Remains of 215 children found at former residential school in Kamloops
May 28, 2021 1:13 PM Subscribe
Chief Rosanne Casimir of the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation said in a news release Thursday that the remains were confirmed last weekend with the help of a ground-penetrating radar specialist. Casimir called the discovery an “unthinkable loss that was spoken about but never documented at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.” Some of the children were as young as three.
Those poor babies.
I can't think of anything more eloquent to say.
posted by emjaybee at 1:38 PM on May 28, 2021 [9 favorites]
I can't think of anything more eloquent to say.
posted by emjaybee at 1:38 PM on May 28, 2021 [9 favorites]
This residential school was operated by the Catholic Church until 1969. We should not think of this as an atrocity of the past, but as criminality that can and should be investigated and prosecuted. If that means prison for some 90 year old priests, well, imprison them.
posted by LeRoienJaune at 1:42 PM on May 28, 2021 [127 favorites]
posted by LeRoienJaune at 1:42 PM on May 28, 2021 [127 favorites]
Survivors
In truth, we do not feel the horror
of the survivors,
but what passes for horror:
a shiver of “empathy.”
We too are “survivors,”
if to survive is to snap back
from the sight of death
like a turtle retracting its neck.
posted by adept256 at 1:46 PM on May 28, 2021 [7 favorites]
In truth, we do not feel the horror
of the survivors,
but what passes for horror:
a shiver of “empathy.”
We too are “survivors,”
if to survive is to snap back
from the sight of death
like a turtle retracting its neck.
posted by adept256 at 1:46 PM on May 28, 2021 [7 favorites]
Read this testimony (TW:physical/mental abuse, violence, cultural genocide) from a Jade Dragon, a mefite, about the horror of residential schools.
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posted by lalochezia at 1:50 PM on May 28, 2021 [32 favorites]
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posted by lalochezia at 1:50 PM on May 28, 2021 [32 favorites]
.
Oh my god, that community, I don't have words. I am so sorry, this is horrific.
posted by esoteric things at 2:16 PM on May 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
Oh my god, that community, I don't have words. I am so sorry, this is horrific.
posted by esoteric things at 2:16 PM on May 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
I am so sorry. This is horrible.
posted by which_chick at 2:19 PM on May 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by which_chick at 2:19 PM on May 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
.
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 2:25 PM on May 28, 2021
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 2:25 PM on May 28, 2021
I knew an Australian Aboriginal man, he died a few years ago. His surname was West, the name given him when he was taken from his parents. It refers to the geographic area he came from.
He told me this story about how the children from the home were allowed to go to the cinema once a month. They had to wait in the bus outside the building until all the white people were seated, then they would file in quietly and sit in the back row, where they had to remain absolutely silent for the duration of the film. If this worked well, the white people would never know that they were there.
That I remember his story when I read about these graves, I feel like I'm looking back in more ways than one, seeing him quietly sitting in the dark.
I love you Westy. He was a great man.
posted by adept256 at 2:28 PM on May 28, 2021 [39 favorites]
He told me this story about how the children from the home were allowed to go to the cinema once a month. They had to wait in the bus outside the building until all the white people were seated, then they would file in quietly and sit in the back row, where they had to remain absolutely silent for the duration of the film. If this worked well, the white people would never know that they were there.
That I remember his story when I read about these graves, I feel like I'm looking back in more ways than one, seeing him quietly sitting in the dark.
I love you Westy. He was a great man.
posted by adept256 at 2:28 PM on May 28, 2021 [39 favorites]
Those poor babies.
Agreed, but I think it's important to spare a thought for the parents as well. One of the features of residential schools was that the parents were never told about what happened to their children when they were killed at residential schools. After the Indian agents, priests, or RCMP showed up and abducted them, they were, in this case and many, many others over and over again across the country, gone forever with no word home. Dumped in unmarked graves. And people will still resist calling it genocide. It's staggering.
The Canadian Council of Catholic Bishops still maintains this stance of absolute denial, FWIW:
Approximately 16 out of 70 Catholic dioceses in Canada were associated with the former Indian Residential Schools, in addition to about three dozen Catholic religious communities. Each diocese and religious community is corporately and legally responsible for its own actions. The Catholic Church as a whole in Canada was not associated with the Residential Schools, nor was the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 2:31 PM on May 28, 2021 [42 favorites]
Agreed, but I think it's important to spare a thought for the parents as well. One of the features of residential schools was that the parents were never told about what happened to their children when they were killed at residential schools. After the Indian agents, priests, or RCMP showed up and abducted them, they were, in this case and many, many others over and over again across the country, gone forever with no word home. Dumped in unmarked graves. And people will still resist calling it genocide. It's staggering.
The Canadian Council of Catholic Bishops still maintains this stance of absolute denial, FWIW:
Approximately 16 out of 70 Catholic dioceses in Canada were associated with the former Indian Residential Schools, in addition to about three dozen Catholic religious communities. Each diocese and religious community is corporately and legally responsible for its own actions. The Catholic Church as a whole in Canada was not associated with the Residential Schools, nor was the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 2:31 PM on May 28, 2021 [42 favorites]
It's hard to believe any amount of reparations could be enough.
Sometimes it feels like burning the Catholic Church to the ground would be a barely adequate start. Treat the organisation like the NSDAP in 1945.
posted by acb at 2:36 PM on May 28, 2021 [16 favorites]
Sometimes it feels like burning the Catholic Church to the ground would be a barely adequate start. Treat the organisation like the NSDAP in 1945.
posted by acb at 2:36 PM on May 28, 2021 [16 favorites]
It wasn't just the Catholics. It was also the Anglicans, Presbyterians, and the United Church, with funding from the Canadian government. It was a fully Canadian project. A fully Canadian genocide.
posted by clawsoon at 2:46 PM on May 28, 2021 [90 favorites]
posted by clawsoon at 2:46 PM on May 28, 2021 [90 favorites]
Here one day, gone the next: Kamloops Indian Residential School survivor remembers his schoolmates disappearing
I've met Chief Harvey a couple of times and seen him talk about reconciliation and his experience in the residential school system. He's a profoundly affecting speaker. I can't say anything about this better than he can.
posted by bonehead at 2:47 PM on May 28, 2021 [19 favorites]
I've met Chief Harvey a couple of times and seen him talk about reconciliation and his experience in the residential school system. He's a profoundly affecting speaker. I can't say anything about this better than he can.
posted by bonehead at 2:47 PM on May 28, 2021 [19 favorites]
On second look, I'm pretty certain I've been in the school itself for some consultations a couple of years ago with Chief Casimir. They were quite proud to have converted the old school to use by the Nation, some good from all that bad.
posted by bonehead at 2:49 PM on May 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by bonehead at 2:49 PM on May 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
My workplace sent out an email today to employees and students, acknowledging the discovery of the 215 children and offering grief counselling. There are many residential school survivors and their children/grandchildren attending and working at our institution and I can't imagine how hard this must be hitting them.
