Indigenous History Pt. 1: Written by Jordan
Indigenous History: a 3-part blog series, written by Jordan. June is National Indigenous History Month; it is a time for teaching and learning while valuing and recognizing the contributions of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people. In this series, Jordan discusses his personal experiences, issues surrounding the residential school system and current topics.
BEFORE YOU READ
Content Trigger Warning: The following blog series discusses themes of trauma including intergenerational trauma, physical and mental abuse and systemic racism which may be triggering.
Part 1
In Canada, June is National Indigenous History Month; it is a time for teaching and learning while valuing and recognizing the contributions of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people. I want to discuss why this is important to me and then touch on some sensitive issues surrounding the residential school system and current topics in my three-part blog series. First, I would like to introduce myself, give a brief history of who I am and why I am passionate about political and social justice surrounding Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island.
My name is Jordan, and I am a social work student at Mount Royal University and doing my practicum here at Antyx Community Arts. I was born in Red Deer, Alberta and lived there most of my life, but we moved around often when I was young and we briefly lived on a reserve in my younger years, and I recently moved to Calgary approximately six years ago. My mother was adopted, so I only know that she is white, and my father is Willow Cree. Our reserve is Beardy’s and Okemasis' Cree Nation, Treat 6 territory in Saskatchewan. My grandmother (Kokum) Madeline Victoria Rudolph nee Peeteetuce (Vicky) was born on August 13, 1945, in Duck Lake, Saskatchewan, and died July 12, 2007, Edmonton, Alberta; she had seven siblings. My grandmother was sent to St. Michaels Indian Residential School in Duck Lake at six years old and stayed there for 10 years. She remained there with her brothers and sisters for years, among other family members and friends within the community. St. Michaels was operated by the Roman Catholic Church (Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Sisters, Faithful Companions of Jesus, Sisters of the Presentation of Mary, Oblate Indian-Eskimo Council) until 1982 when the Duck Lake residence came under the control of the Saskatoon District Chiefs.
Madeline had encountered sexual and physical abuse on many occasions from priests and nuns at the school. These violations had become an overwhelming amount of trauma to endure, never knowing why this happened to her. She had always lived in poverty and struggled with depression and alcohol addiction until her death in 2007, 5 days after I informed her of her first grandchild. My Kokum received no apology or any reconciliation from the government and died destitute in a rooming house in downtown Edmonton, Alberta. She had an open case for resolution, which ended with her death; there was never any acknowledgement or settlement to what trauma she succumbed to in the residential school system. St. Michaels Residential School opened in 1894 and was closed in 1996; many attempts to destroy or burn the school down had been made and was finally demolished in 2002. Since the opening and closing of this school, over 100 children have lost their lives due to neglect or violence.
My Kokum had five children, one being my father. My father and his siblings also endured abuse while being contained in a world of parties and alcohol abuse, which is a correlation of intergenerational trauma passed down from those who directly experience an incident to subsequent generations. My father became homeless at the age of 13 and lived on the streets of Saskatoon until he moved to Alberta, met my mother, got married, and gave birth to me at 17. They had a volatile relationship that also included drug and alcohol abuse and violence. On my 8th birthday, my parents separated, and I lived with my grandparents for six years until I returned to my mother. I started abusing alcohol at the age of 14 and continued into my late 20’s becoming a full-blown alcoholic. I spent many periods of my life in jail, homeless, detox clinics, hospital stays, and treatment. It seems the cycle of intergenerational trauma continued.
Finally, I started to take a different perspective; for one, I wanted to live, I wanted to change this vicious cycle of pain that has resonated in my family for years. In my last hospital visit, I was on the brink of death and decided enough was enough and decided to change my life for good. I can say defeating addiction is not an easy task, and it took all my courage and strength to do so. After taking an inventory of my life and what needed to change, I decided to take a career in social work with my primary goal to work with individuals struggling with addiction.
Through my studies and research, I have found an important topic that interests me and can relate to; the intergenerational trauma that Indigenous people endure and how the residential school system affected people and how it does to this day. So, this is part one of the blog series, and I wanted to include my history to explain why I will be writing about these sensitive topics that I will discuss in my blogs. Thank you for taking your time to read this. I have included some links that have information on the St. Michaels Indian residential school and Beardy’s and Okemasis' Cree Nation website for further facts.
Information Links:
Beardy’s and Okemasis' Cree Nation - https://bofn9697.com/
St. Michael's Indian Residential School: Duck Lake - https://www2.uregina.ca/education/saskindianresidentialschools/st-michaels-indian-residential-school-duck-lake/
St. Michael's Duck Lake Memorial - https://nctr.ca/residential-schools/saskatchewan/st-michaels-duck-lake/
Support Resources
Indigenous youth and families that are struggling and in crisis with the recent events please know there is a number they can call for support at: IRSSS (Indian Residential School Survivors Society) 24/7 Emergency Crisis line 1-800-721-0066 (https://www.irsss.ca/services/counselling) and the Calgary Aboriginal Friendship Centre also has their Elder’s phone line which is available M-F from 8-4pm: https://www.afccalgary.org/