Episode 7 - Sharon Firth

Left photo: Sharon and Shirley Firth. Credit: unknown. Right photo: Sharon Anne (51) and Shirley in the Canadian Championships qualifier for the 1982 World Nordic Championships in Oslo, Norway. Credit: Unknown.

Sharon and Shirley Firth are household names in the North and beyond. The twin sisters are Gwich’in from Akłarvik (Aklavik), Northwest Territories. They were members of the Canadian national cross-country ski team for an unprecedented 17 consecutive years. 

They competed at four Olympic Winter Games. Between them, they won 79 medals at the Canadian championships, including 48 national titles. 

Early Life

Sharon and Shirley Firth were born and raised on a trapline near Akłarvik.

"We were actually raised in a traditional home, living on the land and learning that lifestyle. We did everything together...I remember with my mother, she taught us all the women's stuff, whether it was sewing, cooking, cleaning, gathering wood, gathering small animals, and then the boys went with my dad on the traplines."

Everything changed when Sharon and Shirley were five or six years old. Their mother, Fanny Rose Firth, was diagnosed with tuberculosis and sent to the Charles Camsell Hospital. 

Charles Camsell Hospital

The Charles Camsell Hospital was a so-called “Indian hospital” in Edmonton. Indian hospitals were supposed to provide medical care. They were under-resourced and kept Indigenous Peoples segregated from Canadian society. Indian hospitals had similar goals to residential schools. 

Left photo: Charles Camsell Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, 1944. Source: City of Edmonton Archives/EA-160-1522. Right photo: Charles Camsell Hospital, 2014. Credit: Sara Komarnisky. 

The Charles Camsell Hospital was one of many federal Indian sanatoria across Canada. Over the years, thousands of Indigenous Peoples with tuberculosis from the NWT and Nunavut were taken to the Camsell Hospital. Many never returned home.

While their mother was at the Camsell hospital, Sharon and Shirley had to stay at one of the local residential schools in Inuuvik: Stringer Hall. 

Stringer Hall

Stringer Hall was the residence for Anglican students at the Sir Alexander Mackenzie School and Samuel Hearne Secondary School. There was also a Catholic residence called Grollier Hall.

Left photo: Front entrance of Stringer Hall, Inuuvik, 1970. Credit: NWT Archives/Fred North collection/N-2011-005: 0037. Right photo: Stringer Hall, Inuuvik, 1961. Credit: NWT Archives/Janice March collection/N-2014-008: 0166.

Stringer and Grollier Halls were the largest residential institutions in the North, designed with the capacity to house 250 children each. Stringer Hall operated from 1959 to 1975. Grollier Hall operated from 1959 to 1997. 

Sharon and Shirley were able to return home when their mother was well enough to look after them, but the damage was done.

"We were in there just for short periods at a time. When she was gone, we had to be in the school, and the school really changed us. It really hardened us, and it really made us sad people, you know, because we couldn't talk to our parents...It really did bring a division, at least to our family."

Skiing

Sharon and Shirley began skiing while there were day-school students.

"There was a program that started for Indigenous kids, and that was the Territorial Experimental Ski Training Program. It was just by fluke that Shirley and I were introduced to the ski program. We were playing with friends and they invited us to try out skiing. And my mom stepped in and said, 'Okay, if one of you goes, you both have to go.'...The coach told us that if we, if we showed up every day and we did our training, we'd get to travel. And that was the bait right there."

Photo: Shirley and Sharon Firth, c. 1969. Credit: Guy Savard.

For Sharon, skiing was a way to stay connected to the land while she was at residential and day school.

"When we lived on our trapline, we did lots of walking and so the short or the narrow trails for skiing at that time...that brought back memories from home. And listening to the skis making noise on the snow. Because when we walked, like you'd break through ice or break through fresh snow or hard snow. And my mom would tell us stories as we were walking. You know we would see different animal tracks so she would explain those to us and the type of different animals. So when we skied there was lots of rabbits around and that was our food, that was our grocery store." 

The TEST Program

The Government of Canada launched the Territorial Experimental Ski Training program in Inuuvik in 1967. This was known as the TEST program. It was built on a cross-country ski program that Father Jean Mouchet developed for Vuntut Gwitchin in Old Crow, Yukon. 

Photo: The 1967 NWT ski team. Back row: Father Mouchet, John Turo, Antoine Mountain, coach Dave Sutherland, Gloria Allen, and Harold Cook. Front row: Fred Kelly, Margaret Steen, John Ross, Eva Tourangeau, and Janette Tourangeau. Credit: Antoine Mountain.

