Donna Axe Running Rabbit- You Better Not Tattle
I will talk about where it happened, the playground, the play area by the washrooms, and in the second floor in our rooms.
I was still little, I think I was seven years old. I remember there was a lot of us in there and… there were a lot of us. A lot of things happened in the play area, bullying and I saw it. I was still young at the time… I really thought it was okay, but it wasn’t.
I witnessed one of the girls, we were all the same age, and she was pushed into a cold shower. She did the splits, and she hurt her groin area. She got hurt, it was on to the cement and that supervisor that did that was Mrs. Maguire. I witnessed that. That Mrs. Maguire was a mean person. She was always pulling our hairs and our ears. She would hit us with her knuckles. I would tell her, “I am going to tell my mother what you are doing.” She would just point to me with her right-hand finger right to my nose and tell me, “you better not tattle on me.” But I still did.
I witnessed a lot at our play area. Sometimes we didn’t even do anything and that Mrs. Maguire would just start hitting the little girls with no reason. And me, I was one of them, but I was not afraid of anyone then. I would just retaliate to her, and I think that is why she never really touched me- because I would tell on her to my mother and she would come and get mad at her.
– Donna Axe Running Rabbit
Notes:
Oral interview with Donna Axe Running Rabbit. Conducted, translated, and transcribed by Angeline Ayoungman. Old Sun Community College, April 4, 2022.
