Taking time to heal

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The tragedies of Canada's residential schools are a piece our nation's history most people would like to forget. But for those who went through the experience, remembering the pain and dealing with it is imperative for a brighter future.

"I got the strap and I never knew what it was for. But you couldn't ask or you'd get more," said Agness Jack, a survivor of residential schools and conference co-ordinator for the Kamloops Indian Residential School Healing Conference and Reunion.

She is organizing the healing conference, to be held July 25 to 29 at the Chief Louis Centre on the Kamloops Indian Reserve, to help people who went to residential schools discuss their experiences and begin on the path to healing.

"I see us coming face to face with that part of our Aboriginal history," said Jack. "That is the first step for a better life for our people."

The quest for healing from the abuse and trauma is critical as the death toll resulting from the legacy of residential schools is still rising. Suicides and substance-related deaths can still be traced back to the mental torment of the schools.

"People are dying even today because of the pain, not knowing how to live with it and not knowing how to deal with it," said Jack.

For the longest time Jack wanted to forget she was Native. The continuous put-downs by the nuns and priests as a child almost convinced her that being Aboriginal was a bad thing.

"It wasn't until I had gone into art school after I graduated that I started to see who I was. It was OK for me to say I was Shuswap," said Jack.

Many survivors of the residential schools are beginning to expose the scars and are working to deal with the pain. The Kamloops conference is hoped to be another big step in the healing process for many people.

The conference is being limited to 400 people who will attend from across western Canada. Traditional helpers and contemporary counselors will be available 24 hours a day during the conference and will assist participants to access long-term services as needed.

"It gives people who have been through the residential school experience an opportunity to articulate, voice and validate their experience," said Wayne Christian, executive director of the Round Lake Treatment Centre in the north Okanagan and one of the speakers at the conference.

Bringing together people at different stages of the healing process is intended to give hope to those at the onset of their healing journey.

Children were ripped away from their parents and forced into the residential schools against their will, tearing away the fabric of the Aboriginal communities, which is family.

Many turned to addictions such as drugs, alcohol and, more recently, gambling to bury the pain, said Christian.

Although people can't be forced to heal, the conference is a place where it is encouraged as the best response to the stresses the school memories have placed on individual's lives.

"There's too much drive-through therapy," said Christian. "It doesn't work. Healing is a life-long process."

The conference will provide an opportunity for participants to meet old friends, share memories and laugh and cry together. Numerous workshops will be offered and plans will be made for future healing activities.