The goal of TEST was to see how cross-country skiing might affect the motivation and success of Indigenous youth. At times, there were more than 250 children in the program. 

Most of the TEST skiers were at Grollier Hall, the Catholic residential school. Some of the kids were day students. A few of the skiers lived in the Anglican residential school, Stringer Hall. 

The impact of the TEST program was visible at the 1972 Olympics in Japan, where six of the eight athletes on Canada's cross-country ski team were Indigenous skiers from the Northwest Territories. 

Left photo: Canadian cross-country ski team at 1972 Olympic Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan. Left to right: Helen Sander, Roseanne Allen, Sharon Firth, Shirley Firth, Bjorger Pettersen (coach), Roger Allen, Jarl Omholt-Jensen, Malcolm Hunter, and Fred Kelly. Credit: CSHFM Collection. Right photo: Sharon Firth at 1983 World Cup in Sarajevo. Credit: A.R.T. Photo.

Life After Competing

Sharon Firth retired from the Canadian cross-country ski team in 1985. But she didn’t stop skiing. For more than two decades, she travelled to communities around the Northwest Territories, teaching cross-country ski clinics and inspiring young people.

In 2021, Sharon retired for a second time and moved to the Bow Valley with her husband, Anders. She continues to ski. In fact, during the production of this episode, Sharon, aged 70, completed a 54-kilometre ski in memory of her twin, Shirley, who passed away in 2013 from cancer.

Skiing has given Sharon so much, but there was a cost. The TEST program was delivered through the residential and day schools in Inuvik. As Sharon’s story makes clear, these institutions negatively affected Indigenous children, their families, and their communities. 

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. 

 

Episode Credits

Host: Crystal Gail Fraser

Interviewer: Crystal Gail Fraser

Guest: Sharon Firth

Producers: Amos Scott, Jess Dunkin

Editor: Jess Dunkin

Audio Engineer: Brandon Larocque

Theme Song: Stephen Kakfwi

 

Episode Transcript 

Crystal Gail Fraser

My name is Crystal Gail Fraser. With Paul Andrew, I am the co-host of How I Survived. This is a podcast about recreation at residential and day schools in northern Canada. 

In this episode, you will hear about abuse and trauma. Please look after yourself as you listen.

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

Sharon Firth

When we were indoors, we couldn't laugh, and we couldn't cry. So our emotions were really suppressed. But it was a different story when we skied, because it was freedom out there. We could express ourselves on skis, and enjoy the freedom we had, and the playfulness within our whole ski program. Because we were kids, you know. At least that part wasn't taken away from us, and we could have fun and laugh. 

Crystal 

Sharon and Shirley Firth are household names in the North and beyond. The twin sisters are Gwich’in from Aklavik. They were members of the Canadian national cross-country ski team for an unprecedented 17 consecutive years. They competed at four Olympic Winter Games. Between them, they won 79 medals at the Canadian championships, including 48 national titles. 

Shirley and Sharon are also Survivors of residential and day school. Shirley passed away in 2013 from cancer.

In January 2023, I visited Sharon at her home in the Bow Valley, on Treaty 7 and Métis lands.

Crystal  

Haii’ choo, Sharon, for speaking with me today. Could you start by introducing yourself and your family?

Sharon 

Okay, my name is Sharon Ann Firth. My parents are Fanny Rose Firth and Stephen Firth. We lived in Aklavik group on our trap line there. I have seven sisters, five brothers, I believe.

We were actually raised in a traditional home, living in the land and learning that lifestyle of being with my parents and doing things with my parents as a family. We did everything together. In those days, that's how we did it. We didn't send the kids off to babysitters or that. It was always with my parents. 

When we were living on our trap line, we lived in a tent, those wall tents. Of course, we didn't have running water. We didn't have flush toilets. The honey bucket was the conversation of the day. We had a wood stove, and it was all open concept. And I really like that word open concept, because in all your houses, the new development is open concept. But, yeah, that's how we lived.

I remember with my mother, she taught us all the women's stuff, whether it was sewing, cooking, cleaning, gathering wood, gathering small animals, and then the boys went with my dad on the traplines.The women also were the water carriers, so we'd go down to the river and get our water from there. 

And everything was, like it was calm. And as kids we were taught to sit and listen. And I think that's really good because nowadays I don't see that happening. And with my parents having so many kids, she had to have control of us. 