Reading it this morning was like a punch to the chest. I have read/listened to a lot of firsthand accounts of residential school through my work, and I am gutted by this. I think about how many survivors tried to tell people about their friends who disappeared and were dismissed because there was "no proof." How many parents had children who never came home and their deaths were denied.
The next time I hear anyone complain about the removal/destruction of statues of John A. MacDonald, I'll bring up these 215 buried children. In my opinion, he deserves nothing but condemnation, because the genocide of First Peoples overshadows everything else he did.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:07 PM on May 28, 2021 [35 favorites]
Reading it this morning was like a punch to the chest. I have read/listened to a lot of firsthand accounts of residential school through my work, and I am gutted by this. I think about how many survivors tried to tell people about their friends who disappeared and were dismissed because there was "no proof." How many parents had children who never came home and their deaths were denied.
The next time I hear anyone complain about the removal/destruction of statues of John A. MacDonald, I'll bring up these 215 buried children. In my opinion, he deserves nothing but condemnation, because the genocide of First Peoples overshadows everything else he did.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:07 PM on May 28, 2021 [35 favorites]
I live in Canada, did all my schooling here in the 80s and 90s (K-12+) and never once learned about residential schools. We’ve got a long way to go on this topic, and it’s a fight every day to even get a mention of it included in the curriculum. I’m appalled by the past and so saddened by people’s attitudes for the future.
posted by blue_beetle at 3:13 PM on May 28, 2021 [19 favorites]
posted by blue_beetle at 3:13 PM on May 28, 2021 [19 favorites]
It is like the Mother and Baby homes in Ireland, especially the one in Tuam, Co. Galway, all over again, with added evil of genocide. More dead and secretly buried children, brought to you and covered up by the supposedly "Holy" Catholic Church. As someone earlier said, there are no words. May the children rest in peace, may the perpetrators burn in Hell.
posted by mermayd at 3:18 PM on May 28, 2021 [14 favorites]
posted by mermayd at 3:18 PM on May 28, 2021 [14 favorites]
Just gut wrenching, every time. This fucking country.
.
posted by chococat at 3:19 PM on May 28, 2021
.
posted by chococat at 3:19 PM on May 28, 2021
Fucking hell. The Americas are just one giant killing field. The horror of this -- which, I'm sure, is just the tip of the genocidal iceberg -- is staggering.
posted by Saxon Kane at 3:32 PM on May 28, 2021 [10 favorites]
posted by Saxon Kane at 3:32 PM on May 28, 2021 [10 favorites]
I live in Canada, did all my schooling here in the 80s and 90s (K-12+) and never once learned about residential schools.
It's part of the curriculum now in Ontario.
posted by mhoye at 4:03 PM on May 28, 2021 [13 favorites]
It's part of the curriculum now in Ontario.
[...] the present revision of the social studies and history curriculum was developed in collaboration with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit educators, community members, and organizations in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action numbers 62 and 63. The revision strengthens learning connected with Indigenous perspectives, cultures, histories, and contemporary realities, including those related to the residential school system and treaties. It is essential that learning activities and materials used to support Indigenous education are authentic and accurate and do not perpetuate culturally and historically inaccurate ideas and understandings. It is important for educators and schools to select resources that portray the uniqueness of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit histories, perspectives, and world views authentically and respectfully. It is also important to select resources that reflect local Indigenous communities as well as First Nations, Métis, and Inuit individuals and communities from across Ontario and Canada.Not enough, but raising a generation with a bit less ignorance and denial is a something.
posted by mhoye at 4:03 PM on May 28, 2021 [13 favorites]
raising a generation with a bit less ignorance and denial is a something
I have to echo this sentiment. The history is there for eyes not blind to see it.
posted by SPrintF at 4:17 PM on May 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
I have to echo this sentiment. The history is there for eyes not blind to see it.
posted by SPrintF at 4:17 PM on May 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
This residential school was operated by the Catholic Church until 1969.
This one, yes. The last residential school operated by the Canadian government, Gordon Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan, was closed in 1996.
For more than half of my middle-aged life, these things were still operating. I can’t recall that I ever heard a word about them in school; I recall a vague impression in media articles that these were a thing that faded away in Victorian times. It is appalling.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:25 PM on May 28, 2021 [25 favorites]
This one, yes. The last residential school operated by the Canadian government, Gordon Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan, was closed in 1996.
For more than half of my middle-aged life, these things were still operating. I can’t recall that I ever heard a word about them in school; I recall a vague impression in media articles that these were a thing that faded away in Victorian times. It is appalling.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:25 PM on May 28, 2021 [25 favorites]
It's worth remembering that the first residential schools were pre-Confederation and the last didn't close until 1996. 1996. Genocide was deliberate government policy for more than a century.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 4:25 PM on May 28, 2021 [15 favorites]
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 4:25 PM on May 28, 2021 [15 favorites]
It's part of the curriculum now in Ontario.
So as a non-Canadian person who wants to educate myself, are the actual texts intended for school children available online anywhere?
I would be grateful to read something aimed at kids because it probably comes without high expectation of context.
posted by wenestvedt at 4:32 PM on May 28, 2021
So as a non-Canadian person who wants to educate myself, are the actual texts intended for school children available online anywhere?
