OBIT: Cree victim of Catholic clergy abuse in Canada, Died Oct. 14, 2010, of drowning

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OBITUARY first published at Ottawa Citizen

Pauline Wesley

Born Nov. 15, 1963.

Died Oct. 14, 2010, of drowning.

Pauline Wesley drowned in the Rideau River. Those who knew her were shocked at the news of her death. How she came to be in the river is not clear. Reports are that she was seen thrashing in the water, and then she was gone....

Pauline was removed from her family at an early age and placed in a residential school, where she endured endless days of ridicule. She was abused as a child in terrible ways. A great force called the Government of Canada was determined to "remove the Indian from the child." Many children were broken in those shameful places, some beyond repair

Pauline Wesley never overcame her residential school experience, and alcohol thereafter ruled her life. She lived on the streets and in ghettos. She became a mother but did not know how to parent, having no example to follow.....

Read more here at Ottawa Citizen