Tony Stevenson, educator and former residential school student, in front of the school gates at the site of the former Lebret Residential School in Lebret, Sask., on Saturday.Tatum Duryba/The Globe and Mail
When Tony Stevenson attended an event with First Nations and the University of Saskatchewan, he did not expect to come across a family member.
But as he flipped through a white binder of photographs from the Lebret (Qu’Appelle) Residential School, he stumbled upon a black-and-white snapshot of his late uncle George Poitras − on the ice, hockey stick in hand − an image his family did not know had been preserved from his residential school days.
“It was a very pleasant surprise,” said Mr. Stevenson, himself a 57-year-old survivor of the Lebret school.
The photo was one of almost 800 of students who attended the school, a collection donated to the University of Saskatchewan in 2002.
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Last September, the university hosted an engagement event with members of several First Nations. It invited former students, families and community members to view the photos at a time when some former students were considering making claims as part of two class-action settlements for Indigenous children who suffered harms while attending a residential school or after being admitted to a government-run hospital. The deadlines to submit claims are Feb. 22, 2027, and July 27, 2028, respectively.
The two class actions are separate from the out-of-court Independent Assessment Process (IAP), which sought to resolve claims of abuse and other wrongful acts at residential schools. It is no longer accepting claims.
The university says discussions about the images are ongoing, including whether First Nations would like to be given the photographs.
Supplied photo from Tony Stevenson of his Uncle George Poitras from the collection in Lebret.Supplied
Advocates such as Mr. Stevenson, who works as a paralegal representing residential school survivors in legal claims, says historical documentation such as photographs can help confirm details and spark memories.
He is the founder of MJ’s Ole Skool Crew, an Indigenous non-profit that delivers presentations on residential schools, including to law students.
He says survivors who make claims are asked to recount details of abuse decades after attending residential schools − often after they have spent those decades suppressing memories of the abuse.
Photographs can do more than place someone at a school, he says. Images that feature a room, a staff member or fellow students can help someone recall when and where something happened.
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Many survivors, he says, including elders in his community, have a hard time recounting what happened to them.
For example, a woman in her 70s told him she had never spoken about what happened to her. She had struggled with addiction and found it difficult to speak openly about what happened until late in life.
“You’re ripped open, you’re torn open,” Mr. Stevenson said. “You’ve got a whole bunch of feelings that you’ve never dealt with before, and you’re dealing with them now.”
His own compensation hearing under the IAP lasted nine hours.
“Four and a half hours was spent recomposing myself because I broke down,” he said. “That was a hell of a thing.”
A red dress, representing Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, and two Every Child Matters shirts hang on the gate of the former Lebret Residential School.Tatum Duryba/The Globe and Mail
The September engagement event hosted by the University of Saskatchewan was held on Peepeekisis Cree Nation. Both Mr. Stevenson and his 77-year-old mother, Lillian Stevenson, were in attendance.
The university said available archival information suggests the photos date from between 1907 and 1963.
Mr. Stevenson took a picture of the snap of his uncle and later shared it with relatives.
He said his aunt cried when she saw it; his cousins were beaming with pride.
The university said the photographs are currently stored in its archives and special collections within a library. It said no final decisions have been made about their long-term stewardship or access to the images because those decisions rest with the First Nations connected to the materials.
“Our approach has been to ensure that the communities have the opportunity to guide decisions about the materials,” said Lori Birrell, the university librarian and dean of library. “It’s up to the Nations to determine what happens with these records.”
Ry Moran, a former director of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, said in an interview that privacy and access must be carefully considered for residential school records.
A few of the nearly 1,000 photographs currently in possession of the University of Saskatchewan's History Department. Historical documentation such as photographs can help confirm details and spark memories, Stevenson says.Tatum Duryba/The Globe and Mail
Some records, he said, contain highly sensitive information, but access is important when survivors and families are seeking information connected to their own lives.
“Records aren’t kept to collect dust,” Mr. Moran said. “They’re actually meant to contribute to healing and to helping people find the information that they need to pursue their own path.”
Mr. Stevenson’s mother said photos can also spark conversations among former students and relatives who recognize faces from the past.
“All of a sudden there’s a conversation going − ‘Well, I remember him,’” she said. “That’s what keeps the story going.”
She said photos were used to strengthen her own compensation claim under the IAP because they proved that she attended the school and helped her remember things she had forgotten.
“A picture is a million stories,” she said.