THE INTERVIEWER: We’re ready to start. Can you say and spell your name for us please.
ALFRED SOLONAS : Alfred Solonas ; Alfred Solonas.
Q. Et d'où venez-vous?
A. Originally I’m from McLeod Lake?
Q. McLeod Lake. Where’s that?
A. It’s ninety miles north of Prince George.
Q. So it’s still in BC then. And where do you live now?
A. In Fort Fraser. I met my wife there in 1980 and I stayed there with her. We’ve been married for the last twenty-five years.
Q. That’s nice, a 25th wedding anniversary this year.
R. Ce sera vingt-six en mai.
Q. Quelle école avez-vous fréquentée?
A. Lejac Indian Residential School. That’s in Fraser Lake.
Q. Quelles années y êtes-vous?
A. From ’58 to ’61.
Q. Jusqu'à quelle année cette école est-elle allée?
A. 8e année.
Q. Où êtes-vous allé après cela ? As-tu continué ?
A. Lac McLeod.
Q. Lac McLeod. Était-ce aussi un pensionnat?
R. Non, c'était une école publique.
Q. Une école de jour ?
R. Une école de jour.
Q. D'accord. Quel âge aviez-vous lorsque vous avez commencé à Lejac?
R. J'avais 9 ans.
Q. Etiez-vous déjà allé à l'école?
A. No, I didn’t.
Q. Vous rappelez-vous à quoi ressemblait la vie avant d'aller au pensionnat?
A. Oh, mon père travaillait sur les cinq ponts, Johnson Hart. Ils appelaient ça le Mile 23. Je pense que c'était à vingt-trois milles de Summit Lake. Il travaillait dans la scierie là-bas. Le week-end, il faisait du piégeage.
Q. Voudriez-vous l'accompagner ?
R. Parfois, oui. C'était intéressant.
Q. Comment avez-vous pu éviter les pensionnats indiens? Vous avez commencé à 9 ans, donc beaucoup d'enfants ont commencé à 5 ans. Étiez-vous en quelque sorte caché de l'endroit où ils pourraient vous trouver ?
A. Well, we went to McLeod Lake, and the one time we went to the store and my mom said “You’re going to go on a bus ride.” She didn’t tell me where I was going. She just said that I was going to school. And I said, “What’s a school?” I didn’t speak English at all. I spoke Sikanni all the time.
Q. Sikanni. How do you spell that? There’s probably not a way to spell it, or just how it sounds?
A. I’m trying to think.
Q. That’s okay. Don’t worry.
A. Sikani.
Q. Sikani. D'accord. Bien.
Alors, tu te souviens de ton premier jour à l'école ?
A. Yeah. There were quite a few of us. They separated us right away from the girls. And none of us spoke English. We didn’t know what they were talking about, but we spoke to each other, keep communicating with each other and we do what I thought was right. I told them to do whatever I do.
So as the days go by they start hitting us because we couldn’t speak English. That was the worst part. But we stuck together. We tried to stick together as much as we can.
Q. Combien y avait-il dans votre groupe ?
A. Oh, there were quite a few of us, about seventeen or eighteen, I think. Anyways, I told them in Sikanni the best way we could do it is try to learn English right away. So we practiced it while we’re out on the playground, because in school we keep getting hit because we don’t understand them and we couldn’t speak it.
C'était la partie la plus difficile. Nous commencions à détester l'école à cause de cela.
Q. Pouvez-vous nous décrire une journée type ?
R. Que voulez-vous dire ?
Q. À quelle heure vous vous réveillez le matin et tout ce qui s'est passé pendant la journée.
R. Vers 6 heures du matin. Nous devions être de retour dans le dortoir à 7 heures et les lumières éteintes à 9 heures.
Q. Est-ce que le dortoir ressemblait?
R. Eh bien, il y en avait environ vingt-quatre ou vingt-cinq dans chaque dortoir, peut-être plus.
Q. Et la nourriture? Comment était-ce?
A. I didn’t like mush, or porridge, whatever you call it. I remember that Brother Currans (sp?), he used to put cornflakes in the porridge and he expected us to eat it. I don’t know why they hired him to be a supervisor in an Indian Residential School. He hated Indians so much. Any person that don’t like Indians they shouldn’t be in a public place. That’s what I think. Even nowadays.
