Sheshatshiu mother details growing up in Ontario foster care to Inquiry

WARNING: This story contains distressing details. Allstories were shared with consent of participants.

A Sheshatshiu mother says she still struggles with the trauma caused when child protective services placed her in foster care in the North Bay region ofOntario, thousands of kilometres from her home and culture.

On Tuesday, Chelsea Penashue addressed the commissioners of the Inquiry Respecting the Treatment, Experiences and Outcomes of Innu children in the Child Protection System.

The 31-year-old Sheshatshiu woman told commissioners Anastasia Qupee, Mike Devine and James Igloliorte that she grew up surrounded by addictions as her parents were dealing with their own traumas.

Penashue said she was close with her grandparents and placed into her grandparents' care oftenbut would run away because she wanted her parents. When she was eight years old, child protectiveservices took her from a friend's house and removed her from Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation.

"They told me that I had to go and stay at the hotel for two days and I was going to be sent out.They didn't tell me where I was going, and I didn't even see my family," Penashue said.

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12 months ago

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Chelsea Penashue, 31, told her personal story of being taken from her family in Sheshatshiu and placed in foster care in North Bay, Ont.

A worker flew with her to North Bay, Ont., before she was driven to the foster home in a small town, Penashue said.

"My foster parents were really excited to have me. But I was so scared. I didn't know where I was. I didn't even know them," Penashue said. "I was wondering all the time, like every time I would go to bed, if my parents knew where I was."

Penashue said she lived there for 5 years and was allowed to visit home twice in that time.

Penashue said her foster home had an alarm that would go off if she left her room. The alarm would ring if she went to use the washroom in the middle of the night, and the foster parents would come up and wait until she was back in her room, she said.

"I feel like something like I did was wrong, like how I lived," Penashue said.

I will forgive the CSSD what they've done, but I will never forget the pain that I have.- Chelsea Penashue

When Penashue was old enough to choose to return to Sheshatshiu, she said, it was hard to adjust, as she was used to living in Ontario.

"I felt like I didn't belong anywhere and like to this day, like, I still try to figure out who I am," Penashue said.

Penashue said she understands the role that child protective services plays in children's safety butsometimes they go overboard.

"I will forgive the CSSD what they've done, but I will never forget the pain that I have. They took, like, all my teenage years from me," Penashue said.

Penashue said she wants to see a better future for her children.

The inquiry's commissioners are investigating the history of the Innu, forced settlement into Sheshatshiu and Davis Inlet, and the trauma caused by churches and governmental policies.

The inquiry is taking a break Thursdaydue to a funeral being held in Sheshatshiu. It will resume for community meetings for one week on Monday. AllInnu are invited to address the commissioners.

The inquiry website has some important phone numbers for anyone in Natuashish, Sheshatshiu,or elsewhere in the Labrador-Grenfell Region, looking for healing and crisis help atwww.inniuna.ca.

Mental health counselling and crisis support is also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat.