New exhibit shares stories of resiliency at City Hall

A new exhibit sharing the stories of residential school survivors opened at Edmonton city hall on Nov. 22, 2024. (Darcy Seaton/CTV News Edmonton)

A new exhibit sharing the stories of residential school survivors opened at Edmonton city hall on Friday.

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Hear our Voices: Michel People and Residential Schools will be available in the City Room until March 2025.

The video exhibit tells the stories of 29 survivors from the Michel Band #472, from the northwest outskirts of Edmonton. 

"This exhibit is very meaningful to us, to our survivors, to the community. It's our story, our journey, the voices of our survivors and intergenerational survivors," said Maureen Callihoo Lightvoet.

"We hope that you leave feeling not sorry for us, but that you understand us, and that you feel our resiliency."

Callihoo Lightvoet is the director of the Friends of the Michel Society's Residential School Memorialization Project.

She said she hopes people come away with a better understanding of the intergenerational impacts residential schools had on people like her father.

"People like my dad, survivors, were very brave in telling their stories, because they never had a voice before, and they were afraid that if they did use their voice, they'd be punished," she said.

"My dad is 88, he still carries some of that … this exhibit was an opportunity for him to use his voice."

Anyone can visit the exhibit between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.