy to hear of those who RESIST and create beauty and connection to the rich heritage
Thank you for sharing your Auntie’s story.
Your Auntie is the strongest most beautiful woman in the world. Thank you for sharing this truth with the world! 😢❤
I lost it when auntie started “casting down those wicked imaginations” with the feather. Listen to your elders, no matter if they are blood family or not. In heavens eyes they ARE our Elders.
This was beautiful, thank you. As a non indigenous person from a different country with it's own indigenous people what I've come to loathe is the lack of learning and the lack of acknowledgement about residential schools, similar schools and way of thinking happened in my country and I only ever learnt of it happening around 10 years after finishing my obligatory schooling.
Your auntie is a beautiful and strong soul!