In 1949, as a seven-year-old boy, Arthur Bear Chief was pulled from his family home to attend residential school.
From his dorm room at Old Sun Residential School near Gleichen, Arthur could see his mother in the yard of his family home. But for ten months of the year he could not speak to her and she could not hold him in her arms. When he returned home for the summer after his first year at Old Sun, his mother said, “My son has changed so much. What did they do to him?”
Arthur spoke about the abuse he had experienced at residential school for the first time when he came forward to the Government of Canada in 1999. He had lived a whole life without ever acknowledging the impact of his decade spent at Old Sun.
Arthur’s forthcoming memoir is not just a detailing of the abuse that he suffered in the residential school system, it is also a step toward his own healing and it is written proof of his resilience and his unyielding spirit.
This week, we are featuring a series of excerpts from the book and from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report entitled “A Survivor’s Documents.”
Arthur’s memoir, My Decade at Old Sun, My Lifetime of Hell, will be published at the beginning of December.
“A courageous memoir and a must-read for everyone brave enough to learn about residential schools. It’s a tough read—triggering and horrific—but it is also laced with light and the power of culture, language, family, traditions, and learning to trust and try again. I have no doubt that that this book will lead to conversation, acceptance, and understanding. It is a life’s work and one to be proud of.”—Richard Van Camp, author of Night Moves
