ST. JOSEPH'S.....

I’d heard of Williams Lake residential school before. By 1965. Then one year they came to our school and all I remember was they had a Scottish pipe Band which was all girls. And they played for us in our Rec room one day and it was loud. This was about 1966. And their drums sound different than ours.

Williams Lake is approximately 150 south of Prince George in northern British Columbia. Lejac at Fraser Lake is about 100 miles west of Prince George. And almost every year there was an exchange between the two residential schools at Lejac and St. Joseph’s, the residential school just south of Williams Lake. St. Joseph’s brought their pipe Band or their girls or boys teams to Lejac for the weekend. Sometimes Lejac travelled the 250 miles which was an all-day trip just to get there and spend the whole weekend at their school bringing the Band or teams for a weekend of fun and games.

One year, in about 1968, we put together a hockey team made up of all us Intermediate and Senior boys and then travelled to Williams Lake to play hockey against their team. It was one of the first time I ever went on a road trip for anything. That evening we were sent to one of their dorms and we were told to pick a spot on the floor in between their bunks and that’s where we slept. Me and Gilbert we hung out together sometimes at residential school and we met one of the boys from Williams Lake residential school who we latched onto. We asked him everything about their school and how they do things there. His name was Rene Elkins. He was me and Gilbert our guide at Williams Lake.

Gilbert Chingee is an older boy from McLeod Lake in Senior Dorm at our school. Gilbert is Lester’s older brother.

That Saturday we played hockey against their team at the arena in town. It was a pretty even game. Can’t remember who won. But I remember their coffee wasn’t as good as ours. Also their school wasn’t as big as Lejac. Our school was H-U-G-E!

One year, maybe in 1967 they sent their girls to Lejac for the weekend. There was this big huge grudge match between their girls and our girls. In the game of ringette. We had a court up at the old barn at Lejac where students from all the classes enjoyed games of ringette or sometimes did gymnastics. And the girls had a game that Saturday. The barn was packed as all the students from our school watched the game. Some of us students climbed the balcony overlooking the court.

And man were they rough!! Their girls and our girls took it all very personally and they were just about scrapping! Banging each other into the walls, hitting each other hard as they could and trying not to lose. Sister Ann Rosario was very tall. She was the Senior Girls dorm supervisor. She was also the referee for the game and had to try and keep the girls separated and apart, trying to maintain some degree of control. These girls were all on the verge of breaking out into outright fist fights were it not for Sister Ann. Their girls were very tough and so were the girls of Lejac. None of them took any crap. Those were the girls.

US....

When I first entered residential school back in 1963 there were boys there from Hazelton some 180 miles (300 km) out west. Like Charles Sampson who was an older boy in Seniors and much later Wilfred Sampson who was our Drum Major in Band in 1971. The Gunanoots were also from the Hazelton area. Shubert was in Seniors in 1969, Harvey in Intermediates and of course Elaine was in my class in the 1960s.

We had students from Moricetown not far from Hazelton in the late 60s. There were a number of students from Burns Lake like Steven Tom, Francis Holland and the Alecs and the Augustas. North of Burns Lake is Babine. Roger West, Paul West and Alec West were brothers in Intermediates and Seniors in 1968 at Lejac. Garnet Williams and I both finished Lejac Indian Residential School in 1971. He and I were in Band that year and I saw him on tour. Funniest thing ever is after residential school I moved to Fraser Lake some 3 miles up the road to start Grade 9. And Garnet also registered at Fraser Lake the following year for Grade 10 in 1972.

Garnet was in Seniors with me in 1970-71. Victor Williams, his older brother, was in Seniors with us in 1969. Victor used to be in our dance band along with Alec West and all the other boys from Babine. The guys from Babine were all very good on guitar and were always playing in the band.

Antoine Madam was a much older boy at residential school in the early 1960s who left then came back later. Philip Madam was the school night watchman in 1970 for a few years. The Madams were from Babine. Takla was east of Babine. Victor and Kenny West were from Takla. They were in Senior Dorm in 1971. Also students like Tina and Doreen French attended Lejac in the mid to late 60s. A lot of our students came from Takla.

Stellaquo was a reserve just 7 miles (11 km) west of Lejac on Highway 16. Many of the students at Lejac through the 1960s and 70s came from Stellaquo. Students like Evan Casimel, Gary Michelle and Peter Luggi. Pete Luggi (Peter’s dad) used to also be our night watchman. All the students from Stellaquo were ‘day scholars’. They came in…in the mornings on the bus and went home at the end of the day. Gary, Evan and I hung out at Fraser Lake in the 1970s after residential school.

