A former resident of The Pas and Cormorant has spent her working career teaching others about residential schools as part of Truth and Reconciliation. Melody Dumas and her family members have been impacted and experienced residential school in some capacity. Dumas’ childhood recollections of what residential schools were have followed her in this journey.
“I lived in The Pas until I was six and then my parents decided to move to Cormorant,” said Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre (MFNERC) Languages and Cultures Instructional Resource Analyst Melody Dumas. “Living in Cormorant was a great experience. Swimming, berry picking, hunting, fishing, family, outdoor activities, and eating traditional foods were a huge part of my life. I loved going hunting with my family. My dad had a camp on the river. We lived in Cormorant until I was eleven years old and then we moved to Dauphin.