I would be grateful to read something aimed at kids because it probably comes without high expectation of context.
posted by wenestvedt at 4:32 PM on May 28, 2021
If you're up for 120 pages, wenestvedt, the Truth and Reconciliation report, They Came for the Children (PDF), is available online.
posted by clawsoon at 4:41 PM on May 28, 2021 [18 favorites]
posted by clawsoon at 4:41 PM on May 28, 2021 [18 favorites]
Also recommended: A Knock on the Door: The Essential History of Residential Schools from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 4:46 PM on May 28, 2021 [11 favorites]
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 4:46 PM on May 28, 2021 [11 favorites]
Thank you for those links -- I can't do anything else, but I owe it to these kids to witness.
posted by wenestvedt at 4:55 PM on May 28, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 4:55 PM on May 28, 2021 [6 favorites]
The Ford government is working to stop adding indigenous content to the curriculum, which we must absolutely fight tooth and nail. Write your MPP!
As for this, there are just no words.
posted by warriorqueen at 5:07 PM on May 28, 2021 [9 favorites]
As for this, there are just no words.
posted by warriorqueen at 5:07 PM on May 28, 2021 [9 favorites]
I will add that I never learned about residential schools (graduated high school in 1989), but my kids have learned a lot, which I heartily support. My 10 year old is reading Fatty Legs in his English class right now.
posted by warriorqueen at 5:10 PM on May 28, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by warriorqueen at 5:10 PM on May 28, 2021 [3 favorites]
This is genocide without a doubt. 215. At one school. And there were a lot of schools. My grandmother went to one. Who knows how many lost children there really are. But if they had all lived and even half of them had children of their own....well the demographics of the country might look different, even just by a little bit.
It's horrific to think of all these children and what they suffered.
posted by aclevername at 5:11 PM on May 28, 2021 [9 favorites]
It's horrific to think of all these children and what they suffered.
posted by aclevername at 5:11 PM on May 28, 2021 [9 favorites]
It was a fully Canadian project. A fully Canadian genocide.
That is an important point to make. I've been confronted by my Mennonite in-laws a surprising number of times about this - that it was only the "Catholics" or "Anglicans" (or whatever other denomination they had issue with) who had residential schools. As Clawsoon says, it was fully a Canadian genocide and, much to my in-laws dismay, even the Mennonites participated. It is critical that we make it right.
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:22 PM on May 28, 2021 [22 favorites]
That is an important point to make. I've been confronted by my Mennonite in-laws a surprising number of times about this - that it was only the "Catholics" or "Anglicans" (or whatever other denomination they had issue with) who had residential schools. As Clawsoon says, it was fully a Canadian genocide and, much to my in-laws dismay, even the Mennonites participated. It is critical that we make it right.
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:22 PM on May 28, 2021 [22 favorites]
I've been confronted by my Mennonite in-laws a surprising number of times about this - that it was only the "Catholics" or "Anglicans" (or whatever other denomination they had issue with) who had residential schools
Some people from my Quaker meeting led an anti-racist film group last year, and included Indian Horse, a fictional film about a boy who is kidnapped to a residential school. Quakers in the US ran residential schools, and some of us were quite taken aback when someone asserted that the Quaker ones couldn’t have been as bad as what we saw in the movie—based on nothing but her own unflagging belief in Quaker exceptionalism. The facilitators handled it well—calmly naming what was happening and encouraging her to think more deeply about the issue.
Forced assimilation is definitely one form of genocide. Callous disregard for the lives of children is part and parcel of it. My heart breaks for these families.
posted by Orlop at 5:50 PM on May 28, 2021 [21 favorites]
Some people from my Quaker meeting led an anti-racist film group last year, and included Indian Horse, a fictional film about a boy who is kidnapped to a residential school. Quakers in the US ran residential schools, and some of us were quite taken aback when someone asserted that the Quaker ones couldn’t have been as bad as what we saw in the movie—based on nothing but her own unflagging belief in Quaker exceptionalism. The facilitators handled it well—calmly naming what was happening and encouraging her to think more deeply about the issue.
Forced assimilation is definitely one form of genocide. Callous disregard for the lives of children is part and parcel of it. My heart breaks for these families.
posted by Orlop at 5:50 PM on May 28, 2021 [21 favorites]
Read this and also thought of the Irish atrocities. What is it with the RCC's recent fascination with mulching poor children? Unsure how widespread this is with these Christian "relief" orgs in general.
posted by meehawl at 6:19 PM on May 28, 2021
posted by meehawl at 6:19 PM on May 28, 2021
wenestvedt, I can also recommend the free short primer Pulling Together: Foundations Guide; you can download it as an ebook or PDF, or read it online. I’ve read it myself and assigned it in my intro classes; it’s very accessible and provides a good background to issues of colonization, including residential schools.
The interactive website Where Are The Children? is very good also. It provides a good history and there are oral histories/survivor stories you can watch (they also have transcripts if you’d prefer to read).
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 6:30 PM on May 28, 2021 [11 favorites]
The interactive website Where Are The Children? is very good also. It provides a good history and there are oral histories/survivor stories you can watch (they also have transcripts if you’d prefer to read).
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 6:30 PM on May 28, 2021 [11 favorites]
Unsure how widespread this is with these Christian "relief" orgs in general.
Claiming a high-minded or holy mission is fantastic cover for abusive psychopaths. All the better if it's endorsed by all of society's powerful and respected institutions.
I posted this story because I started crying as I was reading it. I know about the residential schools, I know the stories, I know the facts, but somehow this one just hit extra hard.
posted by clawsoon at 6:33 PM on May 28, 2021 [13 favorites]
Claiming a high-minded or holy mission is fantastic cover for abusive psychopaths. All the better if it's endorsed by all of society's powerful and respected institutions.
