Abused by nun, native woman tells commission

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CBC News 

Posted: Oct 5, 2011 6:54 AM AT

Last Updated: Oct 5, 2011 6:50 AM AT

Marie Knockwood told the commission she was beaten every day.

Marie Knockwood told the commission she was beaten every day. CBC

P.E.I. survivors of Indian residential schools had an opportunity Tuesday to testify about their horrific treatment at the hands of the federal government and the church.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission held an all-day hearing at the Rodd Charlottetown Hotel. The commission gives people an opportunity to speak openly, or privately, about the residential school system that existed in Canada for more than 100 years.

Marie Knockwood wrote a song about her time at the Shubenacadie Residential School in Nova Scotia. She told the hearing about sexual abuse she experienced at the hands of a nun.

Knockwood said she doesn’t blame God.

Roddy Gould was taken from his family at the age of four.

Roddy Gould was taken from his family at the age of four. CBC

“God was just a victim as well as I was. He was used to take me there. And to brutally treat me. There wasn’t a day that didn’t go by where I wasn’t beaten,” she said.

Approximately 30 survivors and their families gathered for the first hearing of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on P.E.I.

Roddy Gould was sent to Shubenacadie at the age of four.

“That’s the first time I felt fear,” he said.

Over three years, Gould was physically, sexually and emotionally abused at the school.

“In the dormitory the priest did things to me, and the nuns also,” he said.

“I remember many times in the classroom I looked out the window thinking about my mom. [The] first time someone put me on the back of the truck, I still picture it, waving at my mom..”

Between 100 and 150 Island Aboriginal children were sent to Shubenacadie from the 1920s until 1967.

They were removed from their families by the federal government. The Catholic Church ran the school. They were forced to assimilate, and in many cases were physically, mentally and sexually abused.

It wasn’t until the 1980s that former residential school students began disclosing the sexual and other forms of abuse they suffered.

In 2000, Gould founded the group Aboriginal Survivors for Healing.

“We came together like we did in the residential school. We came alone there and supported each other,” he said.

The $60-million Truth and Reconciliation Commission, established in June 2008, was formed by the federal government. At the same time, a formal apology was issued in the House of Commons for the abuses people suffered at residential schools.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission moves to Indian Brook, Nova Scotia on Oct. 12.

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Truth commissioners come to Fredericton

CBC News

Posted: Sep 8, 2011 1:26 PM AT

Last Updated: Sep 8, 2011 1:11 PM AT

Then-Assembly of First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine watches as Prime Minister Stephen Harper officially apologizes for loss caused by the Indian residential school system on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in June, 2008

Then-Assembly of First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine watches as Prime Minister Stephen Harper officially apologizes for loss caused by the Indian residential school system on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in June, 2008 Tom Hanson/CP

A commission documenting the stories of residential school survivors travelling the country stopped in Fredericton Thursday.

Justice Murray Sinclair, who chairs the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, said it is one of the darkest chapters in Canada’s history.

Thousands of First Nations children aged seven to 15 were forcibly taken from their parents to attend residential schools beginning in the late 19th century.

They were forced to assimilate, and in many cases were physically, mentally and sexually abused.

It wasn’t until the 1980s when former residential school students began disclosing the sexual and other forms of abuse they suffered.

The chair said there are lessons to be learned from the accounts of First Nations people who lived through the experience.

The $60-million commission, established in June 2008, was formed by the federal government. At the same time, a formal apology was issued in the House of Commons for the abuses people suffered at residential schools.

Most survivors didn’t get to tell their stories when a compensation deal with reached with the federal government in 2007.

The commission gives people an opportunity to speak openly, or privately, about the residential school system that existed in Canada for more than 100 years.

“After it’s over, we often are told by survivors that for them it was an enlightening experience and opportunity to lift the burden off their shoulders and place it down,” said Sinclair.

Sinclair hopes documenting what happened will help survivors heal and will also prevent history from repeating itself.

“They want people to know in the future, when they look back at this time in history, what went on.”

The Commission’s next stop is Goose Bay, Labrador, then it will travel to several locations in P.E.I. and Nova Scotia.

The last of its Atlantic hearings will take place on October 14.

1 Response to Abused by nun, native woman tells commission

  1. Sylvia says:

    Who was the nun? Who were the priests? What are their names of the priest and nuns who molested these poor souls? Where are they now?

    Are victims allowed to identify their molesters at the commission hearings? I don’t think they are. If not, why not?

Leave a Reply to Sylvia Cancel reply