Mohawk's Aboriginal Student Services team visits James Bay in Northern Ontario
Read about the Hamilton Spectator's feature story about Mohawk's Aboriginal Student Services team's visit to James Bay in Northern Ontario. Click here for reporter Wade Hemsworth's story:
http://www.thespec.com/article/329227 In introducing the feature story, Spectator editor-in-chief David Estok wrote "it is not just the physical distance involved in the 1,200-kilometre trip, which includes a flight to Timmins, a drive to Cochrane and then a long train ride aboard the Polar Bear Express.
As Wade Hemsworth describes in this weekend's special report, it is also a journey of self-discovery, emotion, bitter history and a sense of a chance at a new life.
Hemsworth and Spectator photographer Gary Yokoyama, along with four women from Mohawk College, made the trek north in the dead of winter a few weeks ago to tell the story of the college's recruiting efforts for its Aboriginal Nursing Program. (You can read Wade's story and see Gary's photos in Weekend Reader.)
So what surprised Hemsworth the most? "I was surprised by the true shame I felt when hearing first-hand the stories of how residential schools tore apart families," he says. "I was deeply touched by the grace of Roger Chum -- a cheerful, engaging person and a positive force in his community despite or perhaps because of his own experiences in the school system.
"I think Spectator readers should care about this story because our city's college, Mohawk, is actively and conscientiously involved in promoting aboriginal education, there and across Ontario. The four people from Mohawk we travelled with are very dedicated and they are making a difference."