I posted this story because I started crying as I was reading it. I know about the residential schools, I know the stories, I know the facts, but somehow this one just hit extra hard.
posted by clawsoon at 6:33 PM on May 28, 2021 [13 favorites]
If any US readers are reading this and feeling smug, keep in mind that the only reason that this seems like a Canadian, rather than a North American, issue is that Canadian government and society are way ahead of the US in acknowledging their abuses. The exact same system existed south of the border, with the same horrifying death rate and the same genocidal intent.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:34 PM on May 28, 2021 [40 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:34 PM on May 28, 2021 [40 favorites]
I learned about residential schools in K-12 but I'm not sure if that was/is a BC wide curriculum or because this very school was practically in my back yard. I also had an aunt who was a resident at a school in Manitoba though I unfortunately don't know any more details.
Canada has been horrifically racist but especially so to indigenous peoples. Things are getting better but there is a lot of hate out there still.
posted by Mitheral at 6:38 PM on May 28, 2021 [3 favorites]
Canada has been horrifically racist but especially so to indigenous peoples. Things are getting better but there is a lot of hate out there still.
posted by Mitheral at 6:38 PM on May 28, 2021 [3 favorites]
is that Canadian government and society are way ahead of the US in acknowledging their abuses.
I'm really, really hesitant to describe Canada as "way ahead"; we've barely begun to acknowledge what's happened, and in the province I live in, the new draft K-6 curriculum is getting criticism for pushing topics like residential schools to later grades.
I mean, the draft curriculum (and our provincial government) is horrible in many ways and on many levels, but this is one that bothers me a lot.
posted by nubs at 7:33 PM on May 28, 2021 [6 favorites]
I'm really, really hesitant to describe Canada as "way ahead"; we've barely begun to acknowledge what's happened, and in the province I live in, the new draft K-6 curriculum is getting criticism for pushing topics like residential schools to later grades.
I mean, the draft curriculum (and our provincial government) is horrible in many ways and on many levels, but this is one that bothers me a lot.
posted by nubs at 7:33 PM on May 28, 2021 [6 favorites]
A few weeks ago I was reading this article about the camps in Xinjiang. It describes a system of locked-down facilities where people are forced to abandon their languages, change their appearance, and recite back accepted customs and histories, and risk being beaten or worse for stepping out of line. And I began thinking about how Canada and the US had their very own system of reeducation camps in the form of residential schools.
They are each their own deep atrocities, and I don't mean in any way to suggest that they are exactly the same, but it was a reminder that not all horrors take place somewhere over there. Some have taken and are taking place on the continent and in the country in which I live.
And they did it to children. There are not enough reparations in the world.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 7:42 PM on May 28, 2021 [18 favorites]
They are each their own deep atrocities, and I don't mean in any way to suggest that they are exactly the same, but it was a reminder that not all horrors take place somewhere over there. Some have taken and are taking place on the continent and in the country in which I live.
And they did it to children. There are not enough reparations in the world.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 7:42 PM on May 28, 2021 [18 favorites]
I posted this story because I started crying as I was reading it. I know about the residential schools, I know the stories, I know the facts, but somehow this one just hit extra hard.
I know what you mean, clawsoon. That was my first reaction on learning about it through the email from work. I couldn’t even talk about it with my partner today without tearing up. I’ve been affected by the many awful stories I’ve heard and read about residential schools, but for some reason this one is hitting extra hard.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 8:17 PM on May 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
I know what you mean, clawsoon. That was my first reaction on learning about it through the email from work. I couldn’t even talk about it with my partner today without tearing up. I’ve been affected by the many awful stories I’ve heard and read about residential schools, but for some reason this one is hitting extra hard.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 8:17 PM on May 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
I grew up in Kamloops. The headline was a shock, but, given what I've learned about residential schools since, not really a surprise. Still, I had to call my mom. She said there's been talk of something like this for a long time.
Due to its location the school was/is an unavoidable presence. You can see it from a lot of places and a major road goes right past it. But back then nobody in the surrounding community talked about it or even seemed to know much of anything about it. I didn't really understand the point of the place and one of my grandmothers was in the admin there after the government took over (note: the other, my mom's mom, was an inmate at a residential school to the north west, near Williams Lake). IIRC my understanding was that it was a school for indigenous (well, it was indians back then), but hardly any went there anymore.
I heard my mom's brother share a story about the place with a more distant uncle. I think it takes place in the 1950s or maybe early 1960s. A bus was delivering a load of kids to the Kamloops residential school from somewhere far away--in the Chilcotin I think (which is, like, hundreds of miles away)--when the bus driver stopped for a smoke and bathroom break. He left the bus unattended for a few minutes and when he returned the bus was empty. The guy was totally panicked, but somebody at the gas station told him to just drive back up the way he came. He did so and soon came upon all the kids.
They were all walking in a line alongside the road, each with a hand on the next one's shoulder so they wouldn't get separated. Trying to walk the hundreds of miles back to their homes.
I don't know about the rest of Canada, but I'm glad they're making a credible seeming effort to teach this stuff at my daughter's school (Fatty Legs and other books are out here too). She knows what happened was terrible and wrong. It's not all on me to make sure she knows about this atrocious history.
posted by house-goblin at 8:34 PM on May 28, 2021 [20 favorites]
Due to its location the school was/is an unavoidable presence. You can see it from a lot of places and a major road goes right past it. But back then nobody in the surrounding community talked about it or even seemed to know much of anything about it. I didn't really understand the point of the place and one of my grandmothers was in the admin there after the government took over (note: the other, my mom's mom, was an inmate at a residential school to the north west, near Williams Lake). IIRC my understanding was that it was a school for indigenous (well, it was indians back then), but hardly any went there anymore.
I heard my mom's brother share a story about the place with a more distant uncle. I think it takes place in the 1950s or maybe early 1960s. A bus was delivering a load of kids to the Kamloops residential school from somewhere far away--in the Chilcotin I think (which is, like, hundreds of miles away)--when the bus driver stopped for a smoke and bathroom break. He left the bus unattended for a few minutes and when he returned the bus was empty. The guy was totally panicked, but somebody at the gas station told him to just drive back up the way he came. He did so and soon came upon all the kids.
They were all walking in a line alongside the road, each with a hand on the next one's shoulder so they wouldn't get separated. Trying to walk the hundreds of miles back to their homes.
