THE INTERVIEWER:  So first I’ll just get you to say your name and spell it for me.

            MABEL GREY : Mon nom d'épouse en ce moment ?

Sûr. Oui.

Okay.  I’m Mrs. Mabel Grey, married to Russell Grey.

Peut tu l'épeler?

I got married before I married him, because my first husband died.  His name was Alfred Yellowknee, and I had 5 kids from him.  In all I had fifteen; ten with Russell.  And I lost 2 of them, 2 boys, but they were grown up.  One was thirty and the other one was fifty when they died.  I’m eight-four.  I still have thirteen kids that are healthy.

Comment épelez-vous votre nom maintenant ?

Mabel Grey. Je n'ai jamais eu de deuxième prénom.

Quel était votre nom de jeune fille ?

Mon nom de jeune fille était Mabel Nooski et j'ai été élevée au pensionnat de Grouard de l'âge de 3 à 18 ans. Nous n'avions pas de vacances ; rien. 

            I was stuck in there because my foster father – I really thought he was my dad but he wasn’t – didn’t want me to go with my foster mother, and the other way round.  My mother didn’t want me to go with my foster father so I was stuck in the Mission with no holidays, no nothing, all these fifteen years.

Quelle était votre communauté d'origine ?

I was born in Lake Laboucan.  My birth certificate says Lac Laboucan because Father Pitour (sp?) had baptized me.  It was Lac Laboucan then but it’s Little Buffalo now, the town of Little Buffalo.

Quel était le nom de l'école que tu as encore fréquentée ?

Pardon?

Quel était le nom de l'école ?

St. Bernard’s Mission, Grouard, Alberta.

So you said you were there from 3 ‘til eighteen.

Dix-huit.

De quelles années étaient-elles ?

Eh bien, je suis né en 1921 et j'ai été mis au pensionnat quand j'avais 3 ans en 1924. Et j'en suis sorti en 1939.

Vous souvenez-vous de votre premier jour d'école, d'avoir été là pour la première fois ?

I remember being on horseback with my dad.  I always called him “dad” although he was my foster dad.  I remember when I was 3 years old and we were on horseback and I guess he was going to put me in the Joussard Residential School, but my mother and dad, my real parents wanted me to go to the Grouard. 

            Si je suis arrivé dans le foyer d'accueil, c'est parce que mon père m'a éloigné de ma mère alors que j'étais encore dans le sac de mousse. Je devais avoir quelques mois. Comme je le disais, j'étais à cheval avec mon père et nous pouvions voir un attelage de chevaux arriver. Il y avait des religieuses dessus. Je me souviens que. Je n'avais que 3 ans. 

            So when we met with them my dad talked to the Nuns.  I don’t know what they were saying.  He handed me over to the Nuns.  Lucky for me those were the Nuns visiting from Grouard because this was in late August, ready for when the kids started going back in September.  They took me.  They were visiting Joussard Mission.  So I started crying because I didn’t want to go with them.  I didn’t know what they were.  They were in all white and black.  I was kind of afraid of them.  I remember this.

            So we went over to the Joussard Residence and they were ready to go back to Grouard.  I don’t know how they came, by team or whatever.  I don’t remember going back to Grouard.  But when we got to Grouard it was dark already and it was time for the children to go to bed.  So I started crying again because I was lonesome.  I cried and cried.  Finally Sister Mary Marc, I remember her, she come and take me and put me in bed with her.

— Speaker overcome with emotion

            Finally I fell asleep.  All of sudden she jumped up because I pee’d on her.  I remember that, too.   She woke me up and went and put me back in my bed.  I guess I cried myself to sleep again.  From then on I don’t remember.  But I remember that day.

            La prochaine chose dont je me souviens, c'est que je suis allé à l'école. Elle s'appelait sœur Hélène. Elle était vraiment sympa. Elle m'a serré dans ses bras quand je pleurais. C'est ce dont j'avais besoin. 

— Speaker overcome with emotion

            From then on I don’t really remember. 

            I remember when I was about 9.  I was sliding.  There was a little hill from the residence going to the school and we used to slide with whatever we found.  They wouldn’t give us things to slide with. 

Tu penses que c'était quand tu avais environ 9 ans ?

Oui. 

You don’t remember what a typical day would have been like, the kinds of things you did when you woke up, you know, just the regular sort of day?

A partir de là, je pense que je m'en souviens. Quand nous nous levions, la Sœur se promenait dans notre dortoir car il y avait 4 rangées de lits. Elle sonnait la cloche et nous devions sauter du lit, nous mettre à genoux et dire nos prières du matin. Nous nous habillions, nous nous lavions, puis allions à notre salle à manger et disions encore quelques prières avant d'aller à la messe. Ensuite, nous allions à la messe. Après la messe, nous retournions au réfectoire pour prendre notre repas, puis nous priions à nouveau. 

