Episode 6 - Agnes Kuptana

Agnes Kuptana is a residential school Survivor from Uluksaqtuuq (Uluhaktok), Northwest Territories. She’s also a talented seamstress and educator. Agnes made the wall hanging that is featured in the cover art for the How I Survived podcast. 

"When I was growing up, we lived in hunting camps. In the evening, we would listen to stories from our grandparents while scraping skins. They taught us how to make patterns and trace it out, and how to sew and stitch. They watched us closely. If we made a mistake, it was okay--they told us to keep sewing and that the next item would turn out better."

When we approached Agnes to create a wall hanging for How I Survived, she told us that she also wanted to be interviewed. Agnes wants young people to know about her experiences at residential school.

Agnes was born in an igloo and raised on the land, following the animals through the four seasons. 

"It was beautiful. It was healthy, loving. There were lots of teachings. Every day was different and there was no fear. It's all in the language. There is lots of playing time and learning to do things. Chores, sewing. Sometimes you help your cousins go check the trap line, then you come back and you help elders if they want. You hitch up maybe one, two, three dogs and chop some ice from the lake or get water."

The only time Agnes saw white people was when they travelled to nearby Uluksaqtuuq.

When she was six years old, a plane came to Agnes's family's camp and took her away to residential school. For four or five years, she lived at the Coppermine Tent Hostel. She was also institutionalized at the Cambridge Bay Hostel and later at Stringer Hall in Inuuvik (Inuvik). 

Coppermine Tent Hostel

The Coppermine Tent Hostel began regular operations in 1955. Located in what is now Kugluktuk, Nunavut, the hostel was operated by Anglican missionaries. 

Left photo: Coppermine Tent Hostel, 1955. Credit: NWT Archives/Henry Busse fonds/N-1979-052: 0868. Right photo: Coppermine Tent Hostel, no date. Credit: NWT Archives/Northwest Territories. Department of Education, Culture and Employment fonds/G-1999-088: 0229.

From April to August, children lived in canvas wall tents stretched across wood frames. As Agnes describes, the tents were drafty and hard to heat. They were also easily damaged by high winds. 

"[Our tent] had four beds with a small stove with a little oil tank in the back...and a door, which wasn't safe. The beds were just a sheet, blankets. So you can imagine if we did not sleep with our clothes, our parkas, our mitts, our mukluks, our hoods on, we would freeze to death. You heard children crying at night cause they're freezing."

At first, the children at the tent hostel came from the Kugluktuk area, but eventually, children from as far away as Uluksaqtuuq were brought there. The children attended classes at the local federal day school. 

When the hostel closed in 1959, most of the children were transferred to the new residential schools in Inuuvik.

Agnes and Recreation at Residential School

Agnes wanted to be interviewed about her time at residential school because she wanted young people and future generations to know what she lived through. Agnes’s story is hard. It is marked by abuse and trauma. It is also a story of strength and persistence. 

In her interview, Agnes shared that, in general, recreation had a negative impact on her life at residential school. But some of Agnes’s memories of recreation are different. She recalls, for example, the ways that she and other students used recreation to care for one another when they were hurting. Often, these were outdoor activities like going for walks or sliding, or activities that reminded them of home, like string games or picking berries. 

This podcast is called How I Survived, but as Agnes's story makes clear, survival was a communal endeavour. Children made it through residential and day school because they looked after each other.

If you are a Survivor or intergenerational Survivor of residential school or day school and need help, there's a free 24-hour support line. Call 1-800-695-4419.