I don't know about the rest of Canada, but I'm glad they're making a credible seeming effort to teach this stuff at my daughter's school (Fatty Legs and other books are out here too). She knows what happened was terrible and wrong. It's not all on me to make sure she knows about this atrocious history.
posted by house-goblin at 8:34 PM on May 28, 2021 [20 favorites]
It’s almost too much to process.
We had them in the States, too, but damned if we were ever taught about them in school.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:47 PM on May 28, 2021 [4 favorites]
We had them in the States, too, but damned if we were ever taught about them in school.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:47 PM on May 28, 2021 [4 favorites]
The Ford government is working to stop adding indigenous content to the curriculum
Reason given in the article:
posted by clawsoon at 8:52 PM on May 28, 2021 [10 favorites]
Reason given in the article:
In an emailed statement to iPolitics, a spokesperson for Education Minister Lisa Thompson said the ministry cancelled three writing sessions in total: the Truth and Reconciliation Commission curriculum, American Sign Language and Indigenous Languages in Kindergarten.First page of the 2011 Truth and Reconciliation report:
The cut is an austerity measure, the spokesperson continued.
Children were to be fed and housed, and taught skills and trades that would allow them to support themselves and their families. But once the schools had been established, politicians discovered they had underestimated the cost of running a humane and effective system. They knew from the earliest days that the schools were failing to provide children with the education they needed and the care they deserved.Same fucking excuse. "Hey, we don't want to do the right thing... what should we say?"
Despite this, government after government lacked either the courage to fund the schools properly or the initiative to close them down.
posted by clawsoon at 8:52 PM on May 28, 2021 [10 favorites]
We had them in the States, too, but damned if we were ever taught about them in school.
I first studied American Genocide against indigenous people in the 90's and it snaps your soul. True though, the teaching of the machinisms of U.S. genocide is a fairly new thing.
what in the fuck were people thinking do to this.
posted by clavdivs at 9:38 PM on May 28, 2021 [3 favorites]
I first studied American Genocide against indigenous people in the 90's and it snaps your soul. True though, the teaching of the machinisms of U.S. genocide is a fairly new thing.
what in the fuck were people thinking do to this.
posted by clavdivs at 9:38 PM on May 28, 2021 [3 favorites]
'I can't imagine my child dying at school': 215 pairs of children's shoes set up as tribute after residential school discovery
"I was so triggered and heartbroken and completely taken aback, because I know of this in so many instances," Tamara Bell said in an interview.posted by clawsoon at 12:03 AM on May 29, 2021 [6 favorites]
She said she'd grown up hearing stories of children dying at residential schools, and that it brought back memories of her mother, who had attended a residential school.
"I got in real time to see the legacy of residential school up close and personal with my mom," Bell said.
The news, which she saw on social media, made her feel like she had to act.
"I didn't want it to be just another Facebook post. I wanted to do something as an artist, and I wanted to do something that visualized 215 children," Bell said outside the downtown gallery.
She settled on shoes, to give the public an understanding of the scope of the discovery. Bell said she woke up early, cried, composed herself, and came up with a plan.
This mass grave is a new horror piled upon a long history and current practice. It is causing overwhelming grief and there are supports for survivors
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My thoughts are with the families of these children and the many others touched by the residential schools genocide.
I echo the suggestion of reading the TRC summary report. Aside from being a vitally important document it is extremely well researched and written. For those who prefer/need to listen to text, volunteers read the entire report aloud in a youtube series.
posted by chapps at 12:24 AM on May 29, 2021 [9 favorites]
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My thoughts are with the families of these children and the many others touched by the residential schools genocide.
I echo the suggestion of reading the TRC summary report. Aside from being a vitally important document it is extremely well researched and written. For those who prefer/need to listen to text, volunteers read the entire report aloud in a youtube series.
posted by chapps at 12:24 AM on May 29, 2021 [9 favorites]
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. For the other children taken and killed or had their lives otherwise destroyed by these schools. A shameful past that continues to impact lives today. One of the First Nations impacted by the Mohawk Institute site here in Ontario runs tours of the site and has a campaign to make the former school a ‘site of conscience’. I just donated again to their Woodland Cultural Centre Save The Evidence campaign as a small way to honour the memory of these children in BC after reading this news. There are similar tours and other efforts in other places in Canada and other initiatives to help educate and bear witness to this history that offer online resources and learning opportunities in the voices of Indigenous communities and survivors, such as the Legacy of Hope.
posted by Cyrie at 8:06 AM on May 29, 2021 [4 favorites]
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. For the other children taken and killed or had their lives otherwise destroyed by these schools. A shameful past that continues to impact lives today. One of the First Nations impacted by the Mohawk Institute site here in Ontario runs tours of the site and has a campaign to make the former school a ‘site of conscience’. I just donated again to their Woodland Cultural Centre Save The Evidence campaign as a small way to honour the memory of these children in BC after reading this news. There are similar tours and other efforts in other places in Canada and other initiatives to help educate and bear witness to this history that offer online resources and learning opportunities in the voices of Indigenous communities and survivors, such as the Legacy of Hope.
posted by Cyrie at 8:06 AM on May 29, 2021 [4 favorites]
In addition to the great links people posted above, wenestvedt, there was a post about the TRC previously that contains a few more.
One of the things about it is that it contained 94 specific calls to action (pdf with full list). Here's a guide to what has (and hasn't) been implemented (as of December 2020).
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:39 AM on May 29, 2021 [7 favorites]
One of the things about it is that it contained 94 specific calls to action (pdf with full list). Here's a guide to what has (and hasn't) been implemented (as of December 2020).
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:39 AM on May 29, 2021 [7 favorites]
Looking at the pictures of those young kids in the linked article made me want to weep
posted by mecran01 at 12:00 PM on May 29, 2021
posted by mecran01 at 12:00 PM on May 29, 2021
So, as I mentioned upthread one of my grandmothers worked in admin at the Kamloops Residential School during its final years. Many years later, after the truth had become available (well, if you were willing to look) and since my other grandma (note: Kye7e in her, uhh, native tongue) was in one, I think she went through some pain to tell me that she never heard or saw any of the bad things and that if she did she would have spoken up. She didn't deny any of what happened, more like what she said just covered her personal involvement in what she knew I considered a grave injustice. I believed her, but have often suspected she may have been somehow blind to the evidence, especially if it was indirect.