So, for me, it was a really lovely upbringing. And we were a very close family. My parents really loved us. And they told us so. So that was really, really secure for us. 

But all that changed when my mum got sick. She got TB. We were maybe five, six years old. And she went to Charles Camsell Hospital. And we had to go to residential school. 

Crystal  

The Charles Camsell Hospital was a so-called “Indian hospital” in Edmonton. Indian hospitals were supposed to provide medical care. They were under-resourced and kept Indigenous Peoples segregated from Canadian society. Indian hospitals had similar goals to residential schools. 

The Charles Camsell Hospital was one of many federal Indian sanatoria across Canada. Over the years, thousands of Indigenous Peoples with tuberculosis from the NWT and Nunavut were taken to the Camsell Hospital. Many never returned home.

While their mother was at the Camsell Hospital, Sharon and Shirley had to stay at one of the local residential schools: Stringer Hall. Stringer was the residence for Anglican students at the Sir Alexander Mackenzie School in Inuvik.

Sharon

In the residential school, there's a lot of things that was taken away from us, but they couldn't take our memories of our family away. And most of us girls, we were in, we were all in junior dorms, so we were able to see one another. Whereas with my brothers, we were never allowed to go visit them. And even at mealtimes, we couldn't sit with them or we couldn't go over and say hi or anything. So that was really sad because as a family, a close family, we're already separated there.

One thing I remember clearly was going to bed in residential school, because we all had our beds side by side. And the supervisor always yelled out, “Lights out. No more noise or anything.” And even if you whispered, you got a beating for it.

What was really sad for me was missing my mum telling us stories and saying our prayers at night. And that really, it made my heart really sad. And just the loneliness and the comfort from her. 

But we learned to be tough also. We learned to keep our mouths shut, which for the Firth family is not a good thing. We always have to have the last say. 

Crystal  

When your mum returned from the Camsell, were you able to leave the residential school, Stringer Hall?

Sharon

Yes, because we were in there just for short periods at a time. So when she was gone, yes, we had to be in the school. The school really changed us, it really hardened us, and it really made us sad people, because we couldn't talk to our parents. Even when she came home, my mum and dad couldn't visit us. And we were living in the same town. So it really did bring a division, at least to our family. And now when I think back, like, why? Why did that happen? And even not being able to visit our brothers and sisters, to see how one another was doing and playing, because we played a lot when we were home, and none of that happened when we were in residential school. 

Crystal 

Can you tell me about your twin, Shirley? 

Sharon 

Oh my goodness. My twin. 

Crystal 

Don't feel like you have to. 

Sharon

Yeah, no, no I will. Well with my twin sister, fortunately, in residential school we slept side by side. But very often we would wake up sleeping together and that was forbidden. We got a lot of strappings over that. But they never separated us, which I'm really glad because my mother raised us to be together. Whenever one of us got sick, we were always together, supporting one another and helping one another out.

When we both got on the team, it was a very difficult situation. When I think back now, we were both very, very competitive, but Shirley was the aggressive one and I was the peacemaker between the two of us. At times it was difficult for me, because I had to keep my mouth shut, because she was older than me by two minutes. But we relied on one another a lot. 

When we went to day school, that was another horror story. Because we were so mistreated by the teachers. We got beaten a lot, we got strapped and the ruler over our heads and stuff like that. And it really...I feel that it really ruined me because I lost my voice, I couldn't speak.

The feelings that come within, it's so hard to express what you want to say, and sometimes it doesn't come out right, and then it causes friction and sadness and misery for yourself. We were traumatized in both residential school and Indian day school.

My twin sister had her fingernail torn off, and that was trauma for her. Throughout that incident, she didn't cry because you had to be strong, and she didn't want to show that if she cried, it was failure, and that she was a weakling. So that really, again, toughened us and hardened us. 

I couldn't speak because of the trauma and the beatings in school. So Shirley was my spokesperson. We had this twin talk. And a lot of body language and a lot of facial and eye expressions. And I think it was only until maybe when I turned 18 that I started finding my voice back again. So now I try to be expressive and be a joyful person. And when I'm out there representing Native people especially, it's really important for me to speak up and speak right.

Those skills that were taught to us about being patient, being strong, being determined, learning to make hard decisions at a very, very young age, that was very difficult. But I think it really formed and shaped us for life on the ski trails.

