Page 52 - Restorative Journey: Indigenous Educational Wellness

Intergenerational Healing
My dad only knew farm work from being in the mush hole11. So that’s all I did.
I worked picking strawberries beginning in 1969 at age 5 and up, tomatoes from age 5/6, cherries age 7/8, and age 9 to 34
I worked in tobacco.
Ever since Grade 1, I remember students getting the strap and getting their hair pulled by the teacher, getting called “heathen.” We had to put our hands on the desk so the teacher could hit them with her pointer stick.
I remember the principal getting upset because I wouldn’t cry when he hit me. So he jumped up and hit even harder.
All this time, when I was in school, I was an honour student. I always would have to work harder during the school year to catch up because I worked into harvest time right into October.
Then I’d start back on the farms during planting time in May. I went back to school when I was an adult. In 1996, I graduated with honours from the Social Services Worker Program, Niagara College.
In 1999, I went to Six Nations Polytechnic and graduated with honours from the University Access Program and then went to Brock University in 2015.
I’m completing my Bachelors of Education Degree. I will graduate this year.
– Debora Martin,
Mohawk, Bear,
Six Nations Indian Reserve #40 Grand River Territory
11 Nickname of the Mohawk Institute Residential School in Brantford
44 Commemoration • Education • Healing/Wellness