Across the country, symbols of mourning and grief.
Flags were lowered to half-mast, vigils held,
and shoes lined up to represent the up to 215 unmarked graves
on the grounds of a former residential school
in Kamloops, reopening old wounds for Indigenous families torn apart.
- Hey, there. - Hey, Dad, happy birthday.
Thank you.
- Yeah. - Where are you?
Um, I'm looking at the place where you were born.
I'm at St. Joseph's Mission.
Are you really?
Oh, my God, I've been thinking about that place all day.
I was the lucky one.
For Christ's sake.
St. Joseph's Mission Residential School shut down in 1981.
It's long been linked to allegations of physical and sexual abuse.
The Williams Lake First Nation is about 300 kilometers northwest
of Kamloops, which was the site of another discovery of potential graves.
Let's bring in Chief Willie Sellars.
He is the First Nation's Chief at Williams Lake.
Good to see you, Chief.
Thank you for taking the time for CTV News.
No, thanks for having me.
The reaction to the community,
what went through your mind, Chief?
You're angry, and you're disgusted, and you're hurt,
and it's even a trigger for me.
I mean, my dad attended residential school,
and so did my grandma. My grandma even worked there.
We see the impacts in our community every single day.
You know, you want to hold these individuals accountable.
You want to hold the entities accountable.
I did it. I've got through with it.
And so did I.
Next one.
Okay.
"The Indians, being nomadic by nature,
"wish to be free to come and go as they please.
"It's not surprising, therefore, that their children found
"the confinement discipline of school hard to bear,
"and that consequently, several of them ran away.
"One of these, a young boy, was found dead in the woods."
"Two girls skipped out on Friday night.
"They were both drowned, and only one body has been recovered.
"Father Dunlop is very upset,
"but I feel certain that no blame can be attached to him
"or anyone at the school."
My uncle committed suicide at the school.
They couldn't even get a coroner to look into what happened here.
Like, "Why are they dying?"
Like, "It's just another dead Indian, and who cares?"
Yeah.
Lots of these were actually victims.
- Cyril Paul committed suicide. - Yeah.
Oliver Johnson committed suicide.
That's me, there.
- Oh, no. -
Don't wake up Kyé7e. Kyé7e's sleeping.
- - Don't wake up Kyé7e.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Did you find any new details up in Williams Lake
about my little story?
- Huh? - About your stuff?
Yeah.
Uh…
Do you want to know?
It's not something that you wanna just open up and, you know,
it's pretty freakin' secretive stuff when you were born
in a mission school and thrown away.
Well, for something that…
important to…
our literal existence,
I think I want to know the whole story.
- Does that make sense? - We don't have the whole story
'cause I don't know it.
Well, I think your mom would be the only person who knows.
It… it… it's kind of like, it just keeps on damaging, just…
just keeps on going.
I do think it's important to have gone home in the moment
where they're trying to find the truth.
I've been dying to go up there, but you know the shape of the roads now--
Whatever. You're never dying to go up there.
You don't go home that often.
During this honor song, the family would like to acknowledge
the Kamloops Indian Residential School survivors,
that their mother, their grandmother, their auntie, their sister also attended,
just right up here.
It's Saturday night, come on now! Let's get to dancing.
Let's get to having fun, here at Kamloopa 2022!
- -
All right, Kamloopa! How do you like it?
Men's Traditional…
- -
- Come on here!
Now you can make some noise, Kamloopa!
Yep, looks like the judges are taking 'em down.
- -
I'm not a young man anymore, Kyé7e. .
I feel like a sexpépe7 .
♪ You and me, we took our chances Trying to hide our secret romances ♪
♪ Good ol' fashioned Indian lovin' No, I can't be your husband ♪
♪ Just found out that you're my cousin ♪
- -
- Hi. - You guys getting going?
- I'm staying another night. - Oh, you are? You and your Mom are?
Yeah.
Adult Men's Traditional, number 534, Peter White!
- I don't think I got in. - You never know.
If you guys get a chance, follow this guy…
I didn't get first, I know that.
And your first-place winner, 529,
- Julian Brave NoiseCat! - Holy shit!
- Your champion… - Told you.
