09/30/2025
Today we remember the children who never made it home. More than 6,000 children died in Canada’s residential schools, many of whom were buried in unmarked graves. Their families were left without answers, only grief and horror.
I also remember Benjamin Chi Chi. He did not attend a residential school, but he was sent to a reform school run by the Christian Brothers in northern Ontario. There, he was beaten regularly. The Brothers would mock his silence, laughing that he could “take it like a man.” But silence is not asking for more. Children are not quiet because they are strong; they are quiet because they dissociate! They are powerless and dissociation is the only mental escape from a physically helpless situation. At that school, as in the residential schools, children were beaten, r***d, tortured with pain and ridicule, and killed. Many children, as young as 6 lived and died in these conditions.
Benjamin’s story stays close to my heart for many reasons. He experienced “aloneness” pain and turned to painting before being sent to reform school. His life was marked by incredulous loss, abuse, and yet he found a way to express beauty and gentleness. He died in prison after being beaten to death by guards. Some reports say he died by su***de, but like many, I don’t believe that.
I’m honored to have one of his paintings in my healing room at Heal Psychotherapy, a daily reminder of both the darkness of abuse and the resilience of the human spirit.
On this day, I pray for Benjamin, for every child who suffered, and for every family who still lives with the echoes of horror, the impacts of trauma, and loss. I also pray—though my heart knows it may be a juvenile hope—that those who abuse power could somehow change. Power over the vulnerable is a dangerous weapon. I pray even for those who wield it, that they might someday see the truth and end the cycle of harm.
The world can be unbearably dark. But in Benjamin’s gentleness, in his art, I find a call to choose love, compassion, and healing. May we never forget the children. May we never stop fighting for justice. May they, at last, rest in peace.
