Old Sun Classroom

Hello, my name is Naiistootapinohmahka, Larry Water Chief. My story is about when I stayed at the Residential School. I will tell a story about the dormitory, the senior boys dorm.

At that time I was still a little boy but I was placed in the senior dorm. The older boys always made plans, the decided on what to do and, of course, us younger ones we follow what they do. Sometimes we would have to follow exactly what they say we have to do. And, ah, so one at the dance hall, Crowfoot dance hall, there’s going to be a powwow. The older boys were saying we should run away, and they started plan how we would go there. And we were just following their orders. They told us when all the lights are turned off, and when our supervisor will have gone to bed. They said they told us to fold up our clothes and tie them with a belt, and from the fire escape to throw them right to the ground floor, and there, when it was time, we followed the older boys.

We followed them, we threw our clothes to the ground. We got down through the fire escape and we put our clothes on. We all went to the dance hall. We first walked to the town of Gleichen, and I don’t know why but when we walked to the dance hall there lots of people there and we didn’t stay there long. Then we started going back to the school. As we got closer, we saw that the lights were on and we realized that we got caught. So we just went upstairs and our supervisor did not come into the dorm, she just waited till the morning.

We got up and we just all went to our classrooms. next thing I was told to go the principal’s office. There the boys were in a long line up and we were asking each other “what is going to happen?” When we went in there and the principle was already sitting in there with a strap, it was a wide one. Then all the boys were in line and one by one we were told to pull our pants down and we were each strapped five times. And it was a thick that belt and it really hurt us.  And now I was thinking, “well it was our fault and we did something wrong and you will get punished if you did something wrong,” and this what… I always look at it that way.

Then we had to listen to what the older boys told us what to do. When they finished strapping us, me, I learned a lesson… I learnt a lesson from this, so I did not follow any directions from anybody. I was so scared. The older boys used to tell us, they always told us “When we go to eat, give me some bread and I will help you.” I would quickly hand over our bread or even two marbles… I will give you two marbles for bread. These things you know the older boys, we have to follow what they say.

And there the same place where we sleep, at night we would be hungry. The older boys would go downstairs and steal bread from the kitchen or they would go to the hospital. They would go into the cellar, and they would bring us vegetables, carrots and bread. And we would enjoy eating. When I’m going to sleep, I put them under my pillow, the bread. When I get hungry, I just eat them.

Ah for some it was sad how they badly they were treated. Me, I was scared and I obeyed the older boys and there was a lot what happened at the residential school. And now what story I shared, it happened at the senior dorm, way on the top floor.

–Naiistootapinohmahka, Larry Water Chief

Notes:

Oral interview with Naiistootapinohmahka, Larry Water Chief. Conducted, translated, and transcribed by Angeline Ayoungman. Old Sun Community College, April 4, 2022.