…in Junior Adult Men's Traditional. Make it forward, Julian.
- Holy cow! - Your champion,
Julian Brave NoiseCat.
Kukstsémc!
- Here he is. -
Oh, thank you for staying, Kyé7e! I don't know if that'll ever happen again.
- Probably not. - Mm-hmm.
- I love you. - I love you too.
Oh.
All right, we're gonna get into your Junior Adult Men's Chicken.
- Thank you! - Kukstsémc! Hey, it was good to see you.
…in fourth place, number 645, Lloyd Abraham!
I hope that you sleep well.
- Oh, I will. - I love you.
- As long as I… - I love you a lot.
- Don't you forget it. - Oh, yeah.
- Yeah. I know. - Yeah.
Like I say, my pictures are…
but I'll see if I can…
find an album.
Oh, yeah, here it is. Right, here it is.
- Let me see. - Julian…
This was one of the first times my mom brought me up here without my dad.
I remember she was really nervous, and I was really nervous too.
And then my cousins built me a bike.
My mom has this one, so I think I'll do that one.
- This one? - Yeah. Yeah, that.
All right.
- I'll let you. -
How do you say "Picture" in Secwepemctsín?
- Píktse. - Píktse?
Yeah.
- That's a cpíktse7etn. - Cpíktse7etn?
- The place where the picture is. - The thing, the box. Yeah.
Before we went to residential school, everybody
spoke the Secwepemc. It was only Secwepemctsín,
you know, in the community. Nothing else, no English.
Then…
Then we were taken to the residential school to…
They were trying to get that, you know, out of us and…
There's so much stuff, you know.
Some of this stuff that I should have, you know, talked about.
What sorts of stuff?
Hi, Jean.
How are you?
Yeah, I've been trying to find out what happened to some of the children
who were born at the Mission.
I don't know if you know, but my dad was born there.
Well, everything was so secretive.
And it was…
for me, it was years before I even found out some of the…
some of the girls had babies there.
Do you know where my father was found?
Yeah, I heard that the night watchman had found him.
They didn't know who the baby's mother was.
So they were going to examine all the girls in the area.
And I was just so afraid.
I was so afraid.
When you're brought up in an institution like the Catholic Church…
you have strict rules.
You know, and you went with their ethics.
- Mm-hmm. - It was a sin.
You know, and here,
the ones that were telling us it was a sin,
they were the one that did all the action.
- -
- Ten, 20, 30… -
Thirty-five…
- 232. - 233, it is.
Okay, so, it's backfilled, but have photo.
- -
So, repeat two point four?
- Yeah, hold on. -
See that? "Augustine Charlie, 1943."
Oh, man, it's just everywhere.
It's all names.
- "Patrick Paul, '59." - "Melvin Alphonse, 1976."
Yeah. Oh, look at that.
Oh, there's a whole inscription.
That looks like "I don't care."
"Lucy's baby."
"Seventy-three days more… till home time."
Do any of you remember the names
of any staff members or other brothers or priests?
Brother McDonald.
- Brother Gerard. - Hmm.
- Father Casey. - Hmm.
Father Morris.
Father…
Price.
I was abused by Father…
Price.
Nobody listened to me.
I told my grandmother. She didn't want to hear me talk about it.
I went to the nun. She told me to tell the priest.
I told the priest. He told me to tell the Indian agent.
I told the Indian agent. He told me to tell the RCMP.
I told the RCMP, he went and told my dad, and my dad beat the shit out of me.
- Hmm. - That's when I said, "Okay."
I went and bought a bottle of wine, and I got drunk.
- Yeah. - And I was an alcoholic after that.
It's okay to cry. It's okay to cry.
Let's just hold each other.
Thinking about the residential schools,
those young people and those children are suffering
because their parents never dealt with what they have to deal with.
My name is Charlene. Like the rest of you here,
I don't want to live with that anger and that rage from residential school.
They can either work cooperatively with us,
or, you know, we're considering legal action.
So, you'll take them to court?
Yeah.
You know, our community
has been just screwed around enough by everybody.
We're not gonna go through it again. I don't give a shit if it's the Oblates,
the government, or whoever,
you're gonna goddamn well be accountable, and we're gonna start now.
