Former residential school becomes site of Indigenous cultural reclamation

SAULT STE. MARIE -

University students are working to preserve their heritage in the very same spot it was taken from their grandparents.

Algoma University Shingwauk Anishinaabe Students' Association President Nina Trudeau’s association with Algoma goes well beyond her years. Her grandfather attended when it was a residential school.

“I know that there’s a lot of mixed emotions behind having to pay tuition to get our language and our culture back. But, at the same time, that’s one step forward of something my grandfather never had. So, where they took the language and the culture from him, I now have the opportunity to take it back,” Trudeau said.

The institution maintains an exhibit on its history as a residential school, complete with testimonials of former students - and a marker for a crawl space under a stairwell where students would often hide.

As a young girl, Trudeau remembers listening to her grandparents speaking Anishinaabemowin to each other. She is now learning the language.

Following the recent apology from Pope Francis on the Catholic Church’s role in Canada’s residential schools, Trudeau feels it was a hollow gesture.

“Pretty words. He did what he needed to do to essentially…shut us up and to stop bugging the Pope about Truth and Reconciliation and about his apology.”

Colter Assiniwai, a recent Algoma graduate who now works for the university, says the fight for truth and reconciliation is gradually being passed on to younger generations.

“I’ve seen many people in that next generation, or the generation afterwards, which is mine, begin taking up that fight and taking up those truths – those very hard truths,” Assiniwai said. “Those family members, those relatives, those elders who do want to share their story, they stick with us. We remember those stories and we remember how to tell them.”

Among the objectives of the Shingwauk Anishinaabe Students' Association is to strengthen cultural awareness between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. The vice president of the association, Joanne Perrault, says it is important for members to celebrate who they are.

“We don’t want them to be shy and withheld. We want them to be able to speak freely and know that they can. We need them to be our next generation or our leaders,” Perrault said.

Trudeau says Indigenous youth should express pride in their culture by any means they see fit.

“If you only know one word in the language, that’s fine. Use it, and use it every day,” Trudeau said. “If you show your pride by wearing your beadwork and your ribbon skirts, then keep doing that.”