The following stories were submitted as part of the Residential Schools: The Red Lake Story Exhibit.

A Success Story

One of the Quedent boys, Sambo, was 13 years old that spring day at Pelican Lake Residential School when he decided to go home. He remembers leaving with his friend who lived in Hudson. He withdrew all his money from the bank in Sioux Lookout and was at his friend's house waiting for the 2a.m. train. That evening, the OPP came to his friend's house where Sambo was watching TV and they picked him up and took him back to Pelican. Sambo's friend was not returned to the school because he was at his parent's house.

Two weeks later, on May 8th, Sambo left again, a bit wiser. He left with the clothes on his back, wearing runners, taking his slingshot and knife. He followed the train tracks, heading west. He was going home to Swain Lake. He would follow the tracks west and then north along the line leading to Griffith Mine at Bruce Lake. He slept during the day when it was warm and walked all night. He was not afraid, although when he met a huge bear, he ran as far as he could and as fast as he could. He ran along way, he figures.

Eventually, he came to a tunnel and he debated whether to climb over the hill or to go through the tunnel. It was about 300 feet and he figures he was take the change. He was in the tunnel when he heard a train and saw it approaching in the distance and, once again, raced for his life. He had thought if he could not make it, he would just lean up against the rock walls but he made it out of the tunnel before the train came roaring by. When he took a closer look into the tunnel he saw that the ice inside came right up to the tracks. There would have been no room for him to get out of the way of the train.

Somewhere along the way, he lost his slingshot and his knife. When he came upon the carcass of a moose he realized he didn't hae his knife so he couldn't eat any meat. He had matches because he had cigarettes, Players Plain, it ws unfortunate that he'd lost his knife. He was able to drink water along the way, some of the creeks were clean. The weather was nice except for one day when it snowed.

After four nights, he reached Ear Falls. No one was home where his parents lived so he went to his grandparent's place. No one was home there either, but he went in, found some food and stayed there a couple of days.

He left for South Bay Lodge, where he thought his parents might be. About 15 miles down the road, he came upon a beaver and threw rocks at it. It didn't want to get out of his way until it was quite bloody and it went into the ditch and dover underwater. Sambo couldn't get it once it was in the water.

Further down the road, he went looking for Smokey Capay's house, down by the river. It was getting dark, late in the evening and he called out to him but there was no answer. He spent a cold night in the swamp and woke up to the sounds of traffic. He wasn't very far from the road. He saw two men walk by, he stayed hidden, and he still wonders who they were. He walked past the Canada North Lodge, there were people there and he didn't want to get caught, especially when he'd come this far.

He walked on to Kabeelo Lodge, found a she that was open, had a stove and a bed. He started a fire, dried off and bit and slept there. The next day, he took one of the boats and paddled across the bay because he didn't feel like walking around the bay. When he got to South Bay Lodge, no one was there, he ate what he could find and slept there one night.

He left early the next morning and headed back. He was halfway down the lake when it started snowing. He got to where he'd left the boat but it wasn't there, he had forgotten to tie it up. He found it way in the bay but he was already halfway back to Kabeelo so he left it there. Back at the she, he started the fire again and warmed up.

He walked down to his uncle William's place and his other uncle Soons and aunt Alice were there too. He stayed for 3 or 4 days and Soons took him to Swain Lake where his parents were. His father asked him what he was doing there and Sambo started crying and the subject was never raised again.