by news about St. Michael’s
Some readers may recall my posts about our fall 2013 island hopping trip along some of our BC coast, and particularly about Alert Bay where we saw St. Michael’s Indian Residential School. Though that terrible place was eventually closed in 1974, it was left standing as a haunting memorial to those many First Nations children who had lived there.
Now there is news that it will be demolished this month. I only learned this when the reporter requested permission to use my photo for the report in The Prince George Citizen. This has reawakended in me some of those feelings of shock, sadness and horror in seeing it, though nothing like those feelings surely experienced by the families that were affected, so I wish and hope this demolition will bring some peace for them.
Added Feb.15th, 2015: more in CBC/BC News and Global News, the latter with a photo taken in 1970.
Added Feb.19th: Alert Bay residential school survivors gather for the demolition ceremony, in the Globe & Mail, with interesting additional links and video which includes views of the interior of the building.
Plus this heart-rending and heartwarming story and video on The Tyee .
February 12, 2015 in Canada and BC, Culture, Current Events, History, Photography by Marja-Leena
I missed that post the first time round, quite shocking. While maintaining the building as a salutary reminder, it’s good to know that it can now, without denial or pretence, be swept away.
There are times when physical symbols, rather than being (as Lucy says) a salutary reminder, too frequently becomes sores that will not heal. When that happens a sweeping-away healing process is surely in order. On a similar note, Dresden in Germany is remembering the three days of firestorm bombing that reduced it to ruins in WW2. A totally pointless act of what? Revenge? It had no military strategic value. But the people have fully restored that city – once called the most beautiful city in Europe – to its former glory. Maybe something wonderful can happen where St. Michael’s now stands. I hope so.
Lucy and Tom, I agree that such “memorials” can remain as sores and as this building is so prominent in the village, always in view. I wonder what might be built in its place? Perhaps a special totem pole, or an extension to the museum next door? Healing ceremonies will be taking place first.
Yes, I have been reading some of the articles on Dresden, and how it was bombed to ruins for no other reason than revenge and perhaps even some jealousy over its beauty. So mad, so sad, our humanity.
It’s a good thing that building is going to be demolished and the land it stood on purified.
“The Dresden atrocity, tremendously expensive and meticulously planned, was so meaningless, finally, that only one person on the entire planet got any benefit from it. I am that person. I wrote this book, which earned a lot of money for me and made my reputation, such as it is. One way or another, I got two or three dollars for every person killed. Some business I’m in.”
― Kurt Vonnegut (a POW and author of Slaughterhouse Five)
Susan, what a shocking quote! I didn’t know Vonnegut wrote about Dresden in his book as I’ve not read it. Now I’m curious, thank you.
Just now, I came across that quote again, in a very moving post about Dresden by a wonderful writer whose blog I discovered fairly recently.
Oh, didn’t know that Vonnegut quote…
I expect what replaces the building will be important…
I read up about that Vonnegut novel – not sure I care to read it. It seems that the last months I have been exposed to so much about wars, past and present, in the news as well as the many films we watch.
Yes, the replacement for that residence will be important and I shall be following the news about that, having been there and learning so much of that history. I’d like to revisit Alert Bay again for we were unable to visit the museum next door that time.