Survivors of residential schools in northwestern Ontario are returning to the sites of those former schools.

Grand Council Treaty Three’s Indian Residential School Department is organizing reunions for those who attended one of the six schools that operated in Treaty 3 territory.

An event in Fort Frances on Monday attracted over 100 school survivors who attended St. Margaret’s Residential School and elders.

Reunion of residential school survivors in Fort Frances, March 18, 2024. Image: Randy Thoms/Acadia Broadcasting

“We wanted to put on this event to give our elders an opportunity to share their stories, do their healing journey, and just get a, share their memories with their classmates,” says Mackenzie Archie, the Council’s Indian Residential School Department’s Cultural Manager.

“We’ve never had an event like this where all our elders have come just specifically to this school. So, this is one of the first times we’ve been able to do this.”

The school opened between 1906 and 1974 and was run by the Catholic Church.

It initially opened to 40 students, expanding to 100 students by 1950.

The original school was demolished following the construction of a second in 1963.

“There are some triggers when we share our stories, but at the same time, we wanted to create a safe environment for people to come and share those stories, get that healing, be by the drum, be by the elders, have all our medicines and to be able to visit that actual site itself.”

Supports were also available for those in attendance.

Sacred fires burned at the site of the former school and at the La Place Rendez-Vous, where the gathering took place.

Archie says there are plans to hold similar gatherings for all six former residential schools, including Pelican Falls and the MacIntosh and Cecilia Jeffrey schools in Kenora.