Lower Similkameen Indian Band held a community walk on Sept. 29 near Keremeos, one day before the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
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Mary Louie, who said she left a residential school as a young girl, took part in a walk held on Sept. 29 on Lower Similkameen Indian Band (LSIB) land near Keremeos to remember those who never made it home.
Louie said she did not fully understand what was happening at the school, but noticed changes in her friends and became increasingly uneasy.
She said she eventually escaped late one night, staying off the road, crossing the highway at night, walking through the mountains, and making it back home.
Louie said fear did not stop her from making the journey and that she “just walked and I wasn’t afraid or anything, so I just wanted to get home.”
The walk was part of the LSIB community’s decision to gather on Sept. 29 rather than wait for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30, with organizers aiming to leave the national day for individuals to commemorate in their own way.
Darian Ueusta-Che-Peone, who works with the band, said the group activity is meant to happen beforehand so people can rest and reflect individually on Sept. 30.
Ueusta-Che-Peone said, “That actual day we can kind of rest and like you know think about what happened and today we celebrate it so we have that kind of rest in between of the day.”
The LSIB walk is about 4 km, with some participants chanting while others reflected.
For LSIB elder Herman Edward, residential schools took far more than childhood from Indigenous families, and he said, “We all lost something. It’s not always the orange shirts, but it was our culture, language, way of life.”
Edward’s remarks were part of the broader context around the national day, including controversy over protests at Truth and Reconciliation events.
Janet Cherbaskin, an LSIB council member, said demonstrations cannot erase residential school experiences, saying, “You can’t erase history. It doesn’t matter what you say and how you dress. You can be in masks and and try and prove a point. But to our people, we know what the truth is.”
Louie said that after she made it home, she never wanted to return to school, staying instead to look after her younger siblings and learning from her grandmother.
She said, “Ever since I got home, my place was to take care of my siblings, so I didn’t go back to school. A lot of the things I’ve learned was from my grandmother and the teaching she gave me.”
Louie said seeing children participate carries meaning after her own experience and that she prays parents will love and teach their children, adding, “Well, it’s good to see the children and to know and I pray that the parents love their children and start teaching them.”
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