Residential school retreat offers help and understanding

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Aboriginal people have a long list of justifiable complaints with the treatment they have received from the Canadian government. Few issues, though, have so wounded the First Nations as that of the residential school program that operated in this country for much of the last century. Decried by many as a form of genocide, the program shaped the lives of countless thousands of residential school attendees, who are only now coming to terms with the incomprehensible motives of such schools, and with the heart-wrenching abuses associated with them.

Doreen Pooyak, from Sweet Grass First Nation, is one such survivor, and along with her partner Ron Lawford, she has devoted the last six years of her life to helping other survivors through healing workshops and networks of support. From Feb. 27 to 29, she and Lawford will be holding a Residential School Healing Retreat at the Ramada Hotel in Saskatoon. As explained by Pooyak, this will be just one more small step in her quest to re-establish a strong, healthy Aboriginal nation.

"Out there in the communities there are still a lot of feelings of denial and a fear of moving forward. Because of the hurt and the pain that survivors carry, a lot of them have problems with behaviour and stress. It has affected us. We've been traumatized. Being a survivor, I know that it has affected my relationships and given me many insecurities in my life."

"It's about reclaiming ourselves," she said of her healing retreats. "We need to work at building a strong nation. I know there's a long way to go, but there has to be a beginning somewhere."

Given the stories that have emerged in the past decade about the residential school experience, it is no surprise that those subjected to them are still feeling the effects today.

As explained by Professor Jim Miller of the University of Saskatchewan, an expert on residential schools and the First Nations, the government sponsored and church-run schools were riddled with sexual, physical and emotional abuses.

"Even as schools they failed," he noted. "They didn't give people the skills they needed."

Through the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, the government has devoted $350 million to help the victims of these schools, but according to Pooyak, survivors need guidance and understanding more than money in order to move forward.

"The money isn't meeting the needs of the people who are still suffering. They need to be connected with others in their communities, with the people who are actually doing the healing work with residential school survivors."

"It affected who we are, and it continues to affect our behaviour. Residential school survivors have problems with stress, with emotional pain, with antisocial behaviour," said Pooyak. "Our retreats are about moving forward. We teach participants about stress management, about relaxation, and about understanding where they've come from. We help them with coping skills, with finding closure and achieving a balance in their lives. We deal with the physical, the spiritual, and the emotional toll on survivors. My partner [Lawford] does the psychological part of stress management and I do the cultural part."

In addition to the workshops and discussions, the retreat will also include a sharing circle and a candlelight vigil. A massage therapist will be on hand in the evenings to further dissipate the stresses unlocked during the day's sessions.

Through past retreats, Pooyak knows that the demand for this type of healing initiative is great. She wishes only that there were more people like herself and Lawford offering assistance to survivors.

"It's a challenge, but someone had to do something. Rather than sit back and complain about it, I chose to go forward," explained Pooyak of her own personal journey. "We need to support one another to move forward, that's my vision. The hurt of these people will never go away, but its how they move forward that they need help with."

The upcoming retreat in Saskatoon isnow accepting registrations, with a set limit of fifty participants. The cost before Feb. 15 is $100, and $125 afterward. Anyone wishing to attend or wanting additional information is encouraged to contact Pooyak at 445-2580 or Lawford at 931-8953.