            After our meal we prayed again, thanking the Lord for feeding us.  Then we went down to our Play Room to wait for our classroom, which was 9 o’clock.  When we went to the school we prayed again some more.  It was always pray, pray, pray.  Finally I asked the Sister why, “Why are we praying so much?”  And she said, “To chase the devil out of you.”  We didn’t even know what the devil was.

            Donc, après l'école, nous allions dans notre salle de jeux et allions tricoter ou coudre. Nous devions coudre nos propres vêtements à la main si nous les déchirions parce qu'ils étaient usés jusqu'à la corde. Ils se déchirent facilement.

            Toutes ces années où j'étais dans le Résidentiel, ils nous ont privés de notre nourriture. Nous n'avons jamais eu de dessert; uniquement le dimanche. Le matin, ils nous ont donné du pain, juste du pain nature, sans beurre, sans rien dessus. Et de la bouillie. C'était tous les jours. 

            They made us into thieves because they deprived us of everything.  As soon as their backs were turned we would run to the pantry and steal whatever we could, like dried prunes and raisins or things like that we wanted to eat.  I remember this one time when we went for dinner —

            There were fish like this (indicating) Jack fish, with the scales and everything on.  I don’t even think they were gutted, or anything. 

Ils voulaient que tu les manges comme ça ?

Yeah.  But at least they peeled it.  And whatever was put on our plate we had to eat it, even though we didn’t like it.  We were forced to eat it.  And after dinner we would go in a row and we were given some cod liver oil.  I don’t know why.  Every time we went I would take my handkerchief with me and go behind a girl and spit it out.  I was caught about twice.  I had to take twice that much if I was caught. 

            If somebody did wrong and we didn’t tell on them, we hid it from the Nuns, we were all strapped.  We had to put our hands out and they would hit us 5 times on this side (indicating).  You’re going to tell?  And if we didn’t talk, the other one.

            It wasn’t a strap.  It was a big ruler.

            When we grew bigger we had these bras that were sewn straight and the Nuns would pull them as tight as possible in the back because she said that you’re tempting the boys showing off your breasts.  One girl had her breasts crushed on one side, so she was taken to the hospital and the doctor —

            Well, she told him why and there were great big boxes brought with bras, beautiful ones, and we all grabbed for them.  We had to put them back, but at least we didn’t have those flat bras any more.

            We weren’t even supposed to look at the boys.  Of course the boys were on their side.  They were fenced up and we were also fenced up.  They said, “Don’t look at the boys or you’ll have big stomachs, you’ll have babies.”  I don’t know why.  They said something about pregnant, you know.  We didn’t know what that was.  We were even afraid to look at our own brothers.

            I don’t know about the Nuns.  Not all of them were like that, just a few.  I guess the 2 Nuns that were keeping us were the meanest ones of them all.  Some were real nice. 

            This one time —

            We didn’t have running water and there were some cats running around with their little kittens.  This Sister, her name was Sister Jemima (sp?), she put them in a gunny sack, put a rock in the bottom, put all the kittens in there and just threw them in a barrel of water.  Some of us cried because it was mean.  She told us, you know, when you die, if you tell lies and you steal – I guess someone was caught stealing – you’re going to go down here (indicating).

            And when we started sewing if we threw a little piece of thread away this long (indicating), she said that all those little pieces of thread you’re throwing away the devil is making a chain for you.  When you die he’s going to pull you into hell.  (Laughter)

            I don’t know about the Nuns.  Nowadays I think of that and I tell my kids. They don’t really believe it that the Nuns were that mean. 

            We couldn’t even show our arms.  That would be tempting the boys.  Sometimes beautiful dresses would be sent in, you know, when the kids were ready to go on their summer holidays.  We had to sew them different so our arms wouldn’t show because that was tempting the boys also. 

            And we were not told anything about sex.  They said it was dirty.  So when it was time for me – I’m jumping ahead – when it was time for me to get married when I got out, I don’t know how I felt when I first went to bed because it was dirty and everything.  I just kept pushing away, pushing away.  Finally I found out that it wasn’t unnatural. 

            When I had my first baby I didn’t even know where it was going to be born from because we were not taught anything.  I thought my belly button was supposed to split somehow and a little baby would come out.  (Laughter)  We were not made ready for the years ahead.

            First of all, when I was smaller I had 2 bigger brothers, but they finally left because they were of age.  Oh yes, I forgot.  They kept the boys and the girls who were orphans until they were in their twenties and then they married them off, even though they didn’t see each other, they got to know each other and were left to go together. 

How come you didn’t have any holidays?  You said that some people went home for holidays.  How come you didn’t go for holidays?

Because, like I said in the beginning, my foster dad didn’t want me to go, take my mom, because they had parted, and the other way around.  She didn’t want to do it so I was stuck there.

Tout le temps.

Yeah.  I didn’t know that my real mother was alive all this time.  My father had died in the meantime.  When I came of age, eighteen, my foster dad came for me because my foster mother didn’t think that much of me, I guess.  She didn’t come for me because she had remarried already.

