Journal Staff
Aamjiwnaang elder Geraldine Robertson has been named to the Order of Ontario for her work in helping fellow residential school survivors.
The 82-year-old educator and advocate has travelled across the country encouraging other survivors to open up and work toward healing.
Now, she will travel to Toronto, where the Lieutenant Governor will bestow the honour on Robertson and 22 other new appointees during a Feb. 27 investiture ceremony at Queen’s Park.
The list includes comedian Dan Aykroyd, former Ontario finance minister Floyd Laughren and science fiction writer Robert J. Sawyer.
Robertson was 11-years-old when she and two younger sisters were sent to Mohawk Institute residential school in Brantford in 1947.
She described the experience as “brutal” in a Journal story last April.
Robertson returned to Sarnia and Aamjiwnaang and built a life working, marrying husband Bob, raising children and spreading awareness about the multi-generational impact of residential schools.
She was named last month to the 2017 Mayor’s Honour List in Sarnia.