THE INTERVIEWER: Would you please say and spell your name
for us?
MARIE TASHOOTS: Marie Tashoots; M-a-r-i-e T-a-s-h-o-o-t-s.
Q. What school did you go to?
A. Lower Post, BC.
Q. What years were you there? Do you remember?
A. 1971 and 1972.
Q. How old were you when you started?
A. About 9 or ten, because I was born in 1962.
Q. Did you go to day school before that?
A. I don’t recall.
Q. Do you remember life before Residential School and what that
was like?
A. No.
Q. Do you remember your first day of school?
A. In Lower Post?
Q. Yes.
A. Just going there is all I remember.
Q. Was it kind of scary going there the first day?
A. Yeah.
Q. So what was a typical day like? What time would you have to
wake up in the morning? What did you eat for breakfast?
A. I don’t recall very much.
Q. It was a hard experience at the school?
A. Some things I remember.
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Q. Are there any of those things that you can talk about today?
A. Mainly the good things.
Q. Can you talk about those?
A. Skating; my first day of learning how to skate.
Q. That was fun?
A. Yes.
Q. Were you good at it?
A. At the beginning I was pretty nervous, the first time being on ice.
Q. What are some other good memories from the school?
A. That’s it.
Q. Just the skating?
A. Yeah.
Q. Do you remember what the food was like?
A. No.
Q. Did you have any brothers or sisters there?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you get to talk to them when you were there?
A. Maybe once in a while.
Q. Do you remember being in the classroom? Do you remember if
you had a good education there?
A. No.
Q. Have you blocked out a lot of memories from the school?
A. I don’t think it was me blocked it out. I think it was the good
Lord.
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Q. Have you ever talked about your Residential School
experiences?
A. No.
Q. With your children or anything?
A. No.
Q. Would you like to share some of those experiences today? Do
you feel ready to do that?
A. Being at the school I don’t remember. Going home I don’t
remember. Everything is blank. I don’t know. The ones that are good I
like to keep, but the bad I give it to the Lord.
Last year I turned to the Lord, and I confessed all my sins. He’s
been a great help. He does the healing.
— Speaker overcome with emotion
The number one killer of the Nations is alcohol, drugs and tobacco.
When I turned to the Lord last year, January 20 th , He helped.
Q. Before that was life tough for you?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you think life was hard because of Residential School?
A. No. I don’t know, because everything is blank about the
Residential School.
When I moved from Cassiar to Dease, that’s when I hit the alcohol.
Just one taste of it, you’re on your way to go the wrong direction. So I
pray for all the survivors instead of turning to the alcohol for help, turn to
the Lord. Because He doesn’t want to hurt his children. He loves
everybody. He likes everybody to love one another. The greatest gift
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anybody could give one another is forgiveness. Take it from the Lord, not
from the bottle. Your heart is number one to the Lord. Turn to Him.
There’s no hurt. Give all your troubles to Him. You’re free. But the more
they hang onto it, the more they are chained up. If they turn to the Lord,
he’ll take the chains away and he’ll bless them.
Q. Is that when your healing started, a year ago, when you met the
Lord?
A. Yes.
Q. How did that experience happen? Did you seek that out
yourself, or did someone help you find that?
A. Sins. Sins through alcohol, drugs. It wasn’t the hard drugs. It
was medication the doctors were giving me. And tobacco.
Q. Did you go to church? Is that where you —
A. I went to church and confessed.
Q. That was the first time you had done that in many years?
A. Yeah. There’s a load that a lot of people have to let go. Like I
said, forgiveness is the best gift a person could give to one another.
Q. Has that experience of going to confession, was that the
moment, or was it after that?
A. Yes.
Q. Did it happen right there that you really opened up and things
started to change for you?
A. Yes. That’s why I say I don’t recall anything of the Residential
School. I don’t blame nobody. The one to blame is the alcohol, because
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the other people that hurt other people, nobody knows if they are on
alcohol or drugs.
Q. So how has the healing been since then?
A. Good. I’m still going forward.
Q. Still a long way to go, or do you think you have come a long
ways?
A. I’ve come a long ways.
Q. Are you able to help other people now?
A. I’m praying to help them. I pray. Like, when I’m sitting down
there I pray they all forgive, because that’s the biggest gift the good Lord
says to give one another. Forgive and hug one another and love one
another, no matter what colour you are, that’s what he wants everyone to
love.
Q. Is that the message you really would like to share today?
A. Like, I can’t speak because I’m a very shy person.
Q. Are there any final things you would like to say?
A. I just keep praying for everyone to forgive.
Q. Are you able to forgive?
A. Yes.
Q. And that’s when it changed?
A. Turning to the Lord is the best thing, not to alcohol. But alcohol
is not a help. It controls your mind. It controls your eye, your sense of
smell, your mouth, always your mouth. It makes you say things to hurt
others. It makes you hear things, do things, but turning to the Lord instead
of the alcohol is the best thing a person can do. It brought me this far.
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Q. Has it helped with your own children as well?
A. No. Because what they saw in me, what I brought on, is already
done to them. And I’m praying for them to quit. But how could anybody
quit when the alcohol and drugs flow into your town. If people don’t order
it, it would not be there.
Q. Is it a big problem in your community?
A. Yes; all over around there.
Q. Thank you for coming today. Are there any final words you
would like to leave us with?
A. Yes. The alcohol, drugs, tobacco. The good Lord gave us the
fruit to feed us and the juice to quench our thirst, not to make wine or
alcohol to hurt. The tobacco was free. Years ago the Native People used
to use it for thanking the Creator for the food and clothing that He provided
for us. Now they add chemicals. I pray for it all to stop. Use the fruit to
comfort yourself, your body, your soul and your heart. Keep love in your
heart for everyone.
I pray God guide everyone today, tomorrow and every day, that
they turn from alcohol, drugs and tobacco. Because He brought me a
long ways and he can bring them, too.
Q. Okay. Thank you.
A. You are welcome.
— End of Interview