Crystal 

You’ve talked about skiing a few times now. When and how did you and Shirley start skiing?

Sharon 

There was a program that started for Indigenous kids, and that was the Territorial Experimental Ski Training Program. It was just by fluke that we, that Shirley and I were introduced to the ski program. We were playing with friends and they invited us to try out skiing. And my mum stepped in and said, “Okay, if one of you goes, you both have to go.” And you know, Shirley and I sometimes we wanted to be separated, but again, we knew the value of strength. So with two of us, we're a stronger team. 

The coach told us that if we showed up every day and we did our training, we'd get to travel. And that was the bait right there. We've never travelled except from our trapline to Aklavik and Inuvik. And this was such an opportunity to see what the world was like. 

Our first major competitions was in Alaska and we skied with the Americans, of course, but there were some Indigenous women there that we still keep in contact with. And so through skiing it taught us how to be friends with different cultures and different people around the globe. 

Crystal 

The Government of Canada launched the Territorial Experimental Ski Training program in Inuvik in 1967. This was known as the TEST program. It was built on a cross-country ski program that Father Mouchet developed for Vuntut Gwitchin in Old Crow, Yukon. 

The goal of TEST was to see how cross-country skiing might affect the motivation and success of Indigenous youth. At times, there were more than 250 children in the program. 

Most of the TEST skiers were at Grollier Hall, the Catholic residential school. Some of the kids were day students. A few of the skiers lived in the Anglican residential school, Stringer Hall. 

Sharon 

Because in residential school, children came from clear across the Northwest Territories. So that was a central meeting point for kids. And the skiing caught their attention. So we all ran together, skied together, played together. And it was a happy atmosphere. 

But once you go inside, behind those closed doors, it's a totally different picture, being in control of the supervisors and the priests. That took the life out of the kids. You couldn't laugh, you couldn't cry, your emotions were killed. 

But to be out there and find that inner peace was so important for all of us.

Crystal 

Can you tell me about your life on the ski team? What was your relationship like with the other skiers?

Sharon 

I’m thinking about Shirley too, because we always, we trained together, we trained with the guys, and, of course your sisters, Lorraine, and your mum, you know, we trained together. So we always had that really kind connection. We weren't aggressive with one another. We were there to help, and that's what we did.

And that competitiveness, you know, where did we get that from? To push yourself on the trails. You know, like as Indigenous women too, it wasn't about beating one another. It was about doing your best. And sometimes when we were told we have to, then the joy was gone because I don't think we were trained to be, like from at home, to be competitive. It was just to do your best.

Crystal 

I’ve heard you talk about how skiing was a way to stay connected to the land. Can you tell me about that?

Sharon 

Well, when we lived on our trapline, we did lots of walking and so the trails for skiing at that time, they were narrow. So that brought back memories from home and listening to the skis making noise on the snow. Because when we walked, like you'd break through ice or break through fresh snow or hard snow. And my mum would tell us stories as we were walking. You know we would see different animal tracks so she would explain those to us and the type of different animals.

So when we skied there was lots of rabbits around. And that was our food, that was our grocery store. And so there was that connection to the land because there was land, water, food. The basic necessity for life. 

Crystal 

Can you tell me about your training routine when you were part of the TEST program?

Sharon 

Okay. My training program. Well, number one, again, as Indigenous people, we didn't understand training. We went out there and ran and had fun, but to follow a program, that was a total new concept for us. We didn't have psychologists or sports psychiatry or anything like that. We just had with our coach, we had a good relationship and tried to understand best what the training was all about.

Let's see, there was speed training, interval training, long distance training, easy training, and to try to listen to your body also. And to put all that together to try to think of how it's going to help us to be fast. And then also when we first started skiing, we didn't know what technique was or how the movements go together. How to be efficient, how to be fast, how to be strong, the different angles of cross country skiing, like all that we didn't understand. 

So we had to learn that, and hopefully develop some sort of picture in our mind as to what skiing looked like, because we didn't grow up with, for example, in Scandinavia, you could see all those Norwegians skiing. You know, but here in Canada, we just had our little, our little team. And whether their technique was good or not, I wouldn't know. Like Anders was our coach, so he was the one that really developed our mind and our learning to know what technique training was. And man, that was a total different learning for us.

The sport of cross country skiing, it wasn't part of our culture. But snowshoeing was. Running and walking was. So it's kind of similar movements, but on skis you glide. You have arm movement, leg movement, upper body movement, and just the different angles, learning about that and how to put it all together, so you have the right kick and the right movement. You finish off your kick, you finish off your arm movement, all that we had to learn. 

