MILLBROOK, N.S. - A slain Mi'kmaq activist who is revered for helping win millions in compensation for survivors of Canada's notorious residential schools was remembered Wednesday as a compassionate soul and determined fighter for aboriginal rights.
Nora Bernard, who pioneered a class-action suit for thousands of school survivors, died Dec. 27 of multiple stab wounds at her home just outside the Millbrook First Nation.
Mourners packed a small Roman Catholic Church on the reserve in central Nova Scotia for her funeral.
"She had the heart of a soldier and the soul of an angel,'' daughter Gail Richardson said in her eulogy.
"She worked hard for justice for all and we must work to honour her by continuing this work.''
Millbrook residents were stunned to learn earlier this week that Bernard's 24-year-old grandson, James Douglas Gloade, had been charged with first-degree murder.
The harsh ending of the native elder's life came in sharp contrast to her compassion, said family members.
Many of those who marched through the slush-covered streets of the reserve to the ceremony wore blue ribbons -- a symbol of the residential school survivors.
Others wore the purple ribbons of the Sisters in Spirit campaign, which remembers women who have been victims of violence.
The church had room for only 100 people so an overflow crowd watched a video feed of the service in an adjacent community hall.
Noel Knockwood, a Mi'kmaq elder who attended a residential school, said Bernard was "a fighter, yet she was also compassionate.''
"Many residential school survivors got compensation and we are grateful for that.''
Bernard, 72, received her own compensation from the class-action lawsuit just before Christmas after devoting years to helping her neighbours achieve similar compensation.
Debbie Paul, 52, one of the last children to graduate from a residential school in Shubenacadie, N.S., said she loved Bernard because she'd patiently listen to stories of her life there.
"That's what I remember. If I was hurting I could go to her and tell her how I felt. She was a resident survivor. She understood.''
Bernard's violent death has been linked to what police have described as a growing problem with drug abuse in Millbrook and surrounding area.
Police have suggested Bernard's attacker was on some sort of drug at the time, but haven't elaborated.
Paul said drugs are one of the only ways to explain the tragedy in a culture where tradition dictates that grandmothers should be respected by the young.
"They (drugs) change the person. ... It changes your soul. It changes every bit of you,'' she said.
"This event will bring other families together to start talking about it. When you talk about it, you get angry and mad and say `we'll put a stop to this.'''
Mi'kmaq Grand Chief Ben Sylliboy attended residential school with Bernard and her siblings in the 1940s. He said Bernard broke down the taboos that prevented people from discussing what occurred behind school doors.
"There were children picked up and forced to go to school in Shubenacadie,'' he recalled. "There's some hard stories, like when our parents came to visit, we couldn't speak to them.
"Eventually we lost our language. After four years there, at a young age, you lose your language.''
In the early 1990s, Bernard began organizing those who attended the Shubenacadie school.
She eventually filed suit against the federal government on behalf of all residential school pupils, arguing that tens of thousands of aboriginal children had been robbed of their culture and language.
The schools were operated by six Christian denominations until the 1960s.
The suit, which was later merged with a similar suit in Ontario, led to an historic compensation agreement with Ottawa.
Settlements are expected to average $27,000 for those who were forced to attend the schools. Survivors who can demonstrate they suffered physical or sexual abuse could receive up to $250,000 in damages and an additional $250,000 for lost income.
With up to 70,000 potential claimants in Canada, the settlement could be worth up to $5 billion.
Bernard received $14,000 from the settlement, but police stressed they don't believe the motive for the murder was linked to money.
