The founding chief of the Inuvik Dene Band says not everyone had bad experiences at residential schools and she wants to start a movement to allow the good stories to come out.
Cece Hodgson-McCauley tells radio station CJME that she spent 10 years at a residential school and they were "the best years of my life."
This year the residential school system was called "cultural genocide" by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
It spent years collecting stories of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse against First Nations children and documented the deaths of more than 6,000 students.
Hodgson-McCauley, who is 94, says she was taken in as an orphan and learned how to sew, making clothing and quilts, and also how to cook.
She says she and her sister agree they were "treated wonderfully."
She says a lot of the bad stories told about residential schools are a lie.
"They're only reporting the bad side, and the more you lie, the more you say it's bad the more money you make," she says. "The lawyers are making money because they're pushing people to tell their stories."
She says some people have contacted her, wanting to tell their positive stories about the schools, but are too scared to come forward.
(CJME)
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