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I’m at a ceremony this morning where the names of children who attended & died at Canadian residential schools is being unveiled on a 50-metre long ceremonial cloth. #OrangeShirtDay2019
The moving ceremony has come to end. A book has also been released remembering those who never returned home.
Here is the book. 
These are the Cote siblings from Kitigan Zibi. They were all taken to St. Mary's Indian Residential School in Kenora. They weren't allowed to talk to each other. If they did they were punished. So when they saw one another they would wiggle their pinkie finger #secretsignlanguage
Left to right: Frank (69), Margaret (68), Jackie (70) and Eddie (73). Eddie says at residential school, he was never called by his name. Just his number. His was "36".
The Canadian government developed a policy called "aggressive assimilation" to be taught at church-run, government-funded industrial schools, later called residential schools. The government felt children were easier to mold than adults.
Residential schools were federally run, under the Department of Indian Affairs. Attendance was mandatory for children in the many communities. Agents were employed by the government to ensure all native children attended school. Read more here: cbc.ca/news/canada/a-…
When talking about all of this please consider these important points. Thank you NCTR for guidance on this.
I want to add one other thing: The Cotes' REAL last name is Pizendewatch. It was changed when they arrived at their residential school. Their family name is Pizendewatch and it's important you know that.
