It was a solemn time at the Prince Albert Indian and Metis Friendship Centre today, as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings got underway.

These three-day hearings are an opportunity for all Canadians, both aboriginal and non-aboriginal, to learn more about and bear witness to the legacy of the residential school system.

Dozens of people turned out to either share their stories, or to give support as others talked of both physical and sexual abuse.

The first person to tell their story was 72-year-old Art Fourstar. He was taken from his mother at the age of four, when two men came into his home and dragged him out.

“All of a sudden, the door was pushed open and an RCMP officer and a supervisor came in,” recalled Fourstar.

“The RCMP officer went over to my mother and put his arms around my shoulder. The supervisor came and grabbed me. He dragged me out the door and threw me into a car that was parked by the door. I got out the other side and took off. The supervisor chased me and caught me and dragged me back to the car.

“This time he tied my arms – one to each of the doors – in the backseat. That’s how I was taken to Birtle, Manitoba.”

Fourstar went on to spend the next five years of his life in Manitoba, not once being allowed to go home and see his family. From his new home at the residential school, he didn't even know which way to go if he had wanted to run away.

"Sometimes I used to sit on the window sill and just look out, and whenever the supervisor caught me, he'd beat me up and call me names," said Fourstar.

"All I was doing was sitting on the windowsill, looking out. I didn't even know which way was home."

Kids who chose to run away were usually found and severley punished, many times in front of other students as a warning.

"They would take us into the workshop and bring in the student who ran away. The principal would say  to us in a loud voice, 'If anybody ever runs away, this is what they're going to get,'" said Fourstar, as he choked back tears.

"And the student who ran away would be held over a workshop bench, his pants would be taken down and they'd whip him. I've seen students pass out. 

"And they also did that to girls. They would shave their hair and whip them and make us watch... I still have nightmares about that."

Over 130 residential schools were located across the country, with the last one closing in 1996. During that time over 150,000 First Nations, Metis and Inuit children were placed in these schools.

The TRC estimates that there are 80,000 former students still living today, many of whom share similar stories.

This commission was put in place under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, which is Canada’s largest class action lawsuit.

It allows former residential school students the opportunity to talk about the experiences, either publicly or privately.

The TRC will be touring across Canada, compiling a comprehensive historical record of the policies and operations of the schools and its former students.

Here in Saskatchewan, the tour kicked off earlier this month and will visit 12 different communities before holding the TRC Saskatchewan national event in June.

Edited by News Talk Radio's Sabeen Ahmad.