- Hi, Auntie. You need a hand? - Hi.
Oh, it's not even stable, eh?
"Forty-nine, GT."
Do you know what? That's their numbers. So, my number when I was here was 165.
So, everybody was given a number, so instead of calling you by their name,
- they'd call you by their numbers. - Oh, yeah.
Great Grandfather, creator of all good things,
I pray to you, and I thank you for bringing Julian home to us.
Julian, I ask you to open your eyes,
your ears, your heart.
In this barn… …this is where they strung them up,
on three poles,
and they would lash them until they passed out.
Our elders are now looking to you…
to listen to our stories.
You're bearing witness to…
a time in history where our people are going to stand up.
You're gonna make sure that people are held accountable…
for everything that they've done to us.
Churches across the country have been targeted
in a series of vandalism or arson attacks in recent weeks,
following the discovery of unmarked graves near residential schools
operated by the Catholic Church.
The Prime Minister calls the attacks "unacceptable and wrong."
I wanna put this on the front floorboard, babe,
and I want you to drive real, real slow.
Little story here.
Remember I told you about one of the punishments
that happened at the Mission when we were little kids,
was we were in this old, uh…
old chapel.
Yeah, it was made into a classroom.
- And if we were caught talking in class… -
…or doing something…
they had these things in there,
and we had to hold this above our head for about an hour.
Can you imagine a six, eight-year-old kid, kneeling down on the floor,
holding one of these things above their head?
Okay, babe, drive slow.
Be mindful of the baby Jesus.
All right.
Yeah… …still works.
We had to get everything out
when I thought they were gonna burn the church, right?
Several churches in this area burned.
There are very angry people, and…
They blame the Church for the residential school atrocities.
People are people. People are human. We don't hold Jesus accountable for that.
Pray for us. Pray for us. Pray for us.
In the name of the Father.
And of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Sit down, class.
I'll ask you all to think back to your lesson once again
on telephone conversation manners.
Can you tell me some of the points
that you should remember when you are using the telephone?
Do you know I did a verse that says,
"If you wish to be happy all the day, make someone else happy, that is the way."
Don't put your hands by your face, will you?
Put your hands down.
Let me see how many can put their hands right on their desk…
- -
It was always on the first week of September.
The cattle truck came over from the Mission
and loaded on all the kids from the res.
In my memory, I can still see people dragging their kids crying to that truck.
Pretty well no one escaped.
When it was time for me to go to the Mission,
I was looking forward to it because I was gonna be over there
with all my brothers and sisters and friends and everything.
But I have a different story when I got to the Mission.
My elders, they held this religion so close to them that…
I feel that…
there's gotta be…
truth in there somewhere.
I still… I still resist…
- I know you do but-- - …because I… I have to find
a direct DNA connection.
- Well, we've got the DNA connection. - No.
- Yes, we do. - No, no.
Yes, we do.
Only they have us, just Ireland, which could have been somebody else.
No, no, darling. Here, and I'll explain it to you.
We had the DNA test done,
and it says 50% Ireland…
45% Indigenous, and 5% Scotland.
So, you know, that's gotta say something.
- Could be anybody. -
No. See right here?
The only people that showed up in your DNA line are McGraths.
- No, it didn't. - Yes, it is.
Okay, Brian McGrath. He's a second or third cousin.
Hmm.
And it's over and over and over and over, it's proven here.
- I need more proof. -
That's Father McGrath.
Okay, so, I'm gonna take this one.
Let's just start with this one.
So, this is about that-- The priests that were moved around.
"What happened in Vancouver.
"Why Father Maillard had him sent away from the Mission.
"He's been a pest amongst the children.
"You've given me enough work and worry without my having to be a nurse
"and an exceptionally vigilant guardian of the children's morals."
INDIAN AND ESKIMO MISSIONS
Their ghosts woke a country,
the children who never came home.
To many here, this day marks an end to the deafening silence
that surrounded their stories for so long.
This day coincides with Orange Shirt Day, a day that honors Indigenous children
taken from their homes to residential schools.
Can I get a box of a dozen orange donuts?
- All orange? - All orange.
- I'll have one, Willie. - You want one?
I'll give you one.
No.
