The provincial government had the RCMP take Elizabeth Hlookoff into custody for habitual truancy when she was seven-years-old in 1954.

“Habitual truancy? But, I had never been to school,” she said.

Her parents who lived in Grand Forks were members of a sect of Doukhobors called the Sons of Freedom or Freedomites, who refused to send their children to school. The Freedomites, who were pacifists, believed that public schools taught militarism.

Back then, Hlookoff said it was believed that apprehending these children and placing them in boarding schools would civilize them.

“The majority of British Columbians don’t know about this,” the author said.

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Nearly 63 years later, Hlookoff gathered the courage to pen her story. But, it took her another five years to be able to share it. Hlookoff, a Maple Ridge resident, wrote a book about her school experiences in 2017. But the book was published in March 2022.

“I never intended to publish the book, but was convinced to do so when I learned of the broken lives so many of the survivors suffered after their release,” she explained.

Hlookoff’s Drawer 49, New Denver BC Letters from a Stolen Youth is a childhood memoir written from a child’s perspective. The book talks about five years of her life in a boarding school located in New Denver. Drawer 49 is how letters to her were addressed.

The book is a series of short stories chronicling Elizabeth’s “apprehension, incarceration, and experiences” at British Columbia’s New Denver boarding school, where she was confined between the ages of seven and 11.

“The incidents which happened in the 1950s kept surfacing, and writing them down was therapeutic,” she said.

According to this fan of authors John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway, many New Denver experiment survivors could never resolve the trauma inflicted upon them.

“The result was alcoholism, broken marriages, inability to love or parent, and ultimately suicide,” she said.

In her old age, she is beginning to attribute some of her life decisions to her New Denver experience.

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The book has been challenging to read for her son, Joshua.

“But, I am so grateful that she had the courage to write about the traumatic circumstances of her childhood and to shed light on a mostly unheard-of tragedy that affected many children,” Joshua added.

The 76 years old resident of Fraserview Village currently lives with her husband and has three sons and an 11-year-old grandson.

Although Maple Ridge may not have inspired her writing, Hlookoff said the city gave her access to green spaces – forests and water – “spaces that encourage calm introspection.”

“I love the mix of young families and seniors in Maple Ridge. It is a wonderful place to live,” she said.

Drawer 49 is currently available at FriesenPress and Amazon.

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