Helen. Charles. Georgina.

For decades, their names went unspoken. Their burial site remained unvisited. Their stories were left untold.

They were forgotten.

On a sunny but sombre day in October, that changed.

Stephen Kakfwi, joined by family members and community leaders, called out their names.

SA国际影视传媒淗elen Laporte.SA国际影视传媒� SA国际影视传媒淐harles Laporte.SA国际影视传媒� SA国际影视传媒淕eorgina LaporteSA国际影视传媒� SA国际影视传媒� three names among the 300 etched into the aging face of a sprawling stone monument that rests in Fort Providence.

Each inscribing holds a childSA国际影视传媒檚 lost life SA国际影视传媒� lost while attending Fort ProvidenceSA国际影视传媒檚 Sacred Heart Mission School, a residential school where KakfwiSA国际影视传媒檚 relatives on his motherSA国际影视传媒檚 side were sent to in the 1800s.

Beside dozens of names, SA国际影视传媒渦nknownSA国际影视传媒� fills the space where their last name ought to be.
For years, Kakfwi had no idea his relatives, the Laportes, were buried there.

It wasnSA国际影视传媒檛 until Kakfwi began researching his past; tracing his genealogy; sewing together an uprooted lineage, that he made the realization.

That was over a decade ago.

Between those years, in visits to the monument and cemetery, Kakfwi quietly canvassed the childrenSA国际影视传媒檚 names; silently surveying the magnitude of the monument.

SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檝e been going there for quite a few years SA国际影视传媒� trying to figure out a way to relate to those children buried there,SA国际影视传媒� Kakfwi told News/North.

After organizing a larger, family-focused visit, arranging to fly his brother and sisters SA国际影视传媒� scattered across the Sahtu SA国际影视传媒� to the monument, Kakfwi, found a way.

Not only did Kakfwi and his family, including his wife and grandchildren, speak the names of the forgotten children, they brought them pieces of their past; givings from the land they grew up on.

SA国际影视传媒淲e brought them berries, dry meat SA国际影视传媒� things they would have grown up on,SA国际影视传媒� recounted Kakfwi.

A drumming and fire ceremony followed.

It was about bringing the children closer to home, after they were taken from it.

SA国际影视传媒淭hey died alone in Fort Providence, probably afraid and wanting to be with their mothers and fathers,SA国际影视传媒� said Kakfwi.

He knows what thatSA国际影视传媒檚 like.

By 1960, most of KakfwiSA国际影视传媒檚 family SA国际影视传媒� his mother and father, aunts and uncles, sisters and brothers SA国际影视传媒� had been taken to hospitals in Edmonton and Aklavik. Left with no one to look after him, Kakfwi, who grew up in Fort Good Hope, went to residential school in Inuvik at the age of nine.

He thought heSA国际影视传媒檇 been going on an SA国际影视传媒渁dventure.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淚 wasnSA国际影视传媒檛 afraid. I thought, SA国际影视传媒榤an, this is going to be so good. ISA国际影视传媒檓 going to see all my friends. WeSA国际影视传媒檙e going to play just like we did back home in the summertime,SA国际影视传媒橲A国际影视传媒� remembered Kakfwi.

SA国际影视传媒淚 learned very quickly that it was not a good place.SA国际影视传媒�

He was beaten by a nun on the first day, an act of cruelty and violence that foreshadowed a six-month stay marked by whippings and abuse.

Kakfwi was supposed to go back the following year, but his uncle, a riverboat pilot named Albert Lafferty, intervened. SA国际影视传媒淗e radioed in and demanded that I not be sent back. So, I was saved by my uncle,SA国际影视传媒� said Kakfwi.

Kakfwi went on to become the premier of the Northwest Territories.

SA国际影视传媒榃e know what it feels likeSA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淢yself, some of my brothers and sisters, we all went to residential school. So we know what it feels like to be little kids taken away and being far from our parents, being scared, being abused,SA国际影视传媒� said Kakfwi, who now lives in Yellowknife.

ThatSA国际影视传媒檚 why visiting the monument is so important for Kakfwi.

SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檙e honouring the children and claiming them back as members of our family,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 a powerful experience.SA国际影视传媒�

Plans to make visit a tradition

ItSA国际影视传媒檚 also an experience Kakfwi hopes to expand on. The Oct. 3 visit and ceremony was birthed from a brainstorming session Kakfwi had in June at Turtle Lodge near Winnipeg.
Kakfwi outlined his wish to bring his family to the site in Fort Providence, and, in turn, the National Research Center for Reconciliation assisted by providing transportation costs for his family members.

Commissioner for the NWT, Margaret Thom SA国际影视传媒� who accompanied Kakfwi at the recent ceremony SA国际影视传媒� also played a role in putting the ceremony and visit together, he added.
SA国际影视传媒淚 think it may be the beginning of a tradition for people to go to Fort Providence and organize something annually with community leaders there to honour and visit the children.SA国际影视传媒