BATTLEFORDS — Hundreds of Indigenous children were sent to Delmas’s former Thunderchild/St. Henri Residential School between 1901 and 1945, and in that time, at least 44 children passed away, and their remains were never found.
The school is now gone, destroyed by fire in 1948 by former students, and in its place, poplars grow. All that remains now are the survivors and their stories, and Floyd Favel decided to capture those stories in his new book, Ashes to Embers, set to be released Oct. 30.
Kenny and Leo Tootoosis, Theresa Sapp and Gavin Baptiste are among those who shared their memories of the Delmas Residential School and its subsequent destruction one cold January almost 75 years ago.
Lena Tootoosis recalls that when the building fell, students let out cries and shouts of victory.
An excerpt from the book reads:
“On January 13, 1948 the Delmas Indian Residential School was burned down by a group of boys who had warned most of the students of their plan so they could all escape. These are the stories of some of the survivors who were present that night. There are many stories that haven’t been told.”
Floyd Favel, theatre theorist, director, essayist, museum curator for Poundmaker Historical Centre and Cree cultural leader, spent the last few years recording and chronicling the stories of the Delmas Residential School survivors, starting with interviews in January 2021.
“I heard about it all my life, and then I wrote a journalism essay on it in 2019, published in the Indigenous Times. In February, before the Kamloops discoveries, we began making a short documentary.”
The film premiered at film festivals in 2021 in both Toronto and Montreal. The book was written in the summer of 2022, although Favel says the research took decades.
Favel says he hopes people can learn about a much-neglected part of Saskatchewan's history.
“We wanted to honour and pay homage to the living storytellers who could tell their stories and also for all the past students in the residential school.”
Karen Whitecalf, project manager for BATC’s Star Children Initiative, searching for the 44 missing children, wrote in her foreword for the book:
“We recently received some information that there were 28 more burials that were not documented. Oral history from survivors told what they witnessed: young boys had to help bury children. I don’t want to imagine the horrific nightmares these young boys must have endured,” Whitecalf writes.
“I pray for healing across the nation, I pray for our non-indigenous brothers and sisters to have understanding on why our people are so broken and to be patient with us while we are healing.”
Alix Van Der Donckt-Ferrand, the illustrator for Ashes to Embers, says she was awed by the power of the story, and the images of fire stuck in her head almost instantly. She worked to edit and produce the original documentary that was showcased in Montreal and Toronto.
“The strong story of resistance, resistance from children, and the image of the fire sort of stuck with me. I always had these images in my head about fire, and I wanted to draw them.” When they decided to start turning the film into a book, Van Der Donckt-Ferrand was excited.
“All those images were already built up in my head.”
The novel is published by Miyawata Culture, a company devoted to preserving, rejuvenating and disseminating Cree culture and language worldwide. They are grounded in the belief that the creative, traditional cultures of Indigenous People across Turtle Island act as the bridge in which all people may take part.
The book will be available for purchase Oct. 30. Parts of the original film can be found on their website. Favel is planning a book launch and signing in North Battleford at the start of November, and more information will be available at a later date.
