Find courage in community

“They believed our ways, our ceremonies, our drums and our spirituality was witchcraft. And they tried to stamp it out.”

“To survive the system we had to look out for ourselves, but to heal and move forward we have to look out for each other. We need to help our communities and find strength there.”

“My memories before the mission are of love.”

“To bring closure, the truth has to be exposed.”

“I accept him for who he is.”

“It taught me to be numb, it taught me to be angry and it taught me to be aggressive. So those were the skills I used later in life.”

“It breaks us as children to see what our parents had to endure.”

“When I shared my story with my kids, they finally understood why they were raised the way they were raised. I have never shared my story with anyone else.”

“Our role is to listen.”

“When I was 5 years old, the nuns told me my mother and father didn’t love me and that’s why they had to look after me. They were wrong. It was all lies.”

“The priests paddled to our homes on Jackfish Island and burned every drum they saw.”

“We have to be kind and we have to be patient.”