Residential school survivors in the La Ronge area will see some bad memories go up in flames today.
Members of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band have been invited to write their memories of the schools on paper, and then put those notes in a replica of a boat that was used to take students from the area to the institutions.
The boat was pulled and dragged to a burning site behind a local reserve school yesterday.
Gabe McKay, who helped in the boat’s construction, says yesterday’s proceedings were significant:
“The dragging of the boat is basically about letting everybody know that, once that boat comes out of the water, that’s the end of that era — and that’s what we want it to signify. Now is the time for healing.”
The boat is being burned this afternoon.