Today it's become really hard to believe she never heard anything about this long rumoured burial ground on the school site. Guess I'm going to have to talk with my mom again.
posted by house-goblin at 12:53 PM on May 29, 2021 [3 favorites]
Today it's become really hard to believe she never heard anything about this long rumoured burial ground on the school site. Guess I'm going to have to talk with my mom again.
posted by house-goblin at 12:53 PM on May 29, 2021 [3 favorites]
Social media (ugh) meme from @theBurlyChef at the moment:
As a white man I have a complicated relationship with Canadian history. But we had a tragedy where we lost sixteen kids a few years ago and the nation thankfully came to a standstill to mourn.posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:38 PM on May 29, 2021 [6 favorites]
We just found 215 kids in a forgotten grave and I don’t see the same pause.
Essential reading: Missing Children and Unmarked Burials: The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
http://www.trc.ca/assets/pdf/Volume_4_Missing_Children_English_Web.pdf
The first bullet point of the summary: "The Commission has identified 3,200 deaths on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Register of Confirmed Deaths of Named Residential School Students and the Register of Confirmed Deaths of Unnamed Residential School Students."
The work has barely started.
posted by thoughtful_jester at 10:00 AM on May 31, 2021 [2 favorites]
http://www.trc.ca/assets/pdf/Volume_4_Missing_Children_English_Web.pdf
The first bullet point of the summary: "The Commission has identified 3,200 deaths on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Register of Confirmed Deaths of Named Residential School Students and the Register of Confirmed Deaths of Unnamed Residential School Students."
The work has barely started.
posted by thoughtful_jester at 10:00 AM on May 31, 2021 [2 favorites]
Previous MeFi threads about children who died trying to escape residential school, attempting to find their way home in harsh environments.
From and To the Place That Looks Like A Caribou
“We are not the country we thought we were.”
The BC Teacher’s Federation has a free ebook called Project of Heart: Illuminating the Hidden Truth of Residential Schools.
Also on the BCTF site is a scan of a 1948 memo from the Kamloops residential school from the principal to parents. It encapsulates the racist, colonialist mentality embodied in these “schools”:
From and To the Place That Looks Like A Caribou
“We are not the country we thought we were.”
The BC Teacher’s Federation has a free ebook called Project of Heart: Illuminating the Hidden Truth of Residential Schools.
Also on the BCTF site is a scan of a 1948 memo from the Kamloops residential school from the principal to parents. It encapsulates the racist, colonialist mentality embodied in these “schools”:
KAMLOOPS INDIAN RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLposted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:30 AM on May 31, 2021 [3 favorites]
KAMLOOPS, BC
November 18, 1948
Dear Parents,
It will be your privilege this year to have your children spend Christmas at home with you. The holidays will extend from DECEMBER 18th to JANUARY 3rd. This is a privilege which is being granted if you observe the following regulations of the Indian Department.
1. THE TRANSPORTATION TO THE HOME AND BACK TO THE SCHOOL MUST BE PAID BY THE PARENTS.
The parents must come themselves to the school to get their own children. If they are unable to come they must send a letter to the Principal of the school stating that the parents of other children from the same Reserve may bring them home. The children will not be allowed to go home alone on the train or bus.
2. THE PARENTS MUST BRING THEIR CHILDREN BACK TO THE SCHOOL STRICTLY ON TIME.
If the children are not returned to School on time they will not be allowed to go home for Christmas next year.
I ask you to observe the above regulations in order that this privilege of going home for Christmas may be continued from year to year. It will be a joy for you to have your children with you for Christmas. It will be a joy also for your children and it will bring added cheer and happiness to your home.
Yours sincerely,
Rev. Fr. O’Grady, OMI
Principal
I'm told that, though the names are changed, the book My Name is Seepeetza certainly takes place at the Kamloops Residential School.
And Resistance and Renewal was the first book I ever read that was about what took place at the Kamloops Residential School.
Finally, though it's a bit removed from the residential school context I want to link to the "Memorial to Sir Wilfrid Laurier" [note: pdf]--written in 1910 and from three chiefs local, more or less, to the general Kamloops region. I suppose it encapsulates a very politely worded, yet clearly stated, recognition of the colonialist mentality:
What have we received for our good faith, friendliness and patience? Gradually as the whites of this country became more and more powerful and we less and less powerful, they little by little changed their policy towards us and commenced to put restrictions on us. Their governments have taken every advantage of our friendliness, weakness and ignorance to impose on us in every way. They treat us as subjects without any agreement to that effect and force their laws on us without our consent, and irrespective of whether they are good for us or not. They say they have authority over us. They have broken down our old laws and customs (no matter how good) by which we regulated ourselves. They laugh at our chiefs and brush them aside. Minor affairs amongst ourselves which do not affect them in the least and which we can easily settle better then they can, they drag into their courts. They enforce their own laws one way for the rich white man one way for the poor white and yet another for the Indian. They knocked down (the same as) the posts of all the Indian tribes. They say there are no lines except what they make. They took possession of all the Indian country and claim it as their own. Just the same as taking the “house” or “ranch” and, therefore, the life of every Indian tribe into their possession. They have never consulted us in any of these matters, nor made any agreement, “nor” signed “any” papers with us. They have stolen our lands and everything on them’ and continue to use ‘same’ for their ‘own’ purposes. They treat us as less than children and allow us ‘no say’ in anything. They say the Indians know nothing and own nothing, yet their power and wealth has come from our belongings. The queen’s law which we believe guaranteed us our rights, the British Columbia government has trampled underfoot. This is how our guests have treated us-the brothers we received hospitably in our house.
As a further note, IIRC after delivery of this letter saw no significant results, it was decided to take the battle to the courts. After a number of tribal victories in the courts, the BC government made it illegal for them to retain lawyers.
