(Metis Nation - Saskatchewan/Facebook)

By paNOW Staff

SURVIVORS UNITE

Survivors of Île-à-la-Crosse Boarding School wrap up weekend conference

Mar 28, 2023 | 1:48 PM

A group of survivors representing the Île-à-la-Crosse Survivors Committee will soon head to Toronto after a successful meeting in Saskatoon this past weekend.

The group, with support from the Métis Nations – Saskatchewan, came together to again call on the provincial and federal governments to negotiate a resolution at a government-run school in the area.

“This weekend was the first time that many Survivors were able to come together – some were reunited for the first time since they left the school decades ago,” explained Île-à-la-Crosse Survivors Committee member Duane Favel, “For many, it was the first opportunity to speak to other Survivors about their time at the school, reaffirming and validating their experiences.”

The gathering was the first of its kind for the Survivors of Île-à-la-Crosse. The group represents those who attended the Île-à-la-Crosse Residential Boarding School. For more than 100 years it operated in the community and shut down after a fire destroyed the building in the 1970s.

As part of a Class Action lawsuit, those who attended the school want to be included in settlements that are being offered to other Indigenous people who attended Residential Schools in the country. The Île-à-la-Crosse Residential Boarding School has not been included in any previous settlements.

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“Survivors were clear, they want a quick resolution to this court case, but that cannot happen if Canada and Saskatchewan aren’t at the table to negotiate with our Survivors in good faith,” MN-S Vice President Michelle LeClair said. “We will continue to push the two provincial governments to do what is right and that is to negotiate with the Survivors before it is too late. Every year we lose more Survivors, we cannot have any more delays or excuses.”

A group of Survivors representing the Île-à-la-Crosse Survivors Committee now head to Toronto to participate in the National Gathering on Unmarked Burials, where they will be speaking on several panels to further awareness of Île-à-la-Crosse and the Métis experience in the residential school system.

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