Q. Vous souvenez-vous de choses précises qu'il a faites et qui vous ont fait sentir qu'il détestait ?
A. Well, for one thing, if we didn’t do what we’re told and we don’t understand him or we did it wrong, it seemed like I’m the only one that’s always out of line. But I stayed there for 4 years.
I seen him a couple of times about a year or two years ago, I seen him, and I was so angry at him I just about —
But I didn’t feel like going back to jail so I didn’t do anything to him. I didn’t even say anything to him.
Q. You didn’t talk to him?
A. I just gave him a dirty look and walked away. What’s the use? I’m trying to forget the past.
Q. Pensez-vous qu'il vous a reconnu ?
R. Oh, il m'a reconnu.
Q. What’s he doing now? Where was he when you saw him?
A. Well, I was selling tickets in the (something) Centre, selling cars. I was selling tickets. I leaned close to him. I was going to punch him and his face turned red. He knew what I was going to do, I guess, but I did that just to scare him. I wasn’t going to punch him.
Une autre fois, c'était au centre-ville où les gens de la rue vont faire la queue. J'y suis allé juste pour voir des amis, pour faire une partie de crèche avec eux. Je vais discuter avec eux. J'aime ça. Et il est venu.
I just froze. I just stood there. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t even look at him. I just walked away.
Q. Que faisait-il là-bas ?
A. Somebody said he was working there, but there were so many people from all around this local area —
Q. Était-il prêtre ?
A. No, he was a Brother at Lejac. I don’t why he was working there, but everybody couldn’t work with him. Some people, I don’t know, if they turn religious, I guess they forgave him and stuff. But most of the people, 90% of the people doesn’t want to have anything to do with him.
Q. Quand vous étiez enfant, vous a-t-il jamais humilié, vous a-t-il rappelé et vous a-t-il fait vous sentir mal ?
A. No. He mostly hit me with the strap it seemed like. It seemed like he was constantly on my back, just always after me, leaving everybody else. I seemed to be the only one that he singled out. But for 4 years —
Finally I just couldn’t take it. I just told my mother I don’t want to go back. I mean, it seemed everything I did I was doing wrong. I tried to do things right but it seemed like I’m always doing things wrong. Even out in the playground I asked some other kids, “What am I doing wrong?” Most of them they just said that you’re not doing anything wrong. It’s him that’s in the wrong. So I don’t know.
Q. Alors, comment décririez-vous votre expérience au pensionnat?
A. To me it was awful. The only teacher that was really nice was Mrs. Brown and Sister Maria Ethel (sp?). It seemed like they were the only teachers —
Mme Brown était comme une mère pour moi, une mère adoptive ou quelque chose comme ça, je pense que vous l'appelez. Elle était gentille avec tout le monde. Idem avec sœur Maria Ethel.
Pat Lawley (sp?) was another one. When I was in Grade 4, when he’s teaching it’s just like walking on egg shells, so he’s another guy —
He’s the reason I quit in ’61.
Q. Êtes-vous en mesure de parler des choses qu'il vous a faites ?
A. Who, Brother Currans or —
Q. L'un ou l'autre.
A. Well, yeah. I was talking to my lawyer about that. The only part I didn’t like was I lost most of my language. I speak it some. You can’t forget a language, I don’t think. But there’s some parts I can’t say any more because I haven’t spoken it for quite some time now.
Q. Y a-t-il d'autres choses que vous aimeriez partager au sujet de votre expérience au pensionnat?
A. Not really. It seemed like it was a sad way to learn English and lose your language. The hard part was you got strapped for it because you can’t learn the language because you don’t understand. Before I went to Lejac I was on a trap line and everybody spoke Sikanni and everything you did, twenty-four hours a day you spoke Sikanni, and then you go there and all of a sudden you gotta change your language. It’s really difficult. You had to learn it in 4 months.
You can’t do anything. You can’t fight back. You can’t do anything. You had no rights at all. They just stripped off your —
Q. Qu'en est-il de la religion qu'ils vous imposaient ? Qu'avez-vous ressenti à ce sujet ?
A. Well, they woke you up at 6 o’clock and you gotta be in church by 6:30. You stayed there until the Mass was over and then you go down and have breakfast. Some of the other kids, they had to teach them Catechism just to —
I don’t know how I avoided that, but they didn’t put me in that one.