- You want one? - No, thanks.
Come on, guys. Come on, guys.
You want one, Lew?
Hello, Chief Willie Sellars with the Williams Lake First Nation.
I am overwhelmed with the amount of support that we have here today,
the first Truth and Reconciliation Day in the history of Canada.
A national holiday, can you believe it?
- -
We need to continue to tell the truth,
and we need to continue to hold each other up.
- -
Whoa! Look.
- There's an ambulance at-- - What's going on?
- Yeah. - Frick, I'm not sure.
Oh, no.
- That's not good. - What?
- I'm not sure. -
You know how you keep asking if I'm okay and what I'm doing,
and how I'm doing, and how you think something's wrong?
- Hmm. - Well, you know Skyla?
- Yeah. - Um…
Her dad, Stan, hurt himself. He tried to commit suicide.
- What do you mean, "He tried"? - The paramedics revived him.
Huh.
Is he dead?
Doesn't look like he's gonna make it.
And…
Stan was a good friend of Dad's.
Are you guys okay?
- Tony! - Hello!
They want a family photo.
- Uncle! - He'll come back later.
Yeah, I know. We were brought up at that St. Joseph Mission.
- Yep. - Talking about hockey team.
- Hockey… - What kind of cheerleader were you?
It was this cheerleader.
Yeah.
- Oh, yeah, daylight. -
From Rick and Anna Gilbert,
to all our friends and relatives at Sugarcane,
we'd like to wish you a very merry Christmas
and a safe and happy and prosperous New Year.
♪ Silent night ♪
♪ Holy night ♪
♪ All is calm ♪
♪ All is bright ♪
♪ Round your virgin mother and child ♪
♪ Holy infant so… ♪
Hands too stiff-looking.
♪ …Sleep in… ♪
Don't put your hands near your face.
Wing up, raise a little. All right, all right, up.
A lot of the complainants in the O'Connor trial
came from the pipe band.
In the time frame that I was in the pipe band,
a lot of abuse happened.
Some of those girls ended up pregnant, and children were born by priests.
Only three people out of that entire wall of abusers
were ever convicted.
The only person that's actually alive is Doughty.
So, I think the chances of getting information
from any one of them who are still alive is limited to that, realistically.
- Hello? - Hello, is this Brother Doughty?
- Yes, it is. - Hi, it's Charlene Belleau.
I don't know if you remember me, but I was at the residential school
at the same time that you were there.
Oh!
Do you remember any children not making it home
or going missing when you were there?
No, my dear, I don't remember.
No, there was none of them when I was there, my dear. No.
- Okay, okay. - But it's sad, isn't it?
You know, all those children, right?
My dear, I'm sorry, but I can't help you, okay?
Yeah, you… you…
It was nice talking to you, dear, okay?
Okay. Are you--
Okay, bye-bye, have a good day.
- Okay, thank you. - Bye.
Okay, let's backtrack a little bit,
and I'm gonna put some other numbers on here, so…
Yeah.
Eighteen months ago, the community started
its own investigation
into the grounds around the school using ground-penetrating radar.
The Chief hopes these preliminary findings will provide survivors and the nation
with the knowledge it needs to continue this important work.
- -
I have a feeling that they'll find something.
I have a feeling too.
The devil is here.
Okay, guys.
Big hugs, Lew.
Okay. Love you guys. Mwah.
Everybody's so hyped up at finding graves.
Maybe there's none.
I'm sure some people in town are gonna say,
"There you go. All this hype, and then there's no graves over there."
Did you hear about any stories of babies being born at the Mission?
That's a tough one.
Even just to answer that would be…
would be hard.
And I'm getting the shakes.
I can't remember if it was the next year or the same year that I'd seen that…
that them nuns packing a baby, packing a baby down… Five of us.
We're not supposed to be down at the incinerator.
And then…
one of them opened the door, and the other one throw the baby in.
Only…
it's pretty wild.
I'm probably the only survivor…
Well, I know I'm the only survivor of that group that's seen that.
Just wait…
I'll never forget, and it's pretty hard to forgive.
The Williams Lake First Nation is expected
to release preliminary information today
following a geophysical examination of land
near a former residential school in the city.
