The pain of residential schools is still being felt today. I want to introduce our guests Suann Riddick and Fred Lane; in this podcast episode you will get to hear some of the research that Suann is doing on residential schools. What we went on through the boarding school era was tragic and Suann speaks to the stories of over 150,000 Indigenous children who were forced into these schools. Indigenous children were stripped of their language, culture, traditions, family heritage, elders, food sources, and homes. Everything was taken. When you hear about these things, challenge yourself to think about the trauma and sorrow that our people have endured and what we still deal with till this day. We are the natural preservers of these lands we share. We took care of these lands for thousands of years. When you see us remember what happened and that we are still here.
The Annual Reports of Indian Commissioner of Indian affairs of the Indian agents in the 1890’s and explain exactly some of the conditions of these residential schools. It hurt me deeply to read. I feel the indigenous children’s hurt from the atrocities of events that happened. Some of these children were my relatives. My grandparents went through boarding school. So when you listen to these stories I hope you stop and think for a second that it was someone's grandchild, that was someone's child, that was someone's sibling, that was a human child, a part of someone's family, a part of culture and traditions.
Hy’shqe (Thank you) to everyone who has participated in this podcast episode my hands go up to each and every one of you today for the knowledge stories and teaching you all have given me and our audience today by giving more background on the research you are doing in Residential schools so again thank you Suann for your time and thank you Fred for conducting this interview with her can’t wait to hear more.
SuAnn Reddick Bio: I was born in California and moved to Oregon in 1970. After working in the landscape construction field, I entered the UO Landscape architecture program in 1984. I completed the bachelors and masters program in ‘88 and ‘90 and discovered my love for writing and history. My first publication was in the Oregon Historical Quarterly in 1990. After I became involved at Chemawa, I published a history of the evolution of the school in OHQ in 2000, and have also done a lot of research and published articles on the Medicine Creek Treaty and Fox Island Council. I am hoping to compose a detailed history of the acquisition and loss of the land at Chemawa from 1884 to the present and continue to advocate for the placement of campus land into trust for the permanent benefit of Indian education. I still live on acreage outside McMinnville with my dog and two cats, maintain my large yard and garden and continue to research the land at Chemawa and share whatever knowledge I have for many years with others.
Fred Lane Bio:
Sul ka dub (as known as Freddie Lane) was born and raised on the Lummi Reservation west of Bellingham WA. He is the eleventh of 12 children of Vernon & Nancy Lane. Fred's father Swe lus defied the United States government in the late 1960's when (as Chairman) Vernon led the tribe in building the Lummi Aquaculture without permits from the US Army Corp of Engineers paving the way for sovereignty and jurisdiction and self-determination across Indian Country. Freddie is a former councilman of the Lummi Indian Business Council and most recently was the Road Manager for the Red Road to DC, where the House of Tears Carvers gifted President Joe Biden a totem pole. He is currently hosting a series of online forums, most notably leading talks for the release of Lolita, the orca at the Miami SeaQuarium.
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