I'm really proud of our team. I'm really proud that we were part of this TEST program because that identified us, that it was an Indigenous program and that we were successful going to Europe and being on that list of elite athletes. In the eyes of the Europeans, that was a big message and a powerful message for us to know that we fit in there. Whereas here in Canada, there was so much jealousy within different organizations because our program was successful. And in my mind, it's sad that it didn't continue because we have raw talent of Indigenous athletes in the North. And I don't know, maybe one day they'll be discovered. But if you don't tap into the talent, then there's no talent because we wouldn't know.

Crystal 

You were attending day school when you started skiing, but there were also children from the residential schools in the TEST program. What was the relationship like between the town kids and the residential school kids?

Sharon 

There definitely was tension between town kids and residential school kids because now the kids in the residential school would judge us because we were poor. So that came out, but we were out skiing, we were having fun. I think that was when Shirley and I started learning how to train our mind to block out things that are not important and to learn how to concentrate and learn how to read the cross-country trails. 

Because every track is different, so we would memorize the tracks. So that would go back to our parents teaching us those skills of learning animal tracks and the terrain. I'm just thinking about it now that that made sense because when we were out there we were able to memorize all the bumps and all the hills and downhills and turns and flats. 

Crystal 

That makes me wonder what it was like being a student when you were travelling to competitions. Did your coaches make sure that you did your homework? 

Sharon 

Well for learning on the road, our teachers gave us assignments for a month, because most of the time we were gone for a month. I think we did the homework the day before. Because we were learning so much. We got to go to museums and different things in different countries, and we expanded our learning that way.

Crystal 

The TEST program was created by the federal government, but I know there was a military base in Inuvik. Was the military involved?

Sharon

I knew that in Inuvik they did have the military, but as for them in our program, I don't remember that. I know we did get Army skis when we first started. And those are the best skis ever because they were individually ours. But as we got better, we got better equipment.

But there's one thing that we didn't have. We never had a female supervisor or a female chaperone. And that was difficult because we weren't trained to talk to guys, to talk to men about anything, so a lot of those feelings we kept to ourselves. Or Shirley and I would talk about different things, but anything else beyond that wasn't in our environment, we did not go there.

Crystal 

Why don't you think there was any female leadership? 

Sharon 

Well, number one, they didn't have funding for it, and that's a good question. Because we needed it. We needed a woman around. Right.

Crystal 

Yeah and that thought popped up for me too when you were talking about your training regime, like if there were different expectations for boys and girls, or mostly it was just all the same for all of the kids? 

Sharon 

Well, I think it all went on strength, too, because with us, we wanted to be better, so Shirley and I trained with the guys because they're stronger. We just felt, Oh, if we hang on to them, maybe we could beat the Russians. Or those Iron Curtain athletes, who are the best in the world. 

Crystal 

In addition to being men, the coaching staff in the TEST program were non-Indigenous. What was your relationship like with them?

Sharon 

Well, I think sometimes when the coaches would talk to us, especially if they were male, we didn't respond like we wanted to. I think a lot of times they figured we were just ignorant, stubborn kids, which was good on one hand, but not good on the other hand because we had to learn. We had to learn what sport was for us, what it meant for us, and what it meant for the future. 

For example, we went skiing today. There was a lot of young kids out there, and they seemed like they were having a good time like I did. So maybe just going out there and playing was good enough. Because not everybody is going to want to race, and not everybody is going to want to compete, because once you start competing, it's a different kind of pressure. 

Those speeds come from within and the mental toughness comes from your own learnings. Because, like I said, we didn't have sports psychologists or someone training our mind to be strong and block out unnecessary things, and then fill your mind and heart with good things, because that was taken away from us. So there's a lot of mixed feelings on when to laugh, when to cry, when to speak, because that trust wasn't there. 

Crystal 

How do you feel about the TEST program today?

Sharon 

We proved that the TEST program was exactly what it was. It was a test to see if we could succeed and we did. The success was making it to the Olympics or the World Championships or the World Cup. And I'm so happy that I was part of that program because back home, there was not enough going on for young people. There was a lot of drinking and drugs and that type of lifestyle, and skiing protected Shirley and I from that, which is still the same today. 

