TORONTO -- When Elizabeth Sackaney first read the news of the discovery of 215 children鈥檚 remains on the site of a former residential school in Kamloops B.C., she sat up and cried.
鈥淢y partner said 鈥榳hat's the matter, what's going on?鈥� then I gave him my phone to see what's going on he said 鈥極h my God鈥�,鈥� she told 麻豆传媒 Channel on Monday. 鈥淚t brought me back many years again, it opened up everything that I went through.鈥�
As a survivor of the St. Anne鈥檚 Indian Residential School on James Bay, Sackaney has a clear idea of the conditions faced by the children in Kamloops. St. Anne鈥檚 was the subject of an Ontario Provincial Police investigation in 1992 that led to interviews with hundreds of abuse victims and witnesses. Ultimately, seven people were charged and five were convicted, while the federal government spend millions fighting a lawsuit by survivors in court.
鈥淲e got a lot of abuse, sexual abuse, all different kinds,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 got sick one time.. they forced me to eat all my oatmeal and I vomited it. There was nuns that held me down and pushed it in my mouth.鈥�
As with many survivors, the impact of the experience continued to affect Sackaney鈥檚 life long after she left the school.
鈥淚鈥檝e lost two girls. One suicide because of this residential school and my other girl overdosed because they couldn鈥檛 handle the residential school issues,鈥� she said.
Sackaney has been speaking about her experiences for years. She speaks with other survivors and testified in court as part of the St. Anne鈥檚 lawsuit, when many dismissed the truths being told about the residential school system.
鈥淚've been fighting with government since it was 2005 when I went for my interview,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are all trying to get healing and I'm happy a lot of people are starting to understand what we went through in that residential school.鈥�
What Sackaney wants now is healing, and as part of that would like to see an apology from Pope Francis over the role of the Catholic Church in administering the residential schools.
鈥淚 was thinking how cruel a man that believes in God creator would be like that. They taught us in St.Anne鈥檚 school to pray all the time. Why is it so hard for him to apologize and say 鈥業鈥檓 very sorry this went on鈥�?鈥� she said.
Sackaney said she wants Canadians to believe survivors and that she鈥檒l talk to anyone who wants to listen. The discovery of the remains in Kamloops reveals more truth, which she acknowledged can be a positive thing.
鈥淵es it does (give help), but it really hurts. In your heart it hurts,鈥� she said.
