The Delmas Walk to Honour Our Ancestors got underway Friday morning. (Submitted photo/Sonia Pete)

By Teena Monteleone

‘I think of my mushum’: Families of residential school survivors gather for Delmas walk

Jul 28, 2023 | 2:57 PM

As Sonia Pete started to walk Friday morning from Little Pine First Nation to the town of Delmas, nearly 40 kilometres away, she thought about her late father and grandfather.

“Part of the path we are walking – Paynton Road (Grid 674), is the path my Dad took when he came home from residential school. When he saw that dirt road, he said he knew he was home. It was only about another hour’s walk to get home.”

Pete is the chair of the Little Pine Indian Residential School Survivors Group which organized the 3^rd annual Delmas Walk to Honour Our Ancestors. The St. Henri (Thunderchild) Indian Residential School was operated by the Roman Catholic church from 1901 until it burned down in 1948 in the location of what is now known as the town of Delmas, about 30 km northwest of North Battleford.

The walk started in 2021 following news of the 215 graves found at a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.

“Community members from Little Pine got together and started brainstorming on what we can do because we are all connected in some way. We’re either a grandchild or a daughter or a son of a residential school survivor. So, we decided to have a walk every year for four years.”

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Pete’s grandfather also attended the residential school outside Thunderchild Reserve. According to a book published by the University of Regina’s faculty of education, Shattering the Silence: The Hidden History of Indian Residential Schools in Saskatchewan, death rates at the school were high: 10 per cent of students died in 1908; 15 per cent in 1928; and seven per cent in 1931. A radar search for graves at the former school site at Delmas began in July of 2021.

“As I walk I think about my mushum. I knew [my grandfather] went to that school but what really hit me was when I saw a document that showed the Delmas school student listings and there was his name,” said Pete. “When I walk I also think about how grateful I am. I think about if my grandfather didn’t survive residential school – I wouldn’t be here. So, it’s really a time to reflect.”

The walk will end with a drumming ceremony at Delmas Community Hall. (Submitted photo/Sonia Pete)

Pete was joined by several community members from Little Pine as well as Poundmaker Cree Nation.

“We have family members of survivors, elders, kids from our community land-based learning group – just a mixture of people from all the communities around.”

Next year will be the last and final walk organized by the Little Pine Indian Residential School Survivors Group. Pete said she’s proud to be a part of something that helps to create awareness.

**The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line provides 24-hour crisis support to former Indian Residential School students and their families toll-free at 1-866-925-4419.

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cjnbnews@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MonteleoneTeena