Theresa Turmel - Mnidoo Bemaasing Bemaadiziwin

Mnidoo
Bemaasing
Bemaadiziwin

Copyright 2020 Theresa Turmel

ARP Books (Arbeiter Ring Publishing)

205-70 Arthur Street

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Treaty 1 Territory and Historic Mtis Nation Homeland Canada R3B 1G7

arpbooks.org

Cover design by Dr. Theresa Turmel with execution by Relish New Brand Experience.

Interior design and layout by Relish New Brand Experience.

Cover artwork by Dayna Rainville.

Printed and bound in Canada by Imprimerie Gauvin on paper made from 100% recycled post-consumer waste.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

This book is fully protected under the copyright laws of Canada and all other countries of the Copyright Union and is subject to royalty.

ARP Books acknowledges the generous support of the Manitoba Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada and the Province of Manitoba through the Book Publishing Tax Credit and the Book Publisher Marketing Assistance Program of Manitoba Culture, Heritage, and Tourism.

Cover image explanation: Some may view First Nations as toppled or broken like the tree on the front cover. This is not true. Our strong roots are firmly attached. We will recover from colonization. We are the tree, standing tall. Our beauty, strength, perseverance and resilience shines through with the assistance of our Ancestors, Traditional Teachings, ceremonies, love of our Mother Earth, and healing through the passion and pride of who we are. Seema leads the way.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Title: Mnidoo bemaasing bemaadiziwin : reclaiming, reconnecting, and demystifying resiliency as life force energy for residential school survivors / Dr. Theresa Turmel.

Other titles: Reclaiming, reconnecting, and demystifying resiliency as life force energy for

residential school survivors

Names: Turmel, Theresa, author.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20200241524 | Canadiana (ebook) 2020024289X | ISBN 9781927886359

(softcover) | ISBN 9781927886366 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Indigenous peoplesMental healthCanada. | LCSH: Adult child abuse victimsCanada. | LCSH: Adult child abuse victimsMental healthCanada. | LCSH: Healing. | LCSH: Resilience (Personality trait) | CSH: Native peoplesCanadaResidential schools.

Classification: LCC E96.5 .T87 2020 | DDC 371.829/97071dc23

Mnidoo
Bemaasing
Bemaadiziwin

Reclaiming, Reconnecting, and Demystifying Resiliency
as Life Force Energy for Residential School Survivors

Dr. Theresa Turmel

ARP BOOKS WINNIPEG, MB

Dr. Kathy Absolon

Anishinaabe Thought: The Bones and the Bedrock Kanan miinwaa nbagani-aasmaabkong

The Work Process: Relationship and Knowledge Nokiiwin e-zhimaajiihkag: Wiijikiiwendiwin miininwaa kendaaswin

Our Past Matters Gaa-bi-zhewebak gchi-zhaazhe gchi-piitendaagwaad

Understanding Life Force Energy Nsastamowin mnidoo bemaasing bemaadiziwin

The Taken Arrival and Life at the School

The Knowing Youth and the Roots of Resistance

The Transition Young Adults Returning Home

The Transformation Survivors as Knowledge Holders

The Path of Life Continues

This work is dedicated to all the residential school survivors and their families everywhere. A special heartfelt dedication goes to the late Susie Jones, the late Vernon Jones, and the Jones family. If you are a survivor reading this work and are in need of support, I encourage you to seek it.

I want to acknowledge that I have been privileged and honoured to work alongside Walpole Island First Nation as they are the members who invited me into their community to complete our community project. The acceptance I received and more importantly the wonderful sense of belonging I felt was exactly what we all crave in our lives. I must acknowledge my immediate family. I most sincerely thank my husband, Mike, for his understanding and support. ForeverI will hear his words, Get your work done! and lament at my sadness of having to leave him yet again and travel one more time to either Walpole Island or Peterborough. It was my wish to not be gone for so long and explained that I might be gone even longer if I encountered bad weather that it may delay my return, and then hearing him say, Id rather miss you for one night than for the rest of my life. His reply gives me a warm, happy feeling.

I must acknowledge my beautiful adult children, John, Danielle and Chantal for their unwavering support while listening to my complaints. John, my son, on hearing these complaints would say, Ma, did you think that they were just going to hand you that paper? My daughter Danielle who shares my love of books, remarked that she was recently promoted at work and must oversee co-workers grammar and spelling mistakes and blamed me for her gift of literacy. My daughter, Chantal, is probably the most beautiful and resilient person I know. I am most proud of my children and grateful to the Creator in that we were chosen to have them bestowed onto my husband and I. My adult children are the bright lights in my life. My grandchildren, Ariel, Alexandra, Dylahn, Emma-Leigh and Benjamin are my Northern Lights that shimmer and glow. They are young ones, precious beings who nurture and feed my soul with their spirit and joy. I drink from their happiness and silent beauty. I also must acknowledge the love and encouragement I received from my late mother, Angeline and my best bud, Mac. Forever I will be especially grateful to know Mac and to have her in my life. I have been truly blessed.

I must acknowledge many others who have been generous with their precious time. The wonderful friends such as the late Susie and Vernon Jones, Michael Cachagee, and Elders Doug Williams, and Shirley Williams have greatly assisted me during my learning journey, and I owe them a great debt of gratitude. I must also give a very special chi megweetch to the late Leonard Kicknosway, the late Patrick Isaac, the late Billy Blackbird, the late Louis Johnson, the late Buster DeLeary, Sylvia Deleary, Una Day, Joanne Day, Geraldine Robertson, Mary Gilbert, and Eric Isaac. I could not have completed my final narrative without their understanding, bravery and honesty.

In addition, I must sincerely thank my brothers, Joseph Buckell and the late William Buckell and my cousin the late Veronica Nicholson for their support and encouragement. I could not have completed my doctoral work without the assistance of the late Carol Sanders in her role as Band Manager of Michipicoten First Nation.

I would also like to thank my editor, Irene Bindi, and her colleagues at the ARP Books publishing company for their thoughtfulness and careful work on my manuscript. I appreciated Irenes insight and effective wordsmithing. A special acknowledgment goes to Dr. Kathy Absolon who wrote the foreword to this book. When I asked her if she would consider doing this, I was overjoyed that she had consented immediately. I must be mindful and sincerely thank Dr. Maggie Kovach whose work sparked my life force energy, and I also say chi megweetch to Dayna Rainville for her beautiful understanding in her artistry in her work for my book cover. I would also like to thank Madeline Whetung for her feedback. It was so much appreciated! This book is a dream come true that has been on my mind, an important obligation, a promise I made to survivors for over twenty-five years. It is certainly a commitment that I embraced and worked hard to fulfill. It is now complete.

Anishinaabemowin Ojibway language

Anishinaabekwe human being woman