As Community Engagement Specialists with the Indian Boarding Homes Class Action, we meet many remarkable individuals who share their lived experiences, support their communities, and help others navigate the Indian Boarding Homes survivor story process. 

Earlier this year, during an Information Session in John D’Or Prairie, we met Allan Laboucan, a cultural support worker with the North Peace Tribal Council since 2010. Allan’s deep commitment to healing and ceremony work has made a lasting impact on those affected by residential schools and the Indian Boarding Homes Program. 

Allan brought a very special Eagle Feather to our session—a feather that has walked with survivors, entered sweat lodges, and been held in sacred ceremonies. The feather was gifted to him by an Elder, prayed over, and carried into spaces where people came to speak their truths. 

He shared how, during Indian Residential School hearings, survivors were offered the choice between holding a Bible or an Eagle Feather—and everyone chose the feather. Survivors told him how the feather gave them strength, comfort, and courage as they spoke about their trauma. 

Allan also carried the feather to the final Truth and Reconciliation Commission event in Edmonton in 2014, where it moved gently in his hand as the drums played—an emotional reminder of the sacred strength it represents.

Allan brought the feather to the Indian Boarding Homes Information Session with intention. He knew that many participants arrived with heavy hearts, and he wanted them to feel supported as they spoke about their time in Indian Boarding Homes. The feather, which once helped residential school survivors, now also supports those affected by the Indian Boarding Homes survivor experience. 

The Eagle Feather, a sacred symbol across Turtle Island, serves as a reminder that healing is ongoing—and that community, ceremony, and connection play a central role.

We are deeply grateful to Allan for sharing this part of his journey and for the compassion and support he brings to survivors. 

If you or a loved one would like to share your Indian Boarding Homes survivor story or attend an Information Session, please visit the events page. 

If you would like to request an Information Session in your community or have questions about the Class Action process, contact us at: 

• claims@boardinghomesclassaction.com 

• 1-888-499-1144