Josette Dandurand was an advocate of education, working in the 91原创 School District as a cultural presenter to teach students and staff about the Indigenous experience.

In 2015, the Kwantlen First Nation elder travelled to Ottawa to provide testimony of her experiences as a child in residential schools as part of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC).

鈥淛osette was an advocate for social justice and Indigenous rights, and a dedicated leader in the journey of Truth and Reconciliation,鈥� said Candy Ashdown, 91原创 School Board chair. 鈥淲e are grateful for her contribution over the years, as she has educated students and staff in classrooms all over the district using the power of story.鈥�

Ashdown's comments came as the board of trustees announced that the new school in the North Latimer neighbourhood will be named for the longtime resident.

鈥淗er impact on the community is far-reaching and extends beyond our schools. Many of our staff, including myself, believed that she was an inspiring role model, caring matriarch, and community connector, who brought Indigenous and non-Indigenous people together,鈥� explained Mike Pue, district principal of Indigenous education.

Dandurand, whose ancestral name was 鈥淭sakwiah鈥� which means 鈥渟he who always remembers鈥� was born and raised in Vancouver. Josette was the youngest of six siblings of George and Mabel Fillardeau. She lived most of her early and latter years on Kwantlen First Nation reserve. Dandurand died at the age of 81 on Nov. 13, 2023.

Now the school at 20143 82 Ave. will bear the name Josette Dandurand Elementary when it opens its doors to students in autumn 2025.

This is the second time the local board of education has named a school after a member of the Kwantlen First Nation. In 2020, a new elementary school in the Southwest Yorkson area was named after retired long-time teacher Donna Gabriel Robins.

The newspaper profiled Dandurand in 2013 when she shared her experiences with a Brookswood Secondary class.

鈥淚 feel that I didn鈥檛 have a childhood,鈥� she said.

Dandurand, whose mother was Kwantlen First Nation and father was Nooksack, was seven when the Indian Agent and the RCMP arrived to take the children. She came from a family of six children, all sent to residential schools.

A priest at the Kuper Island residential school molested her. It was only (when she was a senior) that she won a legal case against him for that abuse.

Soon after arriving, a seven-year-old Josette, who had never seen flush toilets, wet her bed at night. In the morning, she told a nun and she was made, along with any other girls who wet their beds, to parade in front of the rest of the students with the soiled bed linens wrapped around their heads.

If she ever wet her bed after that, she never told a soul.

鈥淚 chose to sleep in a wet bed,鈥� Dandurand said.

One morning she could not find her hankie for daily inspections.

鈥淚 lost my hankie so I was made an example,鈥� she said.

The mother superior strapped her in front of the other children. Her older sister鈥檚 advice: 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 move your hand and you don鈥檛 cry. How many times I heard that 鈥� you don鈥檛 cry.鈥�

The children were forced to work in the school dairy and orchard, but were not allowed to have any of the food which was sold for money. Instead they were fed cheap food like potatoes and peas, although the students did get to watch the staff eat well.

Despite not accepting the Catholicism imposed on her as a child, Dandurand said she prays each day because she always wants to express her gratitude for what is good in her life.

Prayer and gratitude are some of the tools she uses in her healing. So is sharing her stories.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 ever want this to happen again,鈥� she said.

Residential school students were taught that everything about them was bad or wrong, part of the government鈥檚 decision to assimilate Aboriginal peoples. 鈥淣ever be ashamed of who you are,鈥� Dandurand told the students.

Her presentation recounted the broad and lasting impacts of residential schools. In her life, it led to two decades of alcoholism before her adult sons asked her to stop.

Within her siblings and their families there have been traumas and scars directly tied to the residential school experiences some six decades ago.

One brother was so traumatized by the school dentists that when his teeth failed, he would pull them out himself, until he had none left.

There have been suicides, drug and alcohol abuse, and an array of relationship problems.

鈥淲e never talked about the things that happened to us in residential school,鈥� she said.

Dandurand did what she had to do to survive those nine years and found solace in learning. After graduating she went into the Canadian Air Force, where the fighter control operator met her husband of 44 years and lived in various spots around Canada and abroad.

鈥淎ir force life was a piece of cake for me compared to residential school,鈥� Dandurand said.