Thread by @Norlaine

I was sorting some papers this morning and I came across some typed copies of letters that were sent between family members back in the 1870s and 1880s. A member of the family had left home in Ontario, determined he was going to make his fortune in California, and vanished.
1/22

Finding stuff like this always inspires me to do genealogy, and what happened to this guy has always been a family mystery. So I dug in again on the "What Happened to William?" file. 2/22

One of the letters was from one of the brothers who had stayed home in Ontario, to one of his sisters, my great-great grandmother, who had moved with her husband and children to farm in Manitoba. There was the following passage: 3/22

"I suppose you are aware that I have had all my plans arranged for some time to start for the mighty Klondike in the spring. We expected to have got away last fall and wintered up at Teslier Lake, but brother-in-law Robert could not get his affairs arranged in time... 4/22

He and Grace's brother, Donald, are both with us now, waiting for spring to open up, when I expect we will make a start.... I expect Dr. Lindsay will go with us as he has the fever too. I had a letter from him last mail." 5/22

Interesting side chatter, but not really helpful in figuring out what became of William. I knew that the Robert he was speaking of was Dr. Robert Brett, who was married to my great great grandmother's sister, Louisa. 6/22

And I knew that Robert and Louisa had moved to Banff, where Robert set up a hospital and the health spa and resort that were the foundation of the town. He later became Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta from 1915 to about 1925. 7/22

I have visited the mausoleum where he and Louisa and their children are buried in the old Banff cemetery. And I knew Dr. Neville Lindsay was married to another sister, Florence. Didn't strike me as being of any great significance. 8/22

Later, I was in the kitchen making lunch with the radio on to @cbcradio , as usual. The show that was on was about residential schools and the mistreatment of Indigenous Peoples in western Canada. 9/22

I didn't catch it all, but there was a man reading from an apology to the Sarcee/Nakoda/Crowfoot/Cree/Tsuu T'ina First Nations. 10/22

A line in the apology grabbed my ears, and brain, and heart. He read, "...and Dr. Lindsay, who was tasked with addressing their illnesses and problems, and who didn't really help very much..." (not a direct quote, but that's the gist). 11/22

Back to the letter, back to the internet, back to newspaper archives...

It seems at least Dr. Neville Lindsay and Dr. Robert Brett and their wives did set out for the "Mighty Klondike". The Bretts made it to Banff, where they settled down. 12/22

The Lindsays made it as far as Calgary. Neville Lindsay, my GGG aunt's husband, was deeply involved in residential schools and went through the motions of treating First Nations people who became ill. 13/22

Calgary Herald archives contain many articles singing praises of the Lindsays. She was the 7th white woman to live in Calgary. She was instrumental in establishing a Church of England congregation in what Neville Lindsay described as a "canvas town", w/o proper buildings. 14/22

Residential schools, and the way settlers reneged on the treaties, have always troubled me. At the same time, they felt somewhat distant. Like many Canadians descended from immigrants, I felt horrified, saddened, and appalled, by what had happened here. 15/22

But those things were perpetrated by strangers, right?

Suddenly it's up close and personal. Members of my family were so culpable that one was named in an apology. I feel sick. I am struggling to process this. 16/22

I am not looking for anyone to say it's ok. It's not. I know I am not responsible for things people related to me did many decades before I was born. But it's gross and disgusting and horrible to find this in your family tree. 17/22

If I could apologize to those who were hurt by this man, and have it make any difference, I would. I do. With all my heart. But it doesn't make any difference at all. I am so, so sorry. But that's about as useful as "thoughts and prayers". 18/22

What I can do is push harder for legislators to enact the recommendations of the TRC. I can listen & learn. I can sit in the discomfort & pain of knowing the things that happened, knowing I can change nothing in the past. It's far too little. But I commit to doing this. 19/22

We can't change the past. But we can work to change the future. We MUST work to change the future. 20/22

In every election, we must engage with all candidates, demanding to know where they stand on the TRC recommendations. Don't vote for anyone who is not credible in their promises to enact all recommendations. Do not vote for racists. 21/22

Do not vote for anyone whose party's behaviour has not been aligned with being part of the solution.

We must all be part of the solution, part of a better future that no one has to apologize for. 22/22