Finally, finally, I should call attention to the last line of the Memorial: "Per their secretary, J.A. Teit." Because James Teit is many kinds of awesome: The Little-Known Settler Who Fought for Indigenous Rights .
posted by house-goblin at 2:22 PM on May 31, 2021 [6 favorites]
And Resistance and Renewal was the first book I ever read that was about what took place at the Kamloops Residential School.
Finally, though it's a bit removed from the residential school context I want to link to the "Memorial to Sir Wilfrid Laurier" [note: pdf]--written in 1910 and from three chiefs local, more or less, to the general Kamloops region. I suppose it encapsulates a very politely worded, yet clearly stated, recognition of the colonialist mentality:
What have we received for our good faith, friendliness and patience? Gradually as the whites of this country became more and more powerful and we less and less powerful, they little by little changed their policy towards us and commenced to put restrictions on us. Their governments have taken every advantage of our friendliness, weakness and ignorance to impose on us in every way. They treat us as subjects without any agreement to that effect and force their laws on us without our consent, and irrespective of whether they are good for us or not. They say they have authority over us. They have broken down our old laws and customs (no matter how good) by which we regulated ourselves. They laugh at our chiefs and brush them aside. Minor affairs amongst ourselves which do not affect them in the least and which we can easily settle better then they can, they drag into their courts. They enforce their own laws one way for the rich white man one way for the poor white and yet another for the Indian. They knocked down (the same as) the posts of all the Indian tribes. They say there are no lines except what they make. They took possession of all the Indian country and claim it as their own. Just the same as taking the “house” or “ranch” and, therefore, the life of every Indian tribe into their possession. They have never consulted us in any of these matters, nor made any agreement, “nor” signed “any” papers with us. They have stolen our lands and everything on them’ and continue to use ‘same’ for their ‘own’ purposes. They treat us as less than children and allow us ‘no say’ in anything. They say the Indians know nothing and own nothing, yet their power and wealth has come from our belongings. The queen’s law which we believe guaranteed us our rights, the British Columbia government has trampled underfoot. This is how our guests have treated us-the brothers we received hospitably in our house.
As a further note, IIRC after delivery of this letter saw no significant results, it was decided to take the battle to the courts. After a number of tribal victories in the courts, the BC government made it illegal for them to retain lawyers.
Finally, finally, I should call attention to the last line of the Memorial: "Per their secretary, J.A. Teit." Because James Teit is many kinds of awesome: The Little-Known Settler Who Fought for Indigenous Rights .
posted by house-goblin at 2:22 PM on May 31, 2021 [6 favorites]
After a number of tribal victories in the courts, the BC government made it illegal for them to retain lawyers.
I hadn't heard about that before, so I had to look it up. Looks like that was made Canada-wide in 1927:
posted by clawsoon at 5:23 PM on May 31, 2021 [4 favorites]
I hadn't heard about that before, so I had to look it up. Looks like that was made Canada-wide in 1927:
In 1927, the Act made it illegal for First Nations peoples and communities to hire lawyers or bring about land claims against the government without the government’s consent.It reminds me tangentially of the part in the 2011 TRC report about a principal at a residential school who was sexually abusing the girls:
Following complaints from the local First Nation, Indian Affairs concluded the principal should be replaced. The Presbyterian Church argued that to dismiss him at that point would be seen by the band as a “direct result of their appeal to the Department.” To allow the church to save face, the principal continued in the job for another six months.Don't just take away their power, but make them feel as powerless as possible. Rub their lack of power right in their face so that they'll give up trying, to the point of allowing a man to keep sexually abusing girls for an extra six months so they know exactly how powerless they are.
posted by clawsoon at 5:23 PM on May 31, 2021 [4 favorites]
I hadn't heard about that before, so I had to look it up. Looks like that was made Canada-wide in 1927...Yeah, my memory was probably somewhat wide of the mark, the feds doing this via the Indian Act makes more sense. Thanks for looking it up!
Note, though, my blundering memory still insists that the Canada-wide "no lawyers for indigenous" policy was due to events in BC. Some hasty googling produced this wikipedia article on the Allied Tribes of BC, which seems to confirm the notion.
Anyway, bit of a derail.
posted by house-goblin at 8:17 PM on May 31, 2021 [1 favorite]
Anyway, bit of a derail.
I think the overall point of the government doing everything it could (including shutting down legal avenues) to crush First Nations' power and spirit is on-point. I just heard on the radio this morning that the Canadian government is still fighting survivors of St. Anne's in court. The Minister stumbled through some mealy-mouthed answer to the question of why the government is still fighting the survivors in court which I hope she felt disgusted with herself for saying.
St. Anne's, if you haven't heard of it, built a homemade electric chair to torture students (trigger warning: a horrific collection of many forms of child abuse).
posted by clawsoon at 6:41 AM on June 1, 2021 [1 favorite]
I think the overall point of the government doing everything it could (including shutting down legal avenues) to crush First Nations' power and spirit is on-point. I just heard on the radio this morning that the Canadian government is still fighting survivors of St. Anne's in court. The Minister stumbled through some mealy-mouthed answer to the question of why the government is still fighting the survivors in court which I hope she felt disgusted with herself for saying.
St. Anne's, if you haven't heard of it, built a homemade electric chair to torture students (trigger warning: a horrific collection of many forms of child abuse).
posted by clawsoon at 6:41 AM on June 1, 2021 [1 favorite]
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation has a comprehensive archive of materials from the Canadian residential schools. See https://archives.nctr.ca/
Relevant, from 2008: Location of Mass Graves of Residential School Children Revealed
posted by Ahmad Khani at 8:13 AM on June 1, 2021 [1 favorite]
Relevant, from 2008: Location of Mass Graves of Residential School Children Revealed
"It’s time to bring our children home from the residential schools"
In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) published an entire volume called Missing Children and Unmarked Burials that is 266 pages long. “The most basic of questions about missing children – Who died? Why did they die? Where are they buried? – have never been addressed or comprehensively documented by the Canadian government,” the report reads.
