Monument honours former residential school students in Penticton

PENTICTON — As a new monument gets unveiled, a flood of emotions washes over the crowd.

Vera Gabriel, a residential school survivor, says seeing the artwork is a reminder of a period in her life that she’d rather erase.

“When I saw it being unveiled, I wanted to cry because I had to let some of the emotions go. I have to let that hurt go,” she says.

The commemorative monument pays tribute to former residential school students and their families.

Monday’s ceremony was attended by 15 residential school survivors from the Penticton Indian Band who bravely shared their haunted stories. 

They talked about being separated from their families, having their culture and language stripped from them, and suffering abuses from authorities.

Jack Kruger shared a teary story of how the terrors of residential schools drove his six-year-old best friend to suicide.

“They called me and I ran in there. He was hanging from the rafters. I screamed and I hollered at the teenage boys to get him down…it still hurts. They got him down and they put his body on me. I held him. I cried and screamed but he wouldn’t wake up,” says Kruger.

This commemorative monument is one way of helping the survivors heal.

“We are honouring our past and we’re moving forward to a brighter, healthier future,” says Cindy Thom-Lindley, the executive director of Indian Residential School Survivor Society.

‘Never again’ is written prominently on the monument, bringing comfort that the horrors of the past will never be repeated. 

The federal government put aside $20 million towards commemorative projects. The Penticton Indian Band received $25,000.