Centre to honour residential school survivors breaks ground at UBC
VANCOUVER — Cindy Tom-Lindley says her grandmother had all her children taken to residential schools and the family had no choice but to comply with the federal government policy designed to assimilate aboriginal people.
Generations of her family would experience the abusive system with Tom-Lindley herself spending three intermittent years at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.
“The pain and the suffering that our people have endured is very real,” she said.
The Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre being developed at the University of British Columbia will house stories from survivors like Tom-Lindley and her family to ensure their experiences aren’t forgotten.