Brantford residential school 'a prison for kids,' survivor says
CBC News | Posted: January 21, 2020 5:13 PM | Last Updated: January 23, 2020
Geronimo Henry is a regular speaker at the Woodland Cultural Centre's survivor series
Geronimo Henry was number 48 at the Mohawk Institute Indian Residential School.
"It's kind of, basically, I would say a prison for kids because we all had to line up for everything," he said. "Everyone had a number. You were locked in your dormitories."
Henry was five or six years old when he arrived on Nov. 11, 1942. He stayed at the school, located on Six Nations territory within the city of Brantford, until Aug. 31, 1953.
"You get lonesome," he said of the school, which they called the Mush Hole.
Henry is a regular speaker at the Woodland Cultural Centre, which is at the site of the school and works to preserve and promote Indigenous history, art, language and culture. The centre hosts its survivor series each month. The next event is being held Monday, Jan. 27, with speaker John Elliot.
Hear Henry's full interview on The Morning Edition with host Craig Norris:
On his Facebook page, Henry has talked about a wall of the school where his name is carved into the bricks.
Clarifications:
- An earlier version of this story listed Geronimo Henry as the next speaker in the survivor series, being held on January 27th. That speaker is John Elliot. January 23, 2020 1:30 PM