Garnet Angeconeb

Garnet Angeconeb is a survivor of the Pelican Indian Residential School near Sioux Lookout, Ontario. The Heritage Centre was given permission to use Garnet's story in our exhibit, Residential Schools: The Red Lake Story. The Centre is grateful to Garnet for allowing us to use his personal memories and experiences in order to create a better understanding of the Residential School experience.

The following quotes were taken from "Devastated When You Leave Us", by Susan Meurer High Grader Magazine, May/June 1997

Garnet's Story

At the age of seven he was sent away from a childhood spent on the trapline to a regimented institution. "This separation from my family was permanent. When I look back on it now," he explains, "and when I talk to former students, it is one of the most painful experiences of former students of residential schools."

When Garnet parted from his parents they said to him in Ojibway: 'wiin kay oosha eepiikiss ka-tay-ta-min."

Garnet translates the words into English "We are so devastated when you leave us."

"I couldn't imagine how many parents would have felt. When I hear those words echoing in my mind I understand how painful it must have been for them."

My first day at Pelican…

"I was a little bit nervous, not knowing what this was about. The sight of the building itself was intimidating. You could hear echoes from the walls. You could smell fresh paint. Every time I hear an echo in a building or smell fresh paint, my mind triggers back to my days at Pelican."

"We were taken away from our parents and I guess processed. We were given baths; we were given oil to wash our hair to kill any lice. I remember the burning sensation. We were shown our dormitories, given new clothes. We were given a number. My number was 22."

"My first night, I was scared, I was lonesome. I fell asleep with my eyes swimming with tears."

Meals at Pelican…

"My favorite food was probably on Sundays. It was cole slaw and two hard-boiled eggs and a slice of bread. You couldn't go wrong with boiled eggs.

Porridge was like glue, like paste. It was horrible. Sometimes we would be forced to eat our porridge with sour milk. It wasn't very nice. Toast wasn't too bad."

Remembering...

Although it is painful to remember this ugliness, Garnet believes that the first step for healing is to acknowledge the experience. "There is what we call the residential school syndrome.