Geraldine Shingoose says she was shocked to learn that only about 30 residential school survivors have opted to archive records of the abuses they experience. The survivor of the former Muscowequan Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan says she did to ensure her story continues to be shared.
Kimberly Murray says she began thinking of them after the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Nation in British Columbia announced in May 2021 that ground-penetrating radar had detected what are believed to be 215 unmarked graves at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. It was part of the settlement negotiated between the federal government, church entities and national Indigenous groups. Under the agreement, survivors could make claims about the sexual and physical abuses they endured at the government-funded, church-run institutions, as well as “any other wrongful acts” committed by former staff and other students.
By 2014, the question of what should happen to those transcripts and supporting documents landed at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. In the end, according to Fontaine’s affidavit, it was agreed the names of perpetrators would never be released and only survivors could access their own records. In its 2017 ruling, the top court concluded promising the utmost confidentiality for both complainants and perpetrators was “inescapable” in order for the compensation process to work.