For many Heiltsuk,
the sting of the Canadian government-sponsored residential schools is very much still felt. Beginning in the late 1800’s, our young children were taken away from their families and community and forced to live a life completely foreign to them: a life of physical and emotional abuse and where Heiltsuk teachings and ways of life were forbidden. Many of our Elders speak today of the sharp contrast between their time in the residential schools and their time in Húy̓at with their families – a time when they could freely be Heiltsuk.
"I enjoyed it out there [in Húy̓at] to get away from school because when I started school I didn't speak English... I used to get strapped and kept in after school just to learn English. So to get away for 6 weeks out of there year was my breaks."
- Yím̓ás Qvíɫtákv Earl Newman
Residential Schools and Loss