These students are driving conversations about truth and reconciliation in their classrooms
CBC
Where many Canadians have only started learning about this country's residential schools, Grade 11 student Waylon Fenton has known about them since early childhood.
He was just a preschooler when his Inuvialuit grandmother, Margaret Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton, and his mom, author Christy Jordan-Fenton, began publishing some of the former's stories about attending residential school in the High Arctic as books for children.
His paternal grandmother's devotion to their culture, her triumphs and her resilience in overcoming fierce hardships — explored in part in the books Fatty Legs, A Stranger at Home, When I was Eight and Not My Girl — continue to motivate and set an example for Waylon.
"It makes me very proud to know that my grandmother did all that," said the 16-year-old from Fort St. John, B.C.
This week, delegations of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people met with Pope Francis to share stories about the impact of Canada's residential school system, with the pontiff expressing on Friday "sorrow and shame" for the conduct of some of the Roman Catholic members who ran the schools.
Here at home, dedicated students and parents are continuing to keep important conversations about truth and reconciliation in the education system alive and ongoing.
While talk of Indigenous experiences have increased in Fenton's classes and society at large, many still have a lot to learn. The teen recalled, for instance, a teacher who just a few years ago raised residential schools in class, but tried to justify them as "better" than what survivors had at home.
"It was… frustrating for me when she was teaching about it that way. I thought that was wrong," said Fenton, who later transferred out of that Grade 7 class.
His mom's desire to teach her own children — as well as other people — about the reality of residential schools was a key reason she felt driven to collaborate with his grandmother to create their age-appropriate books, the first of which was published in 2010.
"I wanted my children to grow up seeing their grandmother as a hero," said Jordan-Fenton, a B.C. author and adult educator. "I didn't want them to ever feel bad about their Indigeneity."
Though not Indigenous herself, Jordan-Fenton's stepfather was a Cree Métis man. Growing up, she lived in communities where many, including her stepfather, had attended residential schools. She knew most Canadians never learned about the traumatic history of that school system as she had — or believed the schools to be a relic from long ago.
"One of the ways that I explain to people that it wasn't that long ago is ... the year that residential schools ended was the year that Toy Story — the first Toy Story movie — came out," she said.
At readings and events for students over the years, Jordan-Fenton and her mother-in-law saw children from all walks of life connect and empathize with their books.
"She always wanted to show that children can go through really, really horrific things and that they could come out" of it, Jordan-Fenton said of her mother-in-law, who passed away in 2021.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
A decade after a promised boom in the liquified natural gas industry failed to materialize, Canada has arrived at the starting line, rekindling some aspirations of becoming a major LNG player.
Dave has learned the hard way that you don't want the wrong person getting a hold of your social insurance number.
Just a few years ago, Canada Day was going through a serious identity crisis.
The Victoria Volunteer Fire Department is back in action as tensions between fire Chief Justin Parsons and town Mayor Barry Dooley have been resolved.
When Patricia Mombourquette was getting ready for a swim in Lake Micmac last week, she was greeted by a foul stench and the unsightly presence of hundreds of dead snails that had floated to the surface.
Community groups in Winnipeg are pushing for a more restorative approach to policing and prosecuting racialized communities in Winnipeg.
Three coastal First Nations have worked together to come up with a plan to move a grizzly bear that's been causing problems on Texada Island — just off B.C.'s Sunshine Coast — but so far, the province has not signed off.
After an Alberta judge granted a temporary injunction blocking a provincial law that would ban doctors from providing gender-affirming care to youth, Premier Danielle Smith said she intends to fight the decision in court.
The N.W.T. government is preparing to send a second barge up the Mackenzie River to the Sahtu region in the next few weeks.
The Canadian government has ordered Chinese surveillance camera manufacturer Hikvision to cease operations in Canada over national security concerns, Industry Minister Melanie Joly said late on Friday.
Police have charged a man with uttering threats after an incident during a U13 girls soccer game in Vaughan last week where coaches say a parent threatened to stab someone.
Public pools around Calgary are no longer treading water, after years of staffing shortages forced cuts to swimming lessons and operating hours.
In a room full of tall metal cabinets, Julissa Roncal carefully flicks through stacks of manila folders. They're filled with pages of expertly pressed and dried plant specimens.