Cree Literacy Network

**Content warning: This material contains information that relates to the Residential School in Timber Bay and could be distressing to individuals due to the troubling subject matter. If you require support, please note that there are resources available**

Thanks to Teron Roberts for permission to share his FaceBook post of August 12th. To me, as the mother of sons, it is beyond heartbreaking to imagine the grief that his family suffered as long as they lived, but it’s also a story that needs to be heard more broadly. And while the repatriation of his body thanks to DNA is a resolution of sorts, it is also a reminder of all the other children who never came home: those waiting to be found and reclaimed. I also want to express my admiration and appreciation for the players and coach of the Huskie Football Team of Senator Miles Venne High School who will lead others in completing Bobby’s journey home. 

Robert “Bobby” Ryman Bird was a 10-year-old asinînîhithawak boy from northern Saskatchewan who ran away from Timber Bay Children’s Home in the fall of 1969. He was trying to return home to his family cabin at Mile 1, but he died from exposure in late Fall. His remains were not identified until 1999.

For 30 years, his family searched for answers. In 1976, a local hunter found a small skull near the old road to La Ronge at a place called Bull Moose Creek — but without modern DNA testing, no one could confirm it was Bobby. Decades later, new mitochondrial DNA techniques finally identified the remains, giving his family long awaited closure.

Bobby was born and raised on a trapline near Lynx Lake, about fifty kilometres north of La Ronge. He, his sisters, and his cousins were later sent south to Timber Bay Children’s Home, located near Montreal Lake on the edge of Prince Albert National Park.

In October 1969, about a month after being forced to attend Timber Bay Children’s Home, Bobby left with two others and began the long walk back to their families, desperate to escape the abuse, cold, loneliness, and harsh punishment for speaking his language. His two companions turned back and returned to the home but Bobby kept on…he never made it home.

He is believed to have followed the old road north, then lost his way in the bush—possibly after moving deeper into the trees to avoid passing traffic—and tragically died after succumbing to the freezing temperatures.

Because Bobby disappeared without a trace, his family spent decades without answers.

Bobby’s family was not told he was missing until about a month after his disappearance, when the school’s administrator went to La Ronge to look for him. By then, his grandparents, John and Betsy Bird, were distraught and knew the chances of finding him alive were unlikely.

A formal search was not organized until November, about a month later. According to the RCMP file, Bobby was not officially reported missing to police until January of the following year.

Before retiring, an RCMP officer at the Waskesiu detachment kept the skull fragment in a box on his shelf. Suspecting it might be Bobby’s, he contacted experts to help identify it. In 1999, new RCMP DNA testing matched the fragment found in the woods in 1976 to Bobby’s surviving sisters, Angelique and Priscilla.

On Jan. 21, 2000, Bobby’s remains were buried following a service at All Saints Anglican Church in La Ronge. The funeral card lists eight close relatives, including Bobby’s mother and grandparents, who died not knowing his fate.

With the support of Bobby’s surviving family member, Priscilla Bird, Senator Miles Venne High School’s Huskie Football Team and Coach Steve Aldridge will honour him by completing his journey.

This memorial walk was an idea of the late Don Bird and his Friend Chuck Mackinnon.

Though Bobby will not be there physically, his spirit will be with us. Our young athletes are leading the way, and all are welcome to join—whether walking, running, or riding the bus for any part of the journey. Support will be available to anyone who needs it.

We will start at Bull Moose Creek and end at the site of Bobby’s family cabin. We will travel in shifts and continue nonstop until the journey is complete.

A gathering and feast will be held in La Ronge afterward.

Bobby’s story has become a powerful symbol and heart-breaking reminder of the lasting intergenerational effects caused by Canada’s Indian Residential School system. Former students of Timber Bay Children’s Home have reported physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, and sexual abuse, as well as severe punishment, forced labour, and the separation from family.

Survivors and their families continue to carry this trauma across generations.

Today, his memory strengthens our Indigenous leaders’ calls for Timber Bay Children’s Home to be officially recognized as a “Residential School” and we hope a favourable announcement will be made soon.

After recently learning Bobby’s story, Canadian singer-songwriter Art Bergmann wrote a song about him titled “The Legend of Bobby Bird.”

Please join us on October 1–2 as a Survivor, a Survivor’s descendant, or an ally honouring all who attended this school.

kinanâskomitinâwâw.