Irwin Big Old Man- It’s Always Like I Had a Military Life
I think the most part the best part I liked about the residential school is when we got released to go out and play out in the yard. There was a bunch of garter snakes in the yard. I was the one that always chased everybody around. That’s why most of my punishments commenced. I’ve never been whipped by my parents till after I left residential school. I used to get whipped by a guy named Father Brown, he was kind of mad. He would just hit us with anything and smacks us in the head. Because, I guess, I don’t know if was my fault chasing everybody with garter snakes or what not… but everybody stayed away from me because of the snakes.
That’s when we were outside but inside was pretty… I think the worst bad experience, I think, of it all… It is Friday, they bring us home one the bus, but Sundays we had all had to start walking to the school no matter how cold it was on a Sunday morning or afternoon. I think that’s about all I could really think about residential school. I probably, what this lady said today at the workshop today, I only remember the little good parts and I think I blocked all the bad parts out. Cause I know there’s stuff out there like when we go out on the other side on the west side of the playground there was, like… we got to play with the girls and that was the only time we ever see them and what not, otherwise it was just like prison, as far as I’m concerned. I think the only good experience’s out of it is when I joined the army, I was already trained. I think that’s about my story. Like I said I was already trained cause we are always doing this we had to stand in line for breakfast and what not. We had to stick by rules.
So its always like I had a military life, all my life in residential. And then that is the sad part we grew up and my mom put us in residential school and then we kind of lost track of her. And then when they released us she got sick with cancer so she was in and out hospital, which made us miss part our mom’s life. I think that’s about it. I never really had a bad experience. Just when we were in the boy’s room and when the older boys were making the little boys fight each other. I guess that’s where the older generation became that’s how they all became boxers.
– Irwin Big Old Man
Notes:
Oral interview with Irwin Big Old Man. Conducted, translated, and transcribed by Angeline Ayoungman. Old Sun Community College, May 12, 2022.
