What was it like to be a student at one of the most notorious residential schools in Canada? One episode of the CBC documentary on Kuper Island told the story of two very young indigenous brothers James and Tony Charley who shared their accounts of multiple incidents of sexual abuse at the residential school on Kuper Island and in particular abuse they suffered at the hands of a young Oblate who was the chaperone for more than 30 young boys as part of a special trip to Expo 67 in Montreal. This was brother Doughty.
This incident came as a bit of a shock for me. I was also at Expo 67 that summer as part of a trip I made with 4 friends on a mad adventure to Montreal. For us it was a joyous experience. For the young indigenous boys, it was not all idyllic. Far from it in fact. They were in the hands of brother Dooughty.
The Oblates are an order of Catholic missionaries who ran nearly 50 residential schools in Canada including Kuper Island Indian Residential School. The order was founded in the 19th century with a mission to evangelize the poor. This missionary spirit was important. Most teachers at residential schools had degrees, but their wages according to Duncan McCue, the CBC the host of the podcast, were “Piddling wages.” Why did they come to such schools to teach? What was it that attracted them there? Perhaps it was a steady supply of vulnerable children.
Survivors James and Tony Charley shared stories of horrendous sexual abuse at the hands of members of the Oblate at Kuper Island Residential School who they trusted absolutely as a representative of God. They had been taught that everything the Oblates did was in the service of God. Even if it seemed strange these were men of God who should be considered spiritual leaders.
This spiritual element of the abuse added a cruel existential element to their experience. Their stories showed in the words of Duncan McCue “The abuse poisoned every aspect of their life at the school, even things that were supposed to be fun.” Or things that were supposed to be sacred. It doesn’t get much worse than this.
Each child had different experiences in those schools. Some experiences were much worse than others. Some survivors testified before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that their experiences were positive. But those were rare. And very few if any were spared.