Healing the Scars of the Mt. Pleasant Boarding School:
"We Knew Bad Things Happened Here"

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The Reverend Devin Chisholm from the Saganing Indian Community Church led the attendees in the singing of "Amazing Grace" in Ojibwe and English.

“We were taught not to look at this building as we were coming up. We did not look at the window or a certain tree – some of you know which tree I am talking about – because they said there were images of children in the tree,”

said the Reverend Robert Pego, Sr. of the Saginaw Chippewa Community Church.

“We would avoid walking by here when we could. We would walk along the railroad tracks to avoid coming near this place. We knew bad things happened here.”

The Reverend Owen Whitepigeon of the Chippewa United Methodist Church delivered a prayer for healing.

“There were 154 students who died here while attending school,”

said Frank Cloutier, public relations director of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan, based in Mt. Pleasant.

The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe was given the closed down buildings of the boarding schools and its property last year by the State of Michigan. The Tribe is still in the process of assessing what will become of the property.

“We want people to know, this project does not belong only to this Tribe. It belongs to the community,”

commented Cloutier.

Attendees were given tours of the closed down buildings yesterday.

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Editor's Note: Yesterday, the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan held an event called, "Honoring, Healing & Remembering" as a means of healing from the long-lasting effects of Indian boarding schools. The event was a day long event with several speakers. The Native News Network was there to cover the event.

photo credit Lucy "Geezhego Nangkwe" McClellan-Hunter;
posted June 7, 2012 11:59 am edt