E4: What happened to Richard?
Kuper Island
CBC
4.8 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 6 June 2022
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Richard Thomas was smart, kind and well-loved. He was having no problems in school and he wanted to go further in education. Then inexplicably, days before his graduation, he’s found dead in the Kuper Island school gym. His death was ruled a suicide — with no further questions as to why. We piece together a portrait of the teenager through his own writings, and find an old coroner’s report that raises more questions than answers about how Thomas died. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/kuper-island-transcripts-listen-1.6622551
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Oh boy. Canada. Canada. Well doesn't it derive from a Gagnet-Evoir? |
| 0:05.8 | It's village. |
| 0:07.6 | As indigenous people we are used to our stories getting a little twisted. |
| 0:11.4 | So listen up as we set the record straight. I'm |
| 0:14.1 | Gagnetio. Please join me as we hear from dozens of indigenous people. |
| 0:18.2 | Together we will decolonize our words and our minds on the |
| 0:21.9 | telling our twisted histories podcast. our words and our minds on the Telling Our Twisted Histories Podcast. |
| 0:24.7 | You can find episodes on the CBC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 0:31.8 | This is a CBC podcast. |
| 0:35.0 | Before we start, this is a podcast about Canada's Indian residential schools |
| 0:39.0 | and it contains descriptions of sexual violence, suicide, and abuse. |
| 0:44.4 | If you need support, you can find information about where to turn for help at |
| 0:48.1 | C.C. dot C.A. slash Keeper Island. |
| 1:02.0 | Richard Thomas died in 1966, but the death of a child at a residential school isn't a thing of the past. It travels like ripples over water, touching generations. |
| 1:10.0 | Even though he never met his Uncle Richard, John Thomas was hurt by his death too. |
| 1:15.9 | John is Belvie's son. |
| 1:17.6 | He runs a firewood business from his home at the Halalt First Nation. |
| 1:21.6 | He's in his late 40s. |
| 1:24.0 | Although I didn't go to residential school, |
| 1:27.0 | it's affected my life in like just tremendous ways. |
| 1:31.0 | Growing up with my mom was extremely difficult because the first 15 years of my life |
| 1:36.5 | she was really an active alcoholic and she didn't do any healing around her |
... |
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