Residential school film footage important to share with family, says 3rd generation survivor

A third-generation residential school survivor is hoping to share archival film footage of his mother at residential school with his grandchildren. 

Roderick Sanderson believes he spotted his mother in film of a former residential school in Saskatchewan, after a researcher from Lac La Ronge Indian Band found the footage in the national archives. 

It was recorded in what the researcher believes to be the late 1930s to early 1940s. Sanderson, a member of the First Nation, said it's important to have this film footage for his family and the community.

Sanderson's mother, Mary Georgina Sanderson (née Bird), attended the second version of the school. He said it was easy to spot her in the footage, at about nine years old, as she looks just like her sister did at that age.

Sanderson said his mom had to be turned in to the school by RCMP and the church. He said she barely talks about her experiences. 

"She has lots of memories of going to the residence, but she doesn't really open up to talk about actually being there or what they did," he said. 

He said his mother was there in 1947 during the fire evacuation of the second school.

"When they do talk about it, they're kind of happy that it got burnt down, because they got to go home and be with their parents," he said.

"The only time they did see their parents was during Christmas."

Lac La Ronge (All Saints) Residential School was located in what is now an urban reserve in downtown La Ronge, Sask., about 380 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon. The school was first built in 1907 and run by the Anglican Church of Canada. It burned down in 1920, was rebuilt and then it burned down again in 1947. 

The footage shows children outside in two different seasons, some walking or dancing outside, some wearing costumes. It also shows horses bringing supplies to the community. Women are also shown working moose hide, and families are shown sitting at what is thought to be a camp area near the school. 

He said this is only about the third image from the time his mother was at the school that he has seen so far. Sanderson said his grandmother attended the school that burned down in 1920. She attended until Grade 7, and when she was 17, got asked to tutor new kids for three cents a week.

Sanderson said his mother's time at the school affected her sense of community.

"She lost that human connection that you develop when you're growing up, but I got it from my grandparents," he said.