Survivors mark 50th anniversary of closure of Portage la Prairie residential school – Winnipeg

It was an emotional day in Portage la Prairie, as a room full of survivors gathered to mark 50 years since the residential school there was shuttered.

Jennifer Wood recalls being dropped off at the school in 1973, at age 13.

“My dad took his hat off and he’s going down the hall and he says, ‘I’ll see you at Christmas,’” says Wood. “And I say, ‘Where are you going?’ He goes, ‘I’m going back home.’ I say, ‘What am I gonna do?’ ‘You’re staying here.’ So I started crying.”

She says she spent her school years lonely and ashamed of her identity. Now, the survivors reunite with friends they haven’t seen in 50 years and share the progress they have made towards healing.

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