Ceremony reunites native pupils: school not named in any residential abuse lawsuits.The main dormitory building at the former Anglican Indian residential school in La Tuque La Tuque (lä tük), town (1991 pop. 10,003), S Que., Canada, on the St. Maurice River, NW of Quebec. La Tuque, in a lumbering and farming region, was established as a trading post in the French period; it grew after the coming of the railroad , Que., which had fallen into disrepair, was demolished de·mol·ish tr.v. de·mol·ished, de·mol·ish·ing, de·mol·ish·es 1. To tear down completely; raze. 2. To do away with completely; put an end to. 3. in early February. A number of former students from northern Quebec Cree communities gathered for the demolition. Mary Coon coon: see raccoon. , a former student and counselor at La Tuque, participated in ceremonies commemorating former pupils. The school's former classroom building is now in use as a daycare facility and the daycare director, Christiane Morin, organized the commemoration and reunion. Ms. Coon told the CBC (1) (Cell Broadcast Center) See cell broadcast. (2) (Cipher Block Chaining) In cryptography, a mode of operation that combines the ciphertext of one block with the plaintext of the next block. that the event allowed native people to "think about how we've come a long way. If we look at ourselves, where we are today, we're a stronger people. A lot of people have gone through healing. We know how to write; we know how to speak English. Some of us know how to speak French. For those of us who went to residential school, it wasn't all bad all the time." Ms. Morin also circulated a petition asking that the Anglican chapel on the site--which is near the former residence building--be preserved. La Tuque opened in 1963 and was closed in 1978. Canon Jean-Maurice Bonnard, who is now 77, was principal and administrator at the school from 1968 to 1978. He attended the ceremony and, in a subsequent telephone interview, noted that the school has not been named in any of the abuse lawsuits filed in recent years. Several former students told the CBC that the atmosphere at the school changed under Mr. Bonnard, becoming more "like a big family." In the interview, Mr. Bonnard said that occurred as a result of his experience living in Indian communities in northern Ontario Northern Ontario is the part of the province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron (including Georgian Bay), the French River and Lake Nipissing. Northern Ontario has a land area of 802,000 km² (310,000 mi²) and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it . "I saw how Indian parents bring up their children. They never spank them. When I came to the school, I was shown the strap and I said, 'What is that for?' They said, 'to strap the bad children.' I was horrified hor·ri·fy tr.v. hor·ri·fied, hor·ri·fy·ing, hor·ri·fies 1. To cause to feel horror. See Synonyms at dismay. 2. To cause unpleasant surprise to; shock. and I never did it. The other thing was, I let the boys grow their hair. I thought, why not?" La Tuque was once part of a nationwide system of boarding schools It may never be fully completed or, depending on its its nature, it may be that it can never be completed. However, new and revised entries in the list are always welcome. aimed at educating native children. In recent years, hundreds of natives have sued the federal government and the various churches that ran the schools, alleging physical and sexual abuse, and several former staff have been convicted of criminal charges. Solange De Santis STAFF WRITER |
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