Staff Writer
memara@fortfrances.com
A residential school survivor, a master of many trades and an astound believer in the importance of bridging cultures. Dick Bird, 88, born and raised on Couchiching First Nation, always had more than one job to support his family of five. A family that is now his main source of pride.
“I went to a residential school,” Bird said. “I couldn’t wait to get out of there and I left school when I was 16 and went to work. We were incarcerated. It was regimented.”
Bird attended the school from 1940 until 1948, and left after the Second World War had ended. He said that time after the war was tough on everybody, especially on the reserve. Despite the scarcity of resources, Bird managed to have fun with his friends and his father, who he never came to accept until he was 13 years old.