How can we get our young people into getting better education? Because a lot of them, from what I've read, is that when they finish high school, they have to take two or three years of upgrading. So what's going on there? We have a Department of Education and all those different departments that should be pushing our kids to do better. And the way today is education. The world is changing and we have to change with it. The residential school is no longer there, so we should be able to compete at all levels. 

It's very different when you live down south and when you live up north because there's no mentors, there's no guidance, and there's no role models to show that our young people are excelling in school. And they should be also put on stage like we were, to show that if you can do it, I can do it. Because there's so many trades and so many things that we can get into, and if we're not exposed to it, then we don't know.

Crystal 

You went to the Olympics four times, which is a very big deal. When you look back over your long career of competing and racing, what events stand out to you? What were the most memorable?

Sharon 

Well the Canadian Championships are always big because it's in Canada. And both Shirley and I were 37-time Canadian Champions. No one has broken those records, so I'm really proud of that. 

Crystal 

You just gave me goosebumps.

Crystal 

You retired from skiing in 1985. How did you make that decision?

Sharon 

Well my twin sister Shirley finished after the 84 Olympics and I wasn't sure if I could go be in that vicious circle without her. So I had to prove myself and I skied competitive for one year without her. Then when I just looked at all the different kids, there's no Native kids around, and it would have been very difficult for me to be in that circle of young people because they don't understand our lifestyle and they're not going to learn about our lifestyle because they're just not part of us.

And so when I decided that's it for me, it was a good solution and good decision. I did a lot of amazing things as an athlete and I felt that I really represented our people at the very highest level and the respect was there, especially when I went home and visited all our Elders. They never forgot what we did.

We did receive a lot, but we also gave back a lot. 

Crystal 

You retired for a second time in 2021. What have you been up to?  

Sharon 

I'm very active here in this community. I get invited to do different things with different schools and with different boards. I'm in demand right now.

But I just want to learn different things about who exactly is Sharon. Through my arts and crafts, I think I'm discovering that what my mother taught me is finally giving me satisfaction that I could give a little back in that area. And also to not be ashamed to wear my stuff. Because when I, when we were in residential school, all our hard-worked parkas and moccasins and mukluks and mitts and all that was taken away from us. 

So when I started doing my own sewing, I was scared. I was deathly scared to wear my covers, my Delta covers, because it was shame. And so I had to do a lot of self talk and a lot of put on this courageous face that it's not going to be ripped off me. Because that was what the white people did to us, they took away something that was for our soul and for survival and it was from our parents. So now that I'm doing sewing, I put all the love in every stitch, and hopefully when the person is wearing it, they're going to feel proud of what they have on. Because our culture is so important to us. 

Crystal 

Is there anything that we didn't talk about that you feel...

Sharon 

Well, I just think it's really, really important that if you don't know your culture, to look for it. It's lifelong learning and to be so proud of who you are, be proud of your families, and support one another, and give back to the communities if you can.

Crystal 

Sharon Firth retired from the Canadian cross-country ski team in 1985. But she didn’t stop skiing. For more than two decades, she travelled to communities around the Northwest Territories, teaching cross-country ski clinics and inspiring young people. In 2021, Sharon retired for a second time and moved to the Bow Valley with her husband, Anders. She continues to ski. In fact, during the production of this episode, Sharon, at 70, completed a 54-kilometre ski in memory of her twin, Shirley.

Skiing has given Sharon so much, but there was a cost. The TEST program was delivered through the residential and day schools in Inuvik. As Sharon’s story makes clear, these institutions negatively affected Indigenous children, their families, and their communities. 

I want to say haii’ to Sharon for sharing her story with us. You can see pictures of Sharon skiing in Inuvik and at a World Cup in Sarajevo in 1983 on our website, www.HowISurvived.ca. There are other photos and materials related to this episode there as well. 

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

How I Survived is a collaboration between the NWT Recreation and Parks Association and the University of Alberta. The podcast is co-hosted by me, Crystal Gail Fraser, and Paul Andrew. I also provide historical direction. 

How I Survived is co-produced by Amos Scott and Jess Dunkin. Advisory support is provided by Dr. Sharon Firth, Lorna Storr, and Paul Andrew. Our research assistant is Rebecca Gray. Haii’ to EntrepreNorth for sharing your recording booth with us.

Our theme song is “Love the Light” by Stephen Kakfwi. The cover art for this podcast was designed by pipikwan pêhtâkwan based on a wall hanging made for the project by Agnes Kuptana. 

This podcast is produced with support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and NWT and Nunavut Lotteries.