Story
June 29, 2021
Residential School Survivors Reflect On A Brutal Legacy: ‘That Could’ve Been Me.’
Country:
Many Western governments operated Indian Residential Schools.
It’s been 51 years since Deedee Lerat, 60, attended the Marieval Indian Residential School on her home reservation of Cowessess in Saskatchewan, Canada. But the memories of the abuses the Saulteaux Cree woman endured there still haunt her. “There was so much fear,” she says.
The fear came rushing back when the Cowessess First Nation announced on June 23 that it had discovered 751 unmarked graves at the site of the school. “I would like answers,” says Lerat. “Why weren’t they reported? Why wasn’t this stopped?” She was five years old when she was forced to attend Marieval. “That could’ve been me.”
