This one seems to keep coming up in my world, and to me that means Creator is giving me a hint to write about it. And since I am not in the habit of ignoring Creator’s hints, here it is …

There ARE indigenous people who will tell you that residential school was a positive experience for them. In many of these cases, being removed and taken to the schools meant they were removed from unhealthy home environments. Alcohol and violence were often present, which meant residential school became the better of two evils.

They deserved better, at home, and from those who ran the schools. Those institutions may have removed them from unhealthy conditions, but even if they managed to somehow escape the physical and sexual abuse rampant in those environments, they were not loved, cared for, or nurtured in the way every child deserves to be.

But I get why they say it.

What we must remember, however, is what created those horrific homes they were so desperate to escape from. What we must remember is that they were not the first generation to go to the schools, that their parents before them had suffered (often, unnamed horrors) at the schools, resulting in the self-destructive home life the next generation was thankful to flee.

Remember, that dependent on where you lived and how long the residential school was in existence, our families saw up to seven generations go to the schools. That leaves a mark, and wanting to escape the resulting insanity doesn’t make the schools good or the parents bad.

It’s just another twisted truth in this history of horror.

Now, I hope you understand a little more of those thankful for the schools. It DID save them from home. Unfortunately, nothing saved their parents.

The journey continues …
 

I love you!
HUGSSSSSSSSS
Sandi