The First Nation was looking for signs of unmarked graves…
We've assembled today to present the initial results from the first phase
of geophysical investigation of land
surrounding the former St. Joseph's Mission Residential School.
For decades, there were reports
of neglect and abuse at St. Joseph's Mission,
reports of children dying or disappearing from this facility.
For the bulk of St. Joseph's Mission history,
these reports were at best given no credence.
At worst, there was something darker going on.
To date, 93 reflections
have been recorded at the St. Joseph's Mission.
Our current data suggests that 50 of the 93 potential burials
are not associated with the cemetery.
All of them display varying characteristics
indicative of potential human burials.
You should call your mom today, I think, if you can.
You think so? I think it may be a little too soon.
I was wondering how Mom would have taken it if I were there.
I don't know.
But then I think, you know, there's the question of you and I.
What do we do?
"You are Stone Age savages
"who accomplished nothing before the Whites came.
"Everything you have came from us. You are the racists, not us.
"You were responsible for burying your children.
"You were the ones who didn't…
"who did not mark the graves because you are cheap welfare parasites.
"Where were you and your people when your children were being abused?
"It didn't happen without your disgusting indifference.
"Shame on you and yours. It's, as usual, about money now.
"You'll, of course, misdirect and assume no responsibility."
You've got three ways of saying "Please."
The first one is "per favore."
- Per favore. - Per favore.
Per favore. Yes.
Il menu, per favore.
Yes, that's perfect, Rick. Perfect.
- Prego. - Yes.
- Hey, babe? - Yeah?
What kind of socks do you prefer over here?
- The Argyle? - Yeah.
Everything in here that you need?
There's some extra-strength Tylenols for your back.
- That's not enough toothpaste. - There's a couple of them in there.
I put you a pair of pajamas under these underwear.
- Okay. - Let me get you some socks.
- You got them there. - No, pajama socks.
Oh.
I'll miss you.
Just that for you?
This and 20 bucks of Status gas on number two.
You're a man now.
- You're no longer a boy, son. -
- ♪ Canada is all Indian land ♪ - ♪ …All Indian land ♪
♪ Oh, Canada is all Indian land… ♪
- Whoo! -
Damn, I love that song.
Let's go. Get us something.
Mm. I was dying for fries and gravy.
You could do a wet t-shirt contest.
You don't need it to be wet to see my nipples, man.
All that you see…
is ours.
- Let's go. - All right.
- Here. I'll take this. - Thank you.
- You good? - Yeah.
- -
- Hi, Auntie. - Hi, Auntie.
- We brought pizza. - That's good.
My, you're tall. You're taller than your dad.
I've always been taller than him.
- I didn't know that. - Just a hair. Just an inch.
He's short.
- Well, I'm… I'm shrinking. - Yeah.
We can cook that part too. Just like broccoli.
Just pull them down.
Oh, yeah.
- -
So, part of the question that we're trying to solve
is there's a gap between when I was born
and when I was living with my xpé7e and kyé7e
at Canim Lake…
'Cause you do know what happened with me, right?
- No. - Not at all?
- No. - Oh.
As far as we know, I was born upstairs at the Mission school.
- In where? - In Williams Lake.
- Really? - Yes.
So, where did my brother fit in there, then?
- With? - With you.
We-- That's what we're trying to figure out.
He's my dad…
and he and my mom ended up together.
But there was some turmoil in the beginning.
Your mom won't share?
- No. - Hurts her.
It's too much.
I felt dirty as an Indian all my life in residential school.
Residential school taught us
- shame and guilt. - Mm-hmm.
So, your mom's still carrying that.
Nice pizza party, huh?
- Nice pizza party, yeah. -
♪ Old man, look at my life ♪
- ♪ I'm a lot like you were ♪ - ♪ I'm a lot like you were ♪
- ♪ Old man, look at my life ♪ - ♪ Old man, look at my life ♪
- ♪ I'm a lot like you were ♪ - ♪ I'm a lot like you were ♪
It's not as easy as I thought it would be.
Because you're, like, totally rejected, you know?
- You mean by your mom? - Yeah. Yeah.
And then I spend the rest of my life trying to…
trying to earn that love, you know?
Well, I can relate to that one.