The TRC recorded 3,200 deaths – but that is just a small fraction of the true number. Former senator Murray Sinclair has told me it is more likely 15,000 lost as there were 1,300 different types of schools across Canada that Indigenous children were sent to or attended.
Canada only sanctioned 139 schools to be part of the commission.
posted by Ahmad Khani at 8:13 AM on June 1, 2021 [1 favorite]
Don't think this is over. The Canadian government still takes children away from indigenous families, they just call it foster care instead of residential schools.
Canada is an apartheid state and always has been since its inception. It is founded upon stolen land and its survival depends on the oppression and suppression of the indigenous people who have a legitimate claim to it. This will continue until the day that Canada elects an indigenous prime minister and the entire political establishment is dismantled and reformed. What did it take to break apartheid in South Africa? Could it happen in Canada? It is not going to look like white Canadian politicians giving speeches expressing sorrow. It is going to look like a gut-check, something revolutionary, an absolute reversal of the existing power structures. It will not be comfortable or easy.
You can see where most Canadians stand on this issue when you examine attitudes towards indigenous land defenders, e.g. when the Mohawk blockaded railway lines last year in support of the Wetsuweten anti-pipeline encampment. Are the indigenous people standing up for their rights and trying to break an oppressive system? Or are they thugs and criminals who need to obey the so-caled rule of law? What happens when the police claim to be enforcing the law but are actually violating the treaties? The rights of indigenous people and the legitimacy of indigenous protest are still being attacked and eroded, right now, today, in Fairy Creek, Oka, and elsewhere. There's no sense talking about truth and reconciliation when the original violence is ongoing and has the official backing of the government.
I honestly think Canada is collectively trying to reckon with the fact that it is a colonial, violent, racist state. We're in the very early early early stages of this and the truth is ugly. Every non-indigenous Canadian is implicated in some way, because to be Canadian is to oppress indigenous people, because that's what Canada is. Every Canadian institution is implicated. Every Canadian leader is implicated. All of Canadian history is tarnished. The very idea of Canada is both a fabrication and a monstrosity. It's just a word that was made to paper over the dozens of cultures that it has tried to erase. The entire thing has to go. It is going to be a hard tough road.
posted by PercussivePaul at 5:46 PM on June 1, 2021 [10 favorites]
Canada is an apartheid state and always has been since its inception. It is founded upon stolen land and its survival depends on the oppression and suppression of the indigenous people who have a legitimate claim to it. This will continue until the day that Canada elects an indigenous prime minister and the entire political establishment is dismantled and reformed. What did it take to break apartheid in South Africa? Could it happen in Canada? It is not going to look like white Canadian politicians giving speeches expressing sorrow. It is going to look like a gut-check, something revolutionary, an absolute reversal of the existing power structures. It will not be comfortable or easy.
You can see where most Canadians stand on this issue when you examine attitudes towards indigenous land defenders, e.g. when the Mohawk blockaded railway lines last year in support of the Wetsuweten anti-pipeline encampment. Are the indigenous people standing up for their rights and trying to break an oppressive system? Or are they thugs and criminals who need to obey the so-caled rule of law? What happens when the police claim to be enforcing the law but are actually violating the treaties? The rights of indigenous people and the legitimacy of indigenous protest are still being attacked and eroded, right now, today, in Fairy Creek, Oka, and elsewhere. There's no sense talking about truth and reconciliation when the original violence is ongoing and has the official backing of the government.
I honestly think Canada is collectively trying to reckon with the fact that it is a colonial, violent, racist state. We're in the very early early early stages of this and the truth is ugly. Every non-indigenous Canadian is implicated in some way, because to be Canadian is to oppress indigenous people, because that's what Canada is. Every Canadian institution is implicated. Every Canadian leader is implicated. All of Canadian history is tarnished. The very idea of Canada is both a fabrication and a monstrosity. It's just a word that was made to paper over the dozens of cultures that it has tried to erase. The entire thing has to go. It is going to be a hard tough road.
posted by PercussivePaul at 5:46 PM on June 1, 2021 [10 favorites]
Anyway, bit of a derail.When you put it like that I can only agree. To add to the point, I will mention Doctor Peter Bryces's report The Story of a National Crime: Being a Record of the Health Conditions of the Indians of Canada from 1904 to 1921. He had to self-publish it in 1922 because, even though the Dept of Indian Affairs commissioned the report, the government never released it. I haven't read it, but here's a link to an article that just came out on the man and his report: The Story of a National Crime.
I think the overall point of the government doing everything it could (including shutting down legal avenues) to crush First Nations' power and spirit is on-point.
They've also got an article/interview with Cindy Blackstock that is more concerned with the situation here and now: Blackstock on Trudeau: ‘How Much Money Does He Think a Child’s Life Is Worth?’.
More personally, yesterday I saw kids at my daughter's school working on a memorial for the kids lost at the Kamloops residential school and have had some long talks with my mom about what my grandmother (Kye7e) and other relatives had to endure (and in many cases still endure).
posted by house-goblin at 2:39 PM on June 3, 2021 [3 favorites]
Mumilaaq Qaqqaq (MP for Nunavut) earlier today:
Our @NDP motion for Indigenous justice passed on Monday.
@JustinTrudeau didn't even show up.
@Carolyn_Bennett and @MarcMillerVM abstained.
I'm worried.
I'm worried they'll ignore it and we'll go back to normal when the flags go up again.
Canada, we can't let that happen.
Here's what she had to say in the House of Commons the other day (cw: suicide, abuse):
Hansard (text, see 17:26 - can't figure out how to permalink that time from the Hansard)
House of Commons video feed (timestamp link)
Twitter
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:58 PM on June 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
Our @NDP motion for Indigenous justice passed on Monday.
@JustinTrudeau didn't even show up.
@Carolyn_Bennett and @MarcMillerVM abstained.
I'm worried.
I'm worried they'll ignore it and we'll go back to normal when the flags go up again.
Canada, we can't let that happen.
Here's what she had to say in the House of Commons the other day (cw: suicide, abuse):
Hansard (text, see 17:26 - can't figure out how to permalink that time from the Hansard)
House of Commons video feed (timestamp link)
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:58 PM on June 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
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