Survivors of Assiniboia Residential School gather for reunion, start new tradition

Margaret Mercer couldn't help but get emotional Sunday, seeing a photo of herself and her best best friend taken decades ago that now makes up part of the Assiniboia Residential School memorial. 

"It brought tears to my eyes because that's a very sentimental time for me," said Mercer. "It's sentimental to bring [back] memories of me in my younger days and I'm an old lady now, I feel so honoured to be here." 

Mercer, originally from Cross Lake, arrived in Winnipeg as a young girl. She said being put on the train to leave her home to come to the Manitoba capital was something she wouldn't want to go through again. 

She remembers being homesick "big time." 

"As a little girl you were just lost, not knowing where you were coming to," she said. 

Over 800 Indigenous children and teens attended the residential school in south Winnipeg between the late 1950s and early 70s. The memorial site is now located between Academy Road and Wellington Crescent, just east of Kenaston Boulevard.

Mercer and 67 other survivors of the school attended Sunday's reunion. Following this year's gathering, they plan to keep meeting annually on an official basis. 

"I still remember everything about when I was going to school here," she said. "It wasn't all bad, I learned a lot … but other than that, there's things I don't even want to mention."  

As part of the reunion, the group also toured the former school grounds and found their names on the memorial there. 

The memorial is located on a corner of the property where the school once operated. It features a circle of metal markers engraved with the names of 83 Indigenous communities, with students' names on paved stones through the site. 

It also includes panels with photos and graphics that provide background information about the school. 

"Most of them, they had a hard time they said …  but mine is a different story," said Michael Jebb. "Everybody has got their own story."

Mabel Horton is one of the main people behind the event. She attended Assiniboia Residential School for about seven years.

"Lots of them expressed their pain because we didn't know all the stories and they didn't talk about it till maybe sometimes just lately have been talking about it," said Horton. "You know, the different treatments we got."