I remember when I told you that when you would leave,
- I would watch until your car… - Was totally gone?
…was totally, like, out of sight.
- Mm-hmm. - Until the very last moment.
- Yeah. - And you told me that you
- had a same… had the same thing. - I do do the same thing.
Whenever you leave, I watch until you're, like, totally out of sight.
I used to cry every time I dropped you off at the airport.
- Then how did it happen? - What?
I guess I just feel like I'm here trying to help you
when you don't really fully recognize the thing that we share.
Your story is someone who was abandoned, but also who abandoned.
You're looking for some kind of acknowledgement from me.
No, I just feel like…
Actually, yeah.
Well, tell me what you want, I'll write it.
Whatever you want. You know, it's just, like…
- Yeah, no-- - I didn't leave you, son.
- I-- - Yeah, you did.
What was I supposed to do?
And I was lost and a damn drunk, just going like a madman.
And at the time that I told your mom, "I don't know what the hell is wrong."
"I'm…
"I'm crying my damn eyes out every day, every day… and I don't know why."
That's what I said to her.
Come on. You got this, you got this.
- -
A group of Indigenous people
from across the country is making history with a journey to the Vatican City
for meetings with Pope Francis to talk about reconciliation.
When they meet with Pope Francis,
Indigenous delegates will be sharing firsthand accounts
of the impact of the residential school system.
And there's been no firm commitment that the visit would include an apology.
Delegates on their way here hope that will change after this trip.
It's almost midnight here. What time you got?
- It's only 2:48. - 2:48?
- - Wow.
- Can you see it? - Oh, my! I see it.
- I look like Mussolini. - I don't think…
I don't think from here it looks like you.
- - You don't think it does?
It looks like maybe your dad.
If you had a dad, that's what he would look like, maybe.
Yeah. Well…
And I bought a few other things.
- All right. - You see it?
I see.
Well, that's good, hon.
Get lots of rest so you'll be on your A game.
Yeah.
Where are you from?
I'm from Anaham.
- Oh, yeah, Anaham? - I'm Tanya Stump.
- Oh, hi, Tanya. - Hi.
You must've grew up up north, then?
- That's right. - Yeah.
Nautley, by Fraser Lake.
How old were you when you went to the Mission?
I was still five years old yet when I first went.
My birthday's in October, so I turned six over there.
Was that in Sugarcane?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
Are they doing some searches there too now?
Yeah. And also there was a thing about the four boys
that froze to death.
Yeah, trying to get away. They were very young.
They ranged from about eight years old to ten years old.
Father McGrath was the principal.
Gotta hold your breath through the tunnels, man.
That's how we always did it when I was a kid.
This place here on the left is where I grew up.
We never had any running water.
When I ran away from school,
I would go into the bush back over that way.
Crazy thing is, I don't think
anybody was freaking looking for me, you know?
And it's a good thing I got as far away from the damn res
as I could.
My hands are sweaty.
Mom's spaghetti.
Laird is pretty freaking scary, you know?
This is a guy that kicked in my cheekbone, with the help of two other guys.
I know he's not gonna beat me up this time, so…
I know your story because it was all over the reserve, right?
What? How…
They call you "garbage can kid" and everything like that.
And your mom put you in a garbage bin, eh? In residential school.
But there was a connection between us because of the fact that…
nobody seemed to want us when we were little.
My mother didn't want me because I was White.
So, in front of the bar, she gave me away, six months old,
to this family that was severely alcoholic,
and the mother beat me severely, over and over. For years, she beat me.
So-- And that's why I have a close connection with Edwin
because nobody in the reserve accepted us.
We grew up the same. Like, everybody laughed at us.
Everybody made fun of us.
And I remember what happened on reserve. Like, my dad raping his own kids,
and I'm listening to it at night.
I lived in this adopted family.
They had 11 kids. Seven of them committed suicide.
- And you were at St. Joseph's? - Yeah. Yeah.
Now, I remember those priests. I remember what they done.
You go to confession because you had to go to confession once a week.
So, I'm six years old. I go to confession,
that same damn priest's dragging you out of bed.
Whoa!
Yeah.
You know, to be clear, the RCMP doesn't do this.