Q. They didn’t put you in Catechism?
R. Non.
Q. Seuls quelques enfants sont allés au catéchisme ?
A. Yeah. I don’t know how is that. I don’t remember why.
Q. Que diriez-vous de rentrer à la maison pour l'été. C'était comment, les vacances d'été ?
A. Some of us couldn’t sleep before we go home. We went home for Christmas and Easter, but some of the other kids go in there in September and they don’t go home until June. I was kind of sad for them because it’s really hard not seeing your parents, you know.
Je pense que certains ne sont jamais rentrés chez eux.
Q. Aviez-vous des frères et sœurs là-bas?
R. Oui, j'avais des frères et sœurs là-bas.
Q. Lorsque vous rentriez chez vous, était-ce que c'était difficile de parler à nouveau votre langue ?
A. Oh, to me it wasn’t. I spoke my language. But 95% of the Reserve didn’t quite understand what we’re talking about but we spoke English and the parents spoke Sikanni. They turned around and slapped some of their kids because they don’t understand Sikanni any more. That’s kind of a reverse for me. So it was a really confusing world.
Q. Avant de passer à autre chose et de parler de la vie depuis le pensionnat, y a-t-il des dernières choses que vous voulez dire?
A. No. I want this over with and I don’t want to talk about it.
Q. D'accord. Comment va la vie depuis le pensionnat?
A. Oh, I’ve had my own companies. Because of Lejac I don’t think I can work with other people. I’ve always managed to start something. I started a garbage company myself. That turned out pretty good.
Now I’m thinking of putting in a little tire shop. The Band is going to help me, anyways.
Q. That’s good.
A. That should run into well past retirement. It’s something to keep me going.
Q. Avez-vous des enfants?
A. I have only one. He’s graduating this year. He’s seventeen.
Q. Avez-vous déjà pu lui parler de vos expériences au pensionnat?
A. No, I never. I never tell him anything about it. I don’t think I want to tell him about it.
Q. Et votre femme ?
R. Oh, elle le sait.
Q. Est-ce qu'elle y est allée aussi?
A. She knows about Lejac but she didn’t attend there. She’s twelve years younger than I am. I quit when she was born, in ’61.
Q. Alors, qu'en est-il de la guérison pour vous maintenant ? Comment ça va? Avez-vous commencé à voir des conseillers ou à obtenir de l'aide par le biais de conférences ou de quoi que ce soit ?
R. À Notley, Fort Fraser, je suis allé voir un conseiller pendant environ 2 ans. Cela a beaucoup aidé. Je veux dire, il m'a tenu occupé, juste des choses en général et juste essayer d'oublier le passé et d'aller de l'avant.
Q. Et maintenant ? Cherchez-vous de l'aide maintenant ou faites-vous quelque chose ?
A. No. We have 3 foster kids so they’re keeping us busy; from 2 to eleven. There’s one 2 year old, a 6 year old and an eleven. They’re keeping us busy. It’s like having your own family. It’s all right. I don’t mind it.
But my boy is seventeen and in our own way we’re trying to teach him this is life. We help out other people with kids. The kids’ parents are having a problem with drugs, so we try to help out. We’re having those kids for 6 months. We have a couple more months left before we give the kids back. We’re going to miss them.
Q. Sont-ils de la même famille ?
A. My sister’s niece. So, yeah, I would say it’s family. I don’t mind. It keeps you busy, especially the 2 year old. He keeps you running around!
Q. Ils vous gardent en forme, 2 ans.
A. Ouais.
Q. Merci d'être venu aujourd'hui.
Y a-t-il un dernier mot que vous aimeriez dire avant de conclure ?
A. No. I just want to get it over with. I’m trying to forget Lejac altogether.
Q. D'accord.
A. I might as well. My son said he wants to become a computer technician. He’s going to keep on going to school, even though he graduates this year. So I’m proud of him. I never went past Grade 11. That’s the farthest I went. I should try to finish, though.
But it’s too late.
Q. No. After the kids are gone you’ll have something else to do!
A. Oh yeah, that’s true too, isn’t it.
Q. Merci beaucoup d'être venu et d'avoir partagé aujourd'hui.
Un merci.
Q. That’s it, you’re done. You got it over with. How do you feel?
Un bien.
— End of Interview