Price, Shingoose share instant connection

MONTREAL - Last Friday afternoon, a chance encounter with goaltender Carey Price brought residential school survivor Geraldine Lee Shingoose peace and encouragement.

Shingoose and her fellow survivors were outside St. Mary's Cathedral in downtown Winnipeg awaiting a meeting with Archbishop Richard Gagnon when Price stopped by on his way to Bell MTS Place for Game 2 against the Jets.

The Canadiens' star goaltender chatted with Shingoose and revealed to her that he was, in fact, a generational survivor of the residential school system. Price's maternal grandmother, Theresa Holte, attended an institution in Williams Lake, BC.
The interaction between Shingoose and Price came only one week after it was announced that the remains of 215 children were found at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, which closed in 1978.
"I was touched by his presence. I just felt that connection with him when he talked about his grandmother," said Shingoose, who gifted the 33-year-old Anahim Lake, BC native an orange ribbon and a tobacco tie from a sacred fire held on the grounds of the Manitoba Legislative Building to commemorate the victims. "Carey was very kind to us survivors and so genuine in his support. He understood our experience because we share a common experience. He shared that empathy."

A retired social worker, Shingoose spent nine years of her childhood (from ages 5 to 14) being subjected to horrific abuses at Muscowequan Residential School in Saskatchewan between 1962 and 1971, and the memories are still as vivid and traumatic as ever.
"I lost my language. I don't speak my language. We were beaten and punished when we spoke our language. I also suffered hearing loss. I have to wear a hearing aid because of the hits and the punches and the blows to the head from my Grade 3 teacher," detailed Shingoose, who hails from Tootinaowaziibeeng Treaty Reserve, Treaty 4 Territory in Manitoba. "I couldn't cry. If I cried, he would hit us again or punch us again, so I had to learn to be quiet. I can't imagine children enduring that. Whenever they're hit, they cry, but we weren't allowed. That's my share."
As painful as recounting the events of her past may be, Shingoose has been telling her story publicly since 2015.
According to a poster on her Twitter account, her mission is to provide "an accurate, first-person account of the shame, violence and violations felt by Indigenous children in the residential school system and the years of marginalization and discrimination perpetrated by the system in its nearly 90-year existence."

She has spoken with over 10,000 elementary school and university students in an ongoing effort to ensure that similar atrocities aren't perpetrated in the future.
"We've been sharing our stories over and over. The 215 children amplified our stories and amplified our truth, and now people are listening," underlined Shingoose. "We're seeking justice for the 215 children, we're seeking justice for the children that are yet to be found, and we're seeking justice for us as residential school survivors."
Shingoose can definitely count Price among her many allies in that ongoing battle.
The father of three takes tremendous pride in his Ulkatcho First Nation heritage, as evidenced by his themed sleeve tattoo, and he uses his platform to spread awareness and bring hope to young people.
Price and his wife, Angela, are longtime ambassadors for First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) communities on behalf of the Breakfast Club of Canada, participating in a variety of initiatives, including Shooting for the Stars, an event created in collaboration with the Air Canada Foundation that affords children from Indigenous communities an incredible week-long experience in Montreal with their hockey hero.

The seven-time All-Star's poignant remarks at the NHL Awards in 2015 still resonate in that regard as well.
"I would like to take a moment to encourage First Nations youth. A lot of people would say it's very improbable that I would make it to this point in my life, and I made it here because I wasn't discouraged," said Price, after claiming the Vezina Trophy as the League's top netminder. "I worked hard to get here. I took advantage of every opportunity that I had, and I'd really like to encourage First Nations youth to be leaders in their communities. Be proud of your heritage and don't be discouraged from the improbable."
Angela, meanwhile, is working with Julie Petry and the Canadiens to donate 20% of sales from all
CHic line purchases
in June to the
First Nations Education Council
, whose mission is to support student success, cultural pride and control of education by and for First Nations.

The Habs also held a shoe drive as part of National Indigenous History Month as a gesture of acknowledgement for and solidarity with the Tk'emlúps te Secwe̓pemc First Nation in Kamloops.
The club appealed to the public's generosity in collecting pairs of new or lightly-used shoes for children and adolescents that would be donated to area organizations that work with Indigenous communities.

Additional details related to the team's involvement in National Indigenous History Month will be unveiled on canadiens.com.