Stanislaus Albert Stevens hasn’t fully healed from his four years he spent in a residential school.
When he was 12 years old, he spent four years at a residential school away from family and forced to speak and learn a way of life he wasn’t familiar with. His nickname was Popeye and he said he would have to follow a strict route of prayers, chores and studies.
He said there were numerous physical, mental and sexual abuses going on at his school. Albert Stevens has three brothers and one sister and only one of his siblings didn’t attend a residential school. One of his brothers spent nine years at the Thunder Bay school.
“It was only into my adult years that I understood the atrocities that were committed,” Albert Stevens said. “I started my own healing when I was 17 and I’m still working at it. I do have memories of this place and what it was like for me. I couldn’t speak my own language and when I did I was warned that I wasn’t allowed. I came to resent all kinds of things. I became hateful.
The 62-year-old survivor attended a memorial service for those children who didn’t make it out of the schools at Vicker’s Park on Sunday. He along with his daughter joined more than 20 people as they sang and prayed for those who never went home.
Albert Stevens said the service helped to heal him by having some of that anger that he felt subside.
But he said there’s still more he needs to do.
He said sometimes children would run away and they would never hear from them again. He was never sure if they were able to make it home or see their families.
“I have a hard time talking about this but I’m here today because it’s a way for me to remember those who didn’t come home,” he said. “I'm happy to be here because we're breaking the cycle."
He added he would like to take over organizing the memorial and hoped more people would attend next year.
