Pieces of Brandon residential school to be left in Rome
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/03/2022 (903 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
ROME — When Jade Harper of Peguis First Nation came to Rome to help make a documentary about the First Nations delegation meeting the Pope this week, she knew what she needed to bring: a brick.
Not just any brick. One from the former Brandon residential school attended by her grandmother and other relatives.
The documentary filmmaker visited the site of the old school in 2015. While there, she felt compelled to take some small pieces of the structure with her.
“I didn’t know why back then,” Harper said, adding she’s held on to the items for seven years.
When Harper learned she would be coming to Rome to help document the journey of survivors, “I brought those things with me, and I will be letting pieces of them go here,” she said Friday.
“I do not have a gift for the Pope, but I am returning some of what they brought to our homelands as a way of moving forward and healing.”
Harper wasn’t yet sure where she will leave the items, but knows what it will mean for her.
“The brick and wall pieces were witnesses to the traumatic experiences of my relatives,” she said. “I’m simply returning something that was never ours in the first place.”
John Longhurst is in Rome this week to cover the papal visit by Indigenous people for the Free Press. See coverage of the visit at winnipegfreepress.com/papalvisit
faith@freepress.mb.ca
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John Longhurst
Faith reporter
John Longhurst has been writing for Winnipeg's faith pages since 2003. He also writes for Religion News Service in the U.S., and blogs about the media, marketing and communications at Making the News.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
The Free Press is committed to covering faith in Manitoba. If you appreciate that coverage, help us do more! Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow us to deepen our reporting about faith in the province. Thanks! BECOME A FAITH JOURNALISM SUPPORTER
John Longhurst
Faith reporter
John Longhurst has been writing for Winnipeg's faith pages since 2003. He also writes for Religion News Service in the U.S., and blogs about the media, marketing and communications at Making the News.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
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