No One Speaks for Us: Not St. Marie or Anyone Else

By Doug George-Kanentiio I am a citizen of the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne, taken from my home in January, 1967 and assigned to the Mohawk Institute, the most notorious of Canada’s residential schools. I was given the number 4-8-2-738. Those digits were in my file for the 18 months I was confined to the Institute, abbreviated to “73” which was marked in all my clothing. I was placed in a platoon of boys in my age group where we marched in strict military format from the dining hall to nearby school and back again upon dismissal. I saw and was subject to the harsh discipline brought to bear on those children who broke the rules which were meant to govern all of our actions whether as girls assigned to kitchen…

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