We Were Children

We Were Children shares the story of two residential school survivors, Lyna Hart (Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation) and Glen Anaquod (Muscowpetung First Nation). The film switches between personal interviews with Hart and Anaquod and dramatic reenactments of their experiences at residential school. At times, the stories shared are quite graphic. Particularly disturbing scenes might be when Anaquod is locked in a cellar room for an unknown period of time and Hart's account of being sexually abused. While the reenactments of these scenes are tastefully done, younger viewers should definitely have parental guidance while watching this film.

When Anaquod is finally found in the cellar, a school administrator promised him that the priest who locked him up would "never hurt [him] again." The administrator then explained this was because the priest was being transferred to a different school, where the abuse would likely continue. The nun who helped free Anaquod, however, was dismissed from her position altogether.

Hart frequently visits her family farm— specifically the memory of feeding horses with her grandfather—in her mind while she is at school, using it as an escape from her reality. She thinks of her family farm while being punished for speaking Cree and that is also where she escapes to while being sexually abused. This coping mechanism is similar to the one Betty employed while enduring abuse in Sugar Falls, "especially on the nights he came to get us. She would close her mind to it. She would numb her body so she couldn't feel it. And when the morning came, she would pretend it had only been a nightmare" (Robertson, 2021, p. 27). Watching a reenactment—or reading an account of— the horrors these children lived through makes me amazed that any of these children were able to cope with their environment of neglect and abuse and has helped me understand when they weren't able to.

If this documentary seems too intense to watch all the way, I recommend the first ten minutes or so, which shows the tender preparations Lyna's family makes before she is taken and Lyna's arrival at school.

Works Cited:

Robertson, D. A., Ross, B., & Sinclair, H. M. (2021). Sugar Falls: A Residential School Story (10th Anniversary edition). HighWater Press.