June Spotted Eagle- They Got Caught

Ok. The story I’m going to tell, well it’s not… well it’s kind of affected me, traumatized me, but it happened to these older girls. They were working at the scullery or kitchen. Well here, or at the Residential School, we were always hungry in-between meals. We never had snacks or anything. There were these older girls, there was about three or four of them who worked in the kitchen. They were hungry and they stole some prunes. They got caught and they got into real trouble. We were all told that same day, “you are all going to the playroom. All of you, everybody!”

So we all went in there. So they were all brought into the playroom, those older girls. I know most of them have passed away except one is still alive. There was a table and they were told to pull down their panties, huh. They were told to bend over the table and the Principal walked in with a strap. He went to the older girls who had their panties down and their dresses up and their bums were showing huh. Then they started to get strapped… that strap, huh. Then we were forced to watch, everybody, even the small ones. Yeah, the girls were just crying. I guess it was really painful, huh. Then I know some of those little girls were just crying feeling sorry for them. I was almost crying too. That’s how it happened.

– June Spotted Eagle

Notes:

Oral interview with June Spotted Eagle. Conducted, translated, and transcribed by Angeline Ayoungman. Old Sun Community College, May 16, 2022.