A letter was sent to the Editor of the Labradorian Magazine on November 27, 2017.
The letter contained the story of how a woman was treated in the dorm when she first started school at the residential school in Cartwright.
To hear the translated version of the letter written by Jane Shiwak of Rigolet, click here.
Translated for the PiusituKavut Show, Wednesday, December 13, 2017:
Letter to the Editor of Labradorian Magazine.
My parents were fisher and trapper people so when I became of age to attend school, I had to leave my parents at their outpost where they trapped and fished to attend the residential school in Cartwright. There was a threat from social services at that time if my mother did not send me to school she would lose my portion of the family allowance that was paid at that time.
When I first started attending school, at the age of 5 years old at the residence (known as the Dorm), I had problem being able to eat some of the food. I would very often throw it back up and for this, I would be made to eat the food I had throw up, and often beaten up by those in charge of the Dorm. There were times I would be stripped naked and beaten in front of the students and classmates.
At times, my whole body would be bruised black and blue from the beatings. There were times I would be locked up in a dark room and left there for hours on end. The only way out was at times an employee (night watchperson) there might hear me crying late into the night and let me out. This could happen on a daily basis or two or three times per week. This treatment went on for months. No visitors were allowed to see me, and when someone would come to the Dorm I was kept hidden. I guess this is the reason there are no medical records, because it was all kept very secret by those in charge.
Others knew what was happening to me but since there was no contact with my parents this treatment went unreported for some time. Finally a resident of Cartwright, Mrs. Martha Mugford ( now deceased) got some insight to what was happening and had to make several attempts to get into the Dorm to see me, as those treated me this way would not allow her to enter the building.
Eventually reports did find it way to the Department of Social Service worker, a Mr. Moors I believe, saw me. It was determined at that time that I had received such treatment Mr. Moors contacted my mother informing her that I WOULD NO LONGER BE REQUIRED TO ATTEND SCHOOL AND THERE WOULD BE NO LOSS OF ANY FAMILY ALLOWANCE PAYMENTS.
Seven years later the two women who treated me this way during the first year of school could no longer live with memories of this treatment. They both travelled all the way back from England just to apologize to me for the suffering they had caused. I only accepted because my mother told me to. The mental scars can never be erased, those memories are alive today as it was some 60 years ago.
Jane Shiwak
Rigolet