Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Like many, Ontario artist Mike Cywink said he felt overwhelmed in the wake of news that the remains of 215 First Nation children were found buried in unmarked graves near a former Kamloops, B.C., residential school.
Cywink, who is Ojibwe, felt compelled to create something that would pay homage to the victims in his art.
“I was thinking, ‘How can I show the hurt that we are feeling as Indigenous people,’” he told CTV National News.
“The whole concept behind what I did was 215 stars that never got to shine,” he said of his new piece, which features an empty sky and a figure standing over the stars -- representing ferrying them over to the spirit world.
The artist said he has seen the legacy of residential schools in his community, and within his own family members. “There are definitely people within my family living with trauma.”
The lasting effects of experiencing abuse at residential schools, and the legacy intergenerational violence can leave behind, may take time to process, said Winnipeg psychologist Dr. Sonia Marrone.
“When we all hear about little bodies found in a mass grave, I think it brings it into sharp focus for us,” Marrone told CTV National News, adding that the news might affect Indigenous and non-Indigenous people differently.
Finding a way to deal with the trauma is key.
Marrone recommends that if “people are experiencing significant emotional distress,” they should access a mental health professional, such as a registered psychologist or a registered social worker to help them walk through the complicated range of emotions associated with traumatic news or events.
While some may not feel comfortable with a traditional, mainstream pathway to mental health initiatives, Marrone highlighted new research that takes a different approach.
“There have been more and more emerging studies that look at culture as intervention,” she explained. “Cultural expression can be lots of different things, it can be art, it can be language, it can be literature.”
Cywink weaves together elements of what Marrone describes in his work as a mural artist and a mentor to Indigenous teens to help them reconnect with their identity.
“Some of them don’t know anything about their culture, so I’m the one that sparks that fire,” he said. “I like to think that this life, this job, this journey is not about me – it’s about the next generation.”
--
If you are a former residential school student in distress, or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419
Additional mental-health support and resources for Indigenous people are available here.
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.