THE BATTLEFORDS — Social media is a big part of most people’s daily lives. There are a lot of misconceptions that make it hard to know what is real and what isn’t. It is no different when people post fallacies about Residential Schools without getting all the facts.
On Sept. 30, Truth and Reconciliation Day, Senator Jenny Spyglass, a survivor of the Delmas Residential School, spoke about her experience.
Spyglass attended the Delmas school from 1944 to 1948 with her siblings Martin, Reggie, Agnes, and Teresa. One brother did not attend because he was in the hospital.
She recalled the story of Phyllis Webstad, who in 1973 on her first day at St Joseph Mission Residential School, had her orange shirt her grandmother made for her taken away. She said “I honestly believe they took away the orange shirt on purpose”.
Spyglass said, “They did bad things to us. They took the clothes away that my mama made for me. They did bad things to my sister that I witnessed with my own eyes.”
Spyglass said her hair was cut and the children were not fed properly. She said her younger brother Reggie was starved to death at the school and never came home.
She also said that her language was taken from her. Her father spoke Assiniboia, but he was away in the army and never taught it to the children. Later, her mother, from the Peyachew family of Red Pheasant Nation, taught her Cree.
Spyglass said she is grateful to have survived, though she still struggles with day-to-day tasks. “I didn’t think I would survive and be here today,” she said.
Now she shares her story with students. “I always tell the children to take care of your parents. You are lucky to have them,” she said.
Spyglass said she would like to keep the memories out of her mind, but she continues to speak so the truth is not lost.
