The path of remembrance, the duty to remember

We had planned to go to Abitibi to experience a Pow-Wow, meet artisans, and continue our first great van-life adventure.

But some journeys sometimes take us much further than the intended destination.

On the road, we stopped at the commemoration site of the former Amos Indian Residential School. A place of remembrance, reflection, and healing that deeply moved us.

From the moment we arrived, the silence felt different.

It wasn't just a historical stop. It was a place inhabited by the memories, wounds, and prayers left by those who came before us.

This moment gave even deeper meaning to our journey. As if the road had not simply led us to the Pikogan Pow-Wow, but also to a memory that needed to be heard.

A Place of Remembrance in Abitibi

The Kike8in Mikana commemorative site, which means "healing path," recalls the passage of the Anishinabeg and Atikamekw living in the ancestral territories where the Saint-Marc-de-Figuery Indian Residential School was located, near Amos.

This place exists to honor the memory of the Indigenous children who were torn from their families, their language, their culture, and their territory.

For decades, Indigenous residential schools were used as tools of assimilation. Children from different nations were forcibly placed in these institutions, often far from their families.

On the commemorative plaques, the words are heavy. They speak of uprooting, loss, severe discipline, intergenerational trauma, and the need to preserve memory.

• Remember: recognize the children, families, and communities affected by residential schools.
• Understand: accept that discovering a culture also means acknowledging its wounds.
• Transmit: tell these stories so they are never erased.

Discovering a culture also means acknowledging its history

When we talk about Indigenous peoples, we often like to highlight the beauty of traditions, the power of ceremonies, dances, songs, craftsmanship, and spirituality.

All of this is important.

But discovering another people's culture also means accepting to look at the difficult realities they have endured.

It means acknowledging the wounds.

It means listening to painful stories.

It means understanding that the beauty of a culture is even more powerful when one realizes all that it has had to go through to continue existing.

For us, this moment of reflection was as much a part of the journey as the Pow-Wow itself. It reminded us that reconciliation cannot exist without memory, without truth, and without recognition.

For Dave, reconnecting with a difficult past

For Dave, this visit was particularly moving.

Even though this residential school primarily concerned other nations, the stories of residential schools echo from one community to another. Not all Indigenous nations experienced the exact same history, but many suffered similar wounds.

Walking on this site was reconnecting with a difficult past. Hard roots. A memory that recalls the suffering experienced by loved ones, families, and entire generations.

It was also sensing that these stories are not just old. They continue to live in families, in silences, in broken transmissions, but also in acts of healing and remembrance.

Before this monument, words become less important.

What remains above all is respect.

Reverence.

And the deep desire to never let these stories disappear.

The medicine pouch left as an offering

Then, a detail completely overwhelmed us.

At the foot of the monument, among the offerings left there, was a small leather medicine pouch.

A simple, discreet pouch, placed there with intention.

It looked so much like the medicine pouches Dave makes that, for a moment, he was convinced it was one of his own.

Maybe it wasn't.

Maybe it was.

But ultimately, that wasn't really what mattered.

This pouch placed at the foot of the monument gave us the impression that our path had led us to this place for a reason. As if this journey had to go beyond simply attending the Pikogan Pow-Wow.

There was something profoundly symbolic in this silent encounter between our craft, the memory of the place, and the offerings left by people who came to reflect.

A moment of reflection, prayer, and intention

Before leaving, we took the time to reflect.

We thought of the children.

Of the families.

Of the survivors.

Of the nations that still bear the marks of this history.

We also formulated an intention: to share this story, in our own way, with respect and sensitivity.

Because these places should not just be visited. They should be listened to.

Behind every stone, every commemorative plaque, every offering placed, there is a memory to preserve.

And if we can contribute, even modestly, to making this story known, then this moment of reflection will have continued its journey through words.

Conclusion

Our trip to Abitibi offered us magnificent landscapes, precious encounters, and memories that will remain etched in our minds for a long time.

But our stop at the commemoration site of the former Amos Indian Residential School gave a particular depth to this adventure.

This place reminded us that discovering a culture is not just admiring what is beautiful. It is also acknowledging what has caused pain.

It is accepting to listen to difficult stories.

It is understanding that memory is a form of respect.

And it is transmitting, again and again, so that these stories are never forgotten.