Um, we don't allow, you know, civilians, if you will,
to look at our files and potentially take things away.
It's not something that we do. But, um, you know, if not now, when?
"We were bringing out the garbage from the kitchen
"and we were told to stay away from the incinerator,
"and there was a shoebox, and the cover flew off,
"and inside this cover was a newborn baby."
She's seen a baby in a shoebox at the incinerator,
but they don't do anything to follow up.
These women are no longer alive.
They couldn't live with what they'd been through.
Okay, Charlene, there is a file called "O'Connor Adoption Records."
"I never got no baby back, but I asked Father,
"'Well, what did you do with the baby?'
"It was ten days later, and I was back at the Mission.
"And he told me he died, but I always questioned that,
"if he did really die or if he's still alive somewhere.
"Maybe he gave him up for adoption himself because he was my guardian."
He clearly set it all up.
Made arrangements for them to go. He knew what it was gonna cost.
He knew how long they'd be down there.
But I think the Children's Aid Society, too, was run by the Catholic Church.
They were all a part of a system.
Unwanted Indian children.
They are the products of a sudden and sharp rise
in illegitimate births
and marriage breakdowns among Indian people.
Until 12 months ago, they were becoming wards of the government
at a rate of almost 200 a year, and adoption agencies were finding them
almost impossible to find permanent homes for.
Hey, just wait, Lew.
This is our history as a country.
And until we properly grasp it…
and engage with it…
understand it, and commit ourselves…
to better…
then we're not living up to the kind of country we all like to think we are.
We have work to do.
The road towards reconciliation remains long but must involve everyone.
All Canadians have a responsibility…
Can you tell us why this visit is coinciding with the Vatican visit?
I mean, some critics are saying that you're just, you know,
using this as a photo op to align with the Vatican visit.
Why-- What's your counterargument? Why do you feel like that's not the case?
I'm here because Willie invited me,
because this is a moment where a community…
is grieving.
I wish I could have been here months ago. I'm able to get here now.
I feel shame…
sorrow and shame for the role that a number of Catholics,
particularly those with educational responsibilities,
have had in all those things that wounded you,
in the abuses you suffered and in the lack of respect shown
for your identity, your culture, and even your spiritual values.
All these things are contrary to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
For the deplorable conduct of those members of the Catholic Church,
I ask for God's forgiveness…
and I want to say to you with all my heart,
I am very sorry.
God bless you all.
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Pray for me, don't forget. I'll pray for you.
Thank you very much for your visit. Bye-bye.
Did the Pope confirm anything?
An apology? Turning over the records?
Compensation? Returning artifacts? Was anything confirmed today?
Uh, there was no indication. However, our delegation had…
So, let's not be prisoners. Come and speak out…
- -
Well, I just wanted to talk to you a little bit about St. Joseph's Mission.
It was run by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.
And the priests were considered next to God.
At the same time, others considered savages.
Yes. Totally…
- wrong. It's… - Yes.
When this one priest would come into the dorm
to molest little kids,
the brother who was the supervisor, he saw what was going on.
He did nothing about it.
And one of the worst things about it is
when a bad priest was found out or reported,
he just got moved to another…
another parish, another residential school.
And it continued on and on.
You know, and…
before then, we had no voice.
- We couldn't report to the police. - Yeah.
No, there was the-- Society wouldn't allow that.
That's right.
In those days, it was thought that a priest or a brother
who does wrong should be sent away, make a retreat,
pray, go to confession, and change his life.
After the '80s,
I think, you know, the Church accepted more psychology
and began to understand, well,
people with mental illness need to be removed from ministry.
And it wasn't right, and it's a terrible…
uh, tragic…
hundred years.
- You say three generations, maybe four. - It's probably four for me, yeah.
My grandmother, she was abused at the Mission,
and she tried to run away.
I was also abused by a priest
at the residential school.
And I… I kept that a secret for about 30 years after I left.
And my mother was abused by a priest…
and that's how I was born.
I'm so sorry.
It can't be justified,
but it's a sickness that grew into the Church,
and your forgiveness of us someday, you know, someday,
it can't be a quick-- Is what we need to be healed.