Connaissiez-vous votre père adoptif à son arrivée ? L'aviez-vous vu ?

Yeah.  He was the mailman from Whitefish Lake to Grouard, so every now and then he would come and see me.  So when it was time for me to go out he came for me.  It’s funny, when I reached Atikamik (ph.) I seen all these little log buildings because there were no modern houses.  The only modern ones were the Hudson’s Bay, and there was another store, Morden’s, and the Hudson’s Bay residence and the Anglican Mission that was up there in Whitefish.  There were kids that were put in there.  They were the only modern buildings. 

            These little log buildings when I got there, some didn’t have windows.  They had just white cloths.   Some had windows but not all of them.  And there were weeds growing out of the roofs because they had sod.  I thought what smart people.  They are having gardens up there!  So this one time when my dad went for the mail as usual, I climbed up on the roof trying to look for a carrot or something to eat.  He had forgotten his Kupenhagen (ph.) and he caught me out there.  He said, “What are you doing up there?”  I said, “Looking for a carrot or a turnip.”  He said, “The garden is down there.”  It was down the hill! 

            Quand j'étais au pensionnat, ils nous ont appris à coudre à la main, à la machine à coudre, à tricoter et à broder. C'était tant mieux. Au moins, ils nous ont appris ça, mais rien d'autre quand je suis allé à l'école pendant toutes ces années jusqu'à la huitième année. Il n'y avait pas de classes supérieures. 

            I went to Peace River for half a year but couldn’t stay.  It was too hard, like those Nuns up there were teaching the ninth grade.  I just took the ninth grade for 6 months and went back to Grouard, but I didn’t go to school.  I worked.

            I was there when the buildings burned.  It was the hospital that burned, a two-storey classroom, the laundry, the meat house and the boys’ building.  There were 7 in all that burned.  It was on a Sunday because we were in church, waiting for the Priest and the Nuns to come.  But nobody came.  All of a sudden one of the girls saw the sparks.  It was windy.  And my sister was in the hospital then.  One of the Priests carried her out.  There were only 2 patients in the hospital; 2 girls.  But she died.  She died of TB in McLennan Hospital.

We’re just going to have to change the tape shortly.

            Y a-t-il autre chose que vous souhaitez ajouter ?

Pas vraiment. 

            I used to know him.  He was younger than me.  He was one of those boys who wasn’t afraid of the Nuns.  He would come over to our side and we would dress him like a little girl, put an apron on him so they wouldn’t know.  He was one of those reckless.  That’s how I met him.

            I don’t remember anything else.  Maybe later.

Puis-je vous poser des questions sur votre processus de guérison. Y a-t-il quelque chose de spécifique que vous avez fait qui vous a aidé ?

Oh oui. Nous n'avions pas du tout le droit de parler cri, notre propre langue. Et les prêtres apprenaient notre langue, ce que nous trouvions drôle, parce que nous étions privés de notre propre langue et on leur apprenait notre langue, je suppose pour aller convertir les gens autour. Il y avait de nouvelles filles qui venaient et tout de suite j'allais vers elles, en essayant d'apprendre quelques mots, hein. Mais si nous étions pris, nous récupérions la sangle. C'était toujours la sangle.

            There was one girl there that didn’t give up.  Her name was Mary Marie.  She talked Cree in front of the Nuns on purpose, just to fight back.  For doing that she would get to kneel down on the floor, lift up her dress, and they would strap her right in front of all of us.  It was funny, though. She didn’t cry at all.  She just said to them, to the Nun that was strapping her, “you hurt me but I’m not going to tell you.”  We all had to laugh because of the way she said it.  “I’m hurting but I’m not going to tell.”  She already told it.

Alors qu'avez-vous fait pour guérir de vos expériences. Y a-t-il quelque chose de spécifique qui vous a aidé ?

Il y a eu beaucoup de réunions ces derniers temps, depuis 4 ans. Mais nous ne sommes jamais allés chez eux. C'était à Calgary et à Edmonton. Nous n'y sommes jamais allés. J'ai juré que si jamais j'avais des enfants, ils parleraient tous cri. À la maison, nous parlons tous cri, pas d'anglais.

            This one time my dad told me to go and take his underwear down, like in Cree, and I didn’t understand what it was.  There was a frying pan hanging on a hook and I used to make these little tee-pee things but with leaves around and sit in there.  It was hanging there.  So I went and take this frying pan and gave it to him.  He just pretty near died laughing at me.  I was supposed to take his long johns down from the clothesline.  But I guess he was just testing me to see if I understood.

Alors tous vos enfants parlaient cri ?

Tous. Pas seulement l'un d'entre eux ; tous. Même certains de mes petits-enfants parlent cri. Et avec tous mes quinze enfants, et même mes petits-enfants ont des enfants, j'ai 203 petits-enfants, arrière-petits-enfants et arrière-arrière-petits-enfants.

Bien, merci beaucoup.

— End of Interview.