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Update on Indian Boarding Schools

June 29, 2023 — Ottawa, ON — Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada

Today, the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, and court-appointed representative plaintiffs Reginald Percival and Kenneth Weistche announced that a proposed settlement agreement has been reached in the Federal Indian Boarding Homes (Percival) class action. The Indian Boarding Home Program was a program in which the Government of Canada placed children from First Nations communities and Inuit villages in other communities (usually non-Indigenous) to stay with private families for their education.

  • Individual compensation of $10,000 to recognize the losses caused by placement in a boarding home by Canada for the purpose of attending school. Placements from September 1, 1951, to June 30, 1992, will automatically be included, with provisions made for those placed by the federal government after that date.
  • Additional individual compensation, ranging from $10,000 to $200,000, for incidents of physical and sexual or other abuse while residing in a boarding home placement, based on severity of the abuses suffered;
  • $50 million to be invested to support the commemoration, healing, language, and culture;
  • Funding to support class members who require assistance from legal counsel and other forms of support on their abuse claims. Read more ...

    Former students of Mackay Residential School hold reunion

    By James Wastasecoot

    Former students of Mackay Indian Residential Schools gathered at the old school in Dauphin Aug. 5 – 7. 2022 to share and support one another in their healing journeys. Groups of students have been holding reunions at the school since 1987, two years after it closed for good. “It was an emotionally wrenching experience for some and for others, it was a happy occasion to visit with old friends and former colleauges,” said Clara Kirkness, event organizer and survivor. “We have about 45 individuals, many of them were new to the experience. It was hard for them to confront what happened to them here.”

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    “Pimotewak” – “They walk” group marks first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation at Manitoba Legislative grounds

    Posted Oct. 2, 2021

    By James Wastasecoot 

    The Pimotwak walkers, who took on a thousand-kilometer trek from York Landing, Tataskwayak and Fox Lake, arrived at the Manitoba legislative grounds on Sept. 30, the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. About two hundred individuals, many of them former students at Mackay Residential school, gathered on the grounds in bright sun to mark the holiday, and to remember the children of unmarked graves discovered at Kamloops and other locations during the spring and summer.

    “This has been an emotional journey for all of us,” said Councillor Sophie Lockhart, principal organizer.  

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    Walkers enroute to provincial legislature.

    Posted Sept. 21, 2021 - Residential school survivors and supporters from Fox Lake Cree and York Factory First Nation began a walk on Sept. 18 from York Landing to the Manitoba Legislature in Winnipeg.

    Opimotewak will arrive in Winnipeg Sept 30.

    The Opimotewak (In Cree, “they walk”) are walking to commemorate the 250 unmarked graves and other remains of children found at former residential school sites across Canada this summer. Organizer Sophie Lockhart is a band councillor from Fox Lake Cree Nation. She said she was emotionally wrought by the discoveries and couldn’t sleep. “I decided I had to do something,” she said. “We gathered at our work place and formed a committee and from there we came up with a plan for the march. Tonight, we will stay at Grand Rapids and then drive back to Pontoon to resume our walk from there.”

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    Artwork of former residential school students repatriated at Manitoba Museum

    By James Wastasecoot

    Graham Newman with mother Marjorie Newman, sister of Johnny Saunders, view his painting.

    WINNIPEG August 10, 2021 - Mackay Indian Residential School Gathering (MRSG) assisted today at the Manitoba Museum in the repatriation of artwork by former Mackay students, who have since passed on, to their families. Famiiy members of the late Johnny Saunders (York Factory First Nation) and Abraham Lathlin (Opaskwayak Cree Nation) viewed their relative’s painting and gave instructions to MRSG on how the artwork is to be preserved. All survivors or survivor families may decide on the final disposition of their relative’s painting and may have the original artwork shipped to them or a copy made for their family. “It was very emotional for me,” said Denise Lathlin-Cook, eldest daughter of Abraham Lathlin. “I’m very happy to see that he left something behind and I love this painting.” Son, Gordie Lathlin, got the word from his mother that his dad had a painting in the museum. Upon the viewing of his dad’s artwork which he painted when he was 15, he said: “It was awesome. He never really talked to us about residential school. It was wonderful to see his painting.”

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Photographs

The group has gathered a collection of photographs over the years, many of which are displayed here. The entire collection is housed at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, University of Manitoba. You can post your old photos to the Mackay School Pictures & Memoriabilia Facebook page. They may also end up here, eventually. 

The goals of the Mackay Residential School Gathering Inc. are:

  • to support and collaborate with residential school survivors in healing journeys;
  • to organize gatherings and activities;
  • to provide a forum for discussion and outreach to the larger community on the topic of residential schools; and
  • to assist where needed with the intergenerational effects.