Alert Bay set to mark demolition of former residential school

Since St. Michael’s ceased operating as a residential school, the building has “cast a dark shadow on the landscape” of Cormorant Island.

That’s how Robert Joseph, a hereditary chief of the Gwawaenuk First Nation, describes the haunting presence of the former institution on the community of Alert Bay.

On February 18, Joseph will gather with other residential school survivors outside the facility, some of whom he hasn’t seen since he attended the school as a child. He spent 11 years there, starting in the 1946-47 school year, when he was just six years old.

Others who went to the residential school during its decades of operation will be travelling from across B.C.'s north coast and from various urban centres.

The survivors, along with their supporters and family members, will be gathering to mark the demolition of the building, and to celebrate its symbolic decommission.

“It’s always been a constant reminder of a dark period in our history, so now that the demolition’s happening, everybody’s excited, and there’s…a sense of liberation from that haunting past,” Joseph told the Straight in a phone interview.

He hopes that eventually there will be a “grand memorial” where the school has stood since it was built in 1929.

“To remind all of us and to remind others who come to this place that at one time, we had this social experiment that turned horribly, horribly wrong,” Joseph said.

The elder expects to have hundreds in attendance for the ceremony. Events during a two-day gathering this week, the theme of which is I’tustolagalis, or "Rising up, together", will include speeches, a healing ceremony, and a moment of silence, to remember "all those little ones who didn't ever go back home," Joseph said.

Delegates in attendance will include the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Perry Bellgarde, and B.C. AFN regional chief Jody Wilson-Raybould.

“We want our survivors to know that their leaders stand in solidarity with them, and we want in turn to call on our leaders to continue to support the idea of healing and reconciliation, and moving forward,” noted Joseph.

After the school closed in 1974, the building was returned to the 'Namgis First Nation and renamed 'Namgis House.

As a former student at the residential school, the structure is a reminder of Joseph's “horrific experience” attending the facility.

“I grew up in this place in my most formative, innocent years,” he said, noting that at one time, the building’s presence triggered some resentment and anger.

“But I’m not defined by that school anymore,” he said. “I have this dream and this idea that I’m a person of value and worth, and I can still do what I can to make this a better place.”

The elder's work has included acting as an advisor to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and as executive director of the Indian Residential Schools Survivors Society. He is now the ambassador for Reconciliation Canada, which organized a reconciliation march in September 2013 in Vancouver that drew tens of thousands of people.

Joseph predicts the ceremony next week will be “a moving moment”.

“I’m sure I’m going to have a few tears,” he said. “But it’s going to be both of sadness and joy, and it’s going to be about wondering how we as human beings are allowed to treat each other from time to time in ways that we shouldn’t.

“Collectively…those of us who survived are going to know that there are a lot of people who care,” he added. “We used to think we’re alone and nobody cared, but lots of people care, lots of Canadians care, and many people are doing what they can to help us move from the past and move together into the future.”

Some of his upcoming goals for Reconciliation Canada include creating a model for "economic reconciliation", or ways to increase economic opportunities for indigenous communities, and organizing a reconciliation walk in Ottawa when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission releases its final report at the end of May.

“I think my life experience and the experience of the survivors has something to give to people in the days to come," he said.

"About how we can persevere, and how we can build resilience, and how we can cradle the idea that human beings care for each other, and that there’s always hope and inspiration, if we don’t let the dark side of it get to us."