CANADA
Vancouver Courier
Cheryl Rossi / Vancouver Courier
September 19, 2013
Many Canadians know students of Indian residential schools experienced terrible abuse, but the institutions weren’t a living hell for everyone.
At Sister Elizabeth Kelliher’s memorial at St. Paul’s Catholic Church on East Cordova last month, one mourner confided she respects the sisters “because they looked after us in residential school. They left their families, they became a nun and they came all the way into the wilderness to take care of us.”
It’s not a commonly heard view.
But Father Garry LaBoucane, a Métis priest who started Aug. 15 as pastor of the Sacred Heart parish, which includes two Catholic churches and a native centre, says he’s heard stories both happy and horrendous from former students of residential schools.
“It’s not just black and white,” the 65-year-old said, noting former students, particularly of his generation who cope with painful memories sometimes don’t want to hear the positive stories.
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