All the names used here for the different communities are the names used in the 1960s. For instance, Stellaquo is today called Stellat’en. Nautley is Nadleh, Shelley is Leihdli, Stony Creek is Saikuz, Fort is Nak’azdli, Portage is Yekooche, Tachie is part of Tlazten, Moricetown is Wetsuwet’en, Ingenika is Tsay Keh Dene and Fort Ware is Kwadacha.

We also had a couple of students from Nadleh just east of Lejac. Junior Ketlo and Richard Ketlo attended Lejac Residential School with us in the mid-1960s for a short time. Richard and I were in Grade 9 and 10 at Fraser Lake in 1971 and 1972.

Richard Patrick and George Patrick were from Stony Creek outside Vanderhoof. We had a few students from there in the 60s. Brady Antoine and his brothers and sisters also were from Stony.

A lot of our students were from Tachie, Pinchi, Portage and Fort. Everybody at residential school called Fort St. James ‘Fort’. There were a lot of Josephs at residential school. Shirley was in my class all the way through residential school. She and I used to hang out in class. Also Art was my best friend, him and Morris back in 1969-70. Emma Joseph, Andy Joseph, Bob Cho, Mojo, Alec M, Alec C, Philip, Benny, Stuart, James, Greta, Ann, Ronnie and so on. Lots of Josephs. And Thomas, or Alexander, Duncan, those were their last names. Barry, Ronnie, Yvon, Lucille and Teddy. A lot of students from the Prince families at Fort. Like Oliver Prince, James Prince and Tony (Hobo).

We had a few students at residential school from Shelley reserve like Domo Frederick and his brother, Robert. Also Peter and Clifford Quaw.

All the Solonas, Inyallies, Chingees, McCooks, Thomahs, Pierres, Izony, came from McLeod Lake, Ingenika and Fort Ware. In the 1960s. The Isadores, Abau, and so on. Too many to name but these were some of the kids who went to Lejac in the 1960s and 70s.

Residential School...

Thank you to Alfred Solonas of McLeod Lake for this photo of boys and girls after First Communion at Lejac Residential School. This photo from about 1962.

FRENCH....

Father Lasalle came to Lejac maybe in 1968. He was French and like many of us liked hockey. We used to scrimmage on the ice, all us boys and supervisors and I remember he was a bit of a rough player. But that’s hockey. That was at the rink. At school he also taught us French one year starting in Grade 7 in 1969. They introduced French as a subject because some of students were going to be graduating soon, and you need French once you enter public school. French was such a new thing for all us native kids at residential school.

The darnest craziest things we did...

We were totally crazy!! One of the things we did was hop into the back of the work truck when they dropped the garbage off at the dump. We were still in Juniors and the boys used to brag about hanging off the top of the truck when the driver pressed the lever at the garbage dump.

There was a hill at the dump across the highway from our school. And whoever drove the truck would back the truck up to the edge of the hill, then press the lever lifting up the box in the back spilling all the garbage out of the box and down the hill.

We did that one day, bunch of us Junior boys. The supervisor backed up the truck....to the edge of the hill. All the boys....I never did that before....but I heard of it....and they all started shouting and laughing. We were standing on top of all the garbage maybe a half dozen of us boys. And they told me as we got closer to the hill to make sure I grab onto the front of the box. And hang on!

So I did. All of a sudden the box began to lift....and they were all laughing in sheer excitement. I got scared but all I could do was hang on for dear life as the front of the box lifted high....higher....and still higher as all the garbage began to move under our feet. The box jilted and still we went higher. I looked down as all the bags of garbage dropped from under our feet....and I could see the bottom of the hill way way down. Our feet dangled straight downwards as we hung some thirty feet in the air from the bottom!

I hung on for dear life as the truck suddenly jumped forward with all of us hanging off the back of the truck!! Finally....finally the box came back down, and I was so glad when my feet landed on solid wood once again. I never ever did that again! That was way too crazy for me!!

The one that got away...

Every year, usually in the spring, we would burn the grass around the buildings next to the school. One year a bunch of us lit fires around the Scout Hall, next to the Old Rink. The boys use the Scout Hall to put on their skates in the winter time or to change into their hockey gear before games. We lit this fire except somehow it got away on us. So, bunch of us boys including our supervisor, and then the Priest were all out and fighting for our lives trying to get out the fire which was getting too close to a great big fuel tank next to the Scout Hall! This was after dark, we finally got the fire under control and I remember the Priest ‘having a word’ with our supervisor. I guess he wasn’t too pleased we near burned the whole place down. Photo courtesy of Jim Callanan, posted by Verne Solonas