How a Sixties Scoop survivor told her daughter what 'back to school' means to her

This piece was originally published on Sept. 30, 2019.

Noela Crowe-Salazar wants her teenage daughter to know that "back to school" for their family means so much more than loading up on school supplies, getting adjusted to new teachersand trying out for a sports teams. It's about relishing that you get to leave school for home in the first place.

Crowe-Salazar was adopted throughthe Sixties Scoop, and comes from a line of residential school survivors. The registered social worker and University of Regina lecturer uses her family's experiencesin her teaching.

In the past year, she decided to bring her 14-year-old, Alexa, into the fold, and they allowed CBC Saskatchewan to capture some of the storytelling on camera.

Crowe-Salazar began by recounting a powwow the family attended at Fort Qu'Appelle, Sask., when Alexawas a baby. Alexa's older brother, Skylar, played at Crowe-Salazar's feet. Then Crowe-Salazar noticed her father looking around, preoccupied. It turns out the conditions of the day reminded him of the day he was taken to residential school.

She describes his vivid memories:

Noela Crowe-Salazar, Orange Shirt Day 1

5 years ago

Duration 1:07

Noela Crowe-Salazar recounts her father's experience at residential school.

When Crowe-Salazar's father was done with his story, he glanced at Skylar and asked how old he was. She was confused, as she knew her father knew the answer: four.

She wondered why her father had asked:

Noela Crowe-Salazar, Orange Shirt Day 2

5 years ago

Duration 0:57

Noela Crowe-Salazar cannot imagine what it would be like if her children had been taken to residential school.

Crowe-Salazar said that moment at the powwow really connected her to her father's experience.

She also told her daughter about the day Skylar started school for the first time. She walked him there and watched him from the side of the playground line up to enter the building, until he disappeared inside.

She got emotional and it was only on her walk home that she was able to pinpoint why:

Noela Crowe-Salazar Orange Shirt Day 3

5 years ago

Duration 1:22

Noela Crowe-Salazar explains why she got emotional after she dropped off her son on his first day of school.

Skylarwas the first child in five generations of the family who got to come home after his first day of school. That's whyCrowe-Salazar stresses to the social work students she lectures that residential school is not an "old issue"it is very much in the present, with current repercussions.

She left Alexa with these final bits of advice:

Noela Crowe-Salazar, Orange Shirt Day 4

5 years ago

Duration 0:19

Noela Crowe-Salazar's advice to her daughter.