A testament to resiliency: Survivors become role models to generations rising above colonial legacies

Traditional Territory of Musqueam People -

Indigenous people in Canada have faced adversity, trauma, and tragedy. Those who find the strength to overcome injustice are becoming leaders in their communities and are looked to as role models for future generations rising up to break the shackles of colonialism.

As Canada marks the first-ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and remembers the atrocities that brought the country here – for inspiration Canadians can also look to those who have experienced the harms of damaging colonial legacies – and risen above them.

Nearly 60 years ago, with the help of his uncle, Ron Ignace ran away from the Kamloops Indian Residential School – a place where he was beaten for speaking his mother tongue.

“The way I maintained my ability to keep my language while in residential school – I thought in Swepmetcheen and spoke in English, knowing full well that they could not beat me for what I thought.”

He said the school tried to erase his language and culture.

“But that did not happen. They failed in that as I still stand here and I’ve been fighting for our rights ever since," Ignace said.

He has lived a distinguished life, spending 32 years as chief of the Skeetchestn Indian Band, earning a Ph.D. in anthropology, and recently being named Canada's first-ever Commissioner of Indigenous languages.

“Our languages are who we are," he said. “The best way that we can honour those people that didn’t make it home is to ensure that our languages do not die.”

Brenda Dubois, of the Muscowpetung First Nation in Saskatchewan, went to a residential school near Regina. She was separated from her family when she was just four years old.

Reflecting on the experience, she said the whole point was to dehumanize Indigenous students.

Dubois is now a knowledge keeper at the University of Regina, providing cultural insights on ceremony and traditional teachings, and helping survivors of colonial violence with their trauma.

“I think the most important thing I’ve done over the last many years is telling people it’s okay to cry. It’s okay to feel. It’s okay to be a human being because that’s what they tried to take away from us,” she said.

In her work, she encourages people not to let the past dictate their future.

“If you are granted a day tomorrow, you are granted a day to make something different," she said.

She and Ignace have that in common – survivors using their experience to make a difference in a nation that desperately needs their wisdom.

“What we want to see happen here is to ensure that we have the ability to contribute to building a country that is great and good for all," Ignace said.

The journey is different for every survivor of colonial violence, each of whom must deal with their trauma in their own unique way. However, the very fact they are here – despite a centuries-long effort to erase them – is a testament to their resiliency. 

If you are a former residential school student in distress, or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419

Additional mental-health support and resources for Indigenous people are available here.