SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - It was an emotional day at St. Patrick High School last Thursday as approximately 100 educators listened to the stories of four residential school survivors from the NWT.

Sarah Jerome speaks at the Culture Based Professional Development Day at St. Patrick's School Oct. 8- Terrence McEachern/NNSL photo

"Before I stepped into the residential school, I was healthy - 100 per cent. Physically, mentally, spiritually and psychologically," said Sarah Jerome, the NWT languages commissioner. "It was the most beautiful way of life. Then I walked into the residential school - that's when the anger began," she said.

"Foreign food, new clothing, rules, prayers, church every day, rules and more rules. I was told when to eat, when to sleep (and) when to go for a nap," she said. "I couldn't make up my own mind, I had no opinion. If I as much as said 'I didn't like this food,' I was punished for it."

Jerome was one of five panelists that participated in a 45-minute discussion entitled, A Closer Look at The Residential Schools Experience. Other members on the panel were Paul Andrew, Doreen Reid, Bishop Murray Chatlain and Patrick Young. The discussion was part of the school district's culture-based professional development day activities.

Jerome said when she finally graduated from the residential school system 12 years later, the experience left her feeling like a robot, confused and "living between two worlds."

The other panelists who also attended residential schools had very similar accounts of their experiences. They are examples of individuals who overcame their hardships and went on to graduate with one or more university degrees. But the panelists, in one way or another, told the audience how they entered residential schools spiritually healthy and over time began to feel inferior and "less than" as aboriginals. They also told educators how the experience made them feel lost, confused and ashamed of their culture.

Wanted to be white

Doreen Reid said there were times when she tried "to scrub (her) skin to scrub the brown off, because (she) wanted to be white."

Bishop Chatlain of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith told teachers that the role of the church is to "truly hear" the experiences of former residential school survivors and be present in the healing process. "It would be easy not to be here," he said.

"It's easy for us to intellectualize it - try to figure it out. But it's their lives and it's their hearts that are very much affected by this. So, when we can understand that a bit more, that's helpful to the discussion."

Their message was to remind teachers of the importance of instilling a sense of pride in the aboriginal student population.

"That's what we need to reinforce with our teachers today," said Johnnie Bowden, assistant superintendent of learning for Yellowknife Catholic Schools. He said the presentation was for new teachers but also "teachers who have been in the North for many years but have not fully realized or appreciated the impact that the aboriginal culture has on our aboriginal student's ability to succeed."

Beverly Amirault, 28, a Grade 1 teacher at St. Joseph School originally from Nova Scotia, said the panel presentation was a real "eye-opener" because of its message showing how important it is to make students feel proud of who they are. She said cultural training like this is especially important to help teachers who are not from the North become adjusted to the cultural differences in the North.

"A lot of teachers who are actually teaching now at our schools, they are not from here. So, you arrive and sometimes you don't really know where your students come from (or) what there culture is - the experiences that they have," she said.

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