You know, I mean, it's a mutual search for…
One of the parts of the Bible
states that being sorry for something is just the first step.
- You have to… - Work it out.
- …take action and… and… - Mm-hmm.
We've heard apologies, but still nothing has happened, really.
Pleasure meeting you, and I'm putting all my faith and trust in you to…
- In God alone, huh? - No…
I'll do what I can, but you know…
- Yeah. - Yeah. Thank you for your--
I'm honored that you would come. Thank you so much.
- How could I hold your story. - Okay.
- -
Welcome to the famous Williams Lake Stampede!
- -
- Kick your ass. - Yeah, well, hey.
- Whoop his ass, Chad! - Go, go.
Damn!
♪ Got a good job I work hard for my money ♪
♪ When it's quittin' time I hit the ground runnin' ♪
♪ I fire up my pickup truck And let the horses run ♪
♪ I go flyin' down that highway To that hideaway ♪
♪ Way down in the woods To do the Boot Scootin' Boogie ♪
Charlene, this is…
"Newborn babe saved from the garbage burner
"on the night of August 16th, 1959."
"A newborn babe was found abandoned in a garbage burner
"at the Cariboo Residential School.
"Discovery of the baby made by the dairyman at the Mission.
"He heard a noise which was at first the dairyman took to be a cat.
"He investigated with a flashlight and, looking in the garbage burner, found
"a newly born baby in an ice-cream carton
"which had been used as a wastebasket.
"As mother of the child was not known at the time,
"it was simply classified as 'Baby X.'
"The mother of the child pleaded guilty to a charge of abandoning her baby
"and was sentenced to one year in jail."
- - Oh, my God.
Uh, it says, "The Williams Lake Tribune,
"September 28th, 1959.
"Newborn babe saved from garbage burner.
"A newborn babe was found abandoned in a garbage burner
"at the Cariboo Residential School late on the night of August 16th."
All my life, everyone said I was lying.
And then I started having nightmares again,
but I wasn't too sure what it was about.
The priest sent me to the Mission.
He would get me to clean out the ashes out of the furnace
and carry them down.
This is where he got me to dig holes.
He told me he was dumping garbage in it.
There was bits of bone and other stuff in it.
I'm glad you're here today, you know, so you can leave that here with us.
Where was it that you saw them bury… bury the boy?
Where was it? Here?
That field…
That field as well.
Went for a walk… That's when…
…and I got the strap.
That's why I couldn't walk.
- It was a little girl. - A little girl.
You are so brave.
So, this is the spot that you were talking to me about?
Hmm? Over here?
- There. - Right here?
Yeah.
Thanks for sharing. Okay? I love you. All right?
Whitney?
You okay?
Every principal, from the time the place opened
to when it closed, all knew that this stuff was happening.
So all of those principals were involved in some way,
with the disappearance, with the death, with the babies being born.
Did they think we'd be stupid all of our lives, the rest of our lives?
That nobody would ever find out these things?
Hey, babe?
I'm gonna cut low.
Go ahead, don't ask me. I don't know anything.
Okay.
Now, if I can get up…
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Hail, Mary, full of grace…
Oh, God.
- Oh, it's still alive. - I know. That's wild, eh?
Thanks, Milah.
Do I just throw this in the water?
- Yes, please. -
Oh, right there! I saw a fish fin.
- - All right.
Here, you go first.
Hello?
Mom?
Kyé7e?
- Good morning, Mom. - Good morning.
Morning, you survived the night, Kyé7e.
Don't remind me.
Here, we brought you some Timmy's, special.
And some--
How do you say "Tobacco" in Shuswap?
- Sxutlem. - Sxutlem.
So, Mom, we're on this journey…
just trying to heal.
So, we just wanted to come and,
um, sit with you, I guess.
I just-- I mean, there's just-- I mean, there's one…
…gap in my existence as a baby.
Um, and I think that if I were to know that, I would--
I could find some peace.
I don't like to talk about it. I…
I went through a lot with this.
- - Mom.
It just sticks with me all the time,
and I just wonder how-- why I am still hearing it.
Mom.
And I pray all the time, you know, just…
Mom, we love you.
…for things that I…
- I love you so much. -
- I love you more than anything, Mom. -
-