Celia Haig-Brown - Tsqelmucwílc: The Kamloops Indian Residential School―Resistance and a Reckoning

THE KAMLOOPS INDIAN RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLRESISTANCE AND A RECKONING

CELIA HAIG-BROWN

GARRY GOTTFRIEDSON, RANDY FRED, AND THE KIRS SURVIVORS

ARSENAL PULP PRESSVANCOUVER

TSQELMUCWLC

Copyright 2022 by Celia Haig-Brown, Garry Gottfriedson, Randy Fred, and the KIRS Survivors

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any part by any meansgraphic, electronic, or mechanicalwithout the prior written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may use brief excerpts in a review, or in the case of photocopying in Canada, a licence from Access Copyright.

Royalties from the sale of this book will be distributed to the Secwpemc Museum & Heritage Park and the Indian Residential School Survivors Society.

ARSENAL PULP PRESS

Suite 202 211 East Georgia St.

Vancouver, BC V6A 1Z6

Canada

arsenalpulp.com

The publisher gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the British Columbia Arts Council for its publishing program, and the Government of Canada and the Government of British Columbia (through the Book Publishing Tax Credit Program) for its publishing activities.

Arsenal Pulp Press acknowledges the xmkym (Musqueam), Swxw7mesh (Squamish), and slilwta (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, custodians of the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories where our office is located. We pay respect to their histories, traditions, and continuous living cultures and commit to accountability, respectful relations, and friendship.

Cover and text design by Jazmin Welch

Front cover art by Tania Willard, Free Your Mind, from the series Crazymaking (2006), 30 22, relief print on paper; back cover photograph by George A. Meeres, Kamloops Museum and Archives, 1987.013 006

Copy edited by Catharine Chen

Proofread by Alison Strobel

Indexed by Margaret de Boer

Printed and bound in Canada

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication:

Title: Tsqelmucwlc: the Kamloops Indian Residential School--resistance and a reckoning / Celia Haig-Brown, Garry Gottfriedson, Randy Fred, and the KIRS survivors.

Other titles: Resistance and renewal

Names: Haig-Brown, Celia, 1947 author. | Gottfriedson, Garry, 1954 author. | Fred, Randy, author.

Description: Previously published under title: Resistance and renewal: surviving the Indian residential school.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20220228558 | Canadiana (ebook) 20220228663 | ISBN 9781551529059 (softcover) | ISBN 9781551529066 (HTML)

Subjects: LCSH: Kamloops Indian Residential School. | CSH: First NationsBritish ColumbiaKamloopsResidential schools. | CSH: First NationsBritish ColumbiaKamloopsEducation. | CSH: First NationsCultural assimilationBritish Columbia. | CSH: First NationsBritish ColumbiaSocial conditions.

Classification: LCC E96.6.K34 H35 2022 | DDC 371.829/97071172dc23

To the 215 + | Le Estcwicwy and all those who did not survive.

May they live on in our hearts and minds, and may their truths continue to teach.

(Kamloops Indian Band)

Dear Celia,

We the Kkwpi7 and Council for Tkemlps to Secwpemc arc happy to support the publication of Tsqelmucwlc: Kamloops Indian Residential School. Resistance and a Reckoning. We are especially pleased that it includes new work by Secwpemc author Garry Gottfriedson and new cover art by Tania Willard also a member of the Secwpemc Nation. We recognize that this version builds on work done more than thirty years ago with members of our nation as they shared their stories of the school with you. We wish the world had listened then: here is the next opportunity.

The revelation of the 215 childrens graves on the grounds of the former school in May of 2021 makes hearing these stories from 1988 even more important. The survivors in the book, a number of whom have passed away, were some of the first to speak out publicly about the school. In this version, new thoughts from some of the original participants and their children bring readers full circle to a renewed understanding of the strength of the Nation.

We are also supportive of this publication as it demonstrates the value of respectful relationships between the people and a researcher as one that persists over time. This book is an important contribution to the history and contemporary lives of the former students of the KIRS. We wish the authors every success.

Yours sincerely,

Tkemlps te Secwpemc

Chief Rosanne Casimir	Councillor Marie Baptiste
Councillor Thomas Blank	Councillor Nikki Eraser
Councillor Joshua Gottfriedson	Councillor Justin Gottfriedson
Councillor Dave Manuel	Councillor Morning-Star Peters

200-330 Chief Alex Thomas Way, Kamloops BC V2H 1 H1Phone: 250-828-9700 Fax: 250-372-8833www.tkemlups.ca

My good friend Randy Fred, Nuu-Chah-Nulth Nation and Elder in Residence at Vancouver Island University, provided the impetus that encouraged me to even consider this reimagined book. I raise my hands in endless gratitude to him for his provocative demands and for his unrelenting support for the work over the years. I thank the members of the Secwpemc, Nlakapamux, Statimc, and Tsilhqutin Nations who, as co-authors, collaborators, and teachers, continue to generously tell their truths and guide me in this work: Julie Antoine, Beverly Bob, Shawn Bob, Garry Gottfriedson, Gayle Gottfriedson, Jackie Jones, Charlotte Manuel, Vicki Manuel, Annie Michel, Ashley Michel, Paul and Kathy Michel, Maria Myers, Tania Willard, Archie Williams, and the many others who spent time with me discussing the work even as they chose not to be named. I thank the Kkwpi7 and Council for Tkemlps te Secwpemc, who took time from their demanding work to review the proposal and send a letter of support for the book. Special thanks to Brian Lam, publisher extraordinaire, who without hesitation saw the value of this work. And thanks to designer Jazmin Welch, editor Catharine Chen, and publicity manager Cynara Geissler of Arsenal Pulp Press, who addressed all those details to make a beautiful book out of the bits and pieces gathered. Thank you, Jaimie Fedorak, archivist for the Kamloops Museum and Archives, who gave so freely of her time in guiding me through file drawers and personal photograph albums to many of the images included in the book. Thanks to Heather Bergen for her insightful comment on the study notes. And thanks to meticulous proofreader Alison Strobel and acclaimed indexer Margaret de Boer for the final touches. Finally, love and thanks to Didi Khayatt, who has engaged in endless conversations about this work, providing insights, edits, and infinite patience with my struggles.