Mass grave found at school for indigenous children in Canada

[spaceneedle]

This subject is very personal to me because one of my Grandparents and her siblings were forced into a similar school for indigenous children during the 1920s/30s. My grandparent was permanently traumatized by this experience. This is tragic and has been something indigenous people were aware of for years. I believe is only the tip of the iceberg, since many of these schools existed in both Canada and the US. My GP told me that children would sometimes just "disappear" from the school they and their siblings were forced to live in. Sexual and physical abuse was also rampant.

vancouversun.com/news/local-news/remains-of-215-children-found-at-former-kamloops-residential-school-first-nation

Remains of 215 children found at former Kamloops residential school: First Nation

Students were sent to the school from as far away as Penticton, Hope, Mount Currie, Lillooet and even outside the province.

May 28, 2021

KAMLOOPS — A B.C. First Nation has confirmed that the remains of 215 children who were students of the Kamloops Indian Residential School have been found on the reserve using ground-penetrating radar.In a news release, Tk’emlups te Secwépemc First Nation Chief Rosanne Casimir calls the discovery an “unthinkable loss that was spoken about, but never documented by the Kamloops Indian Residential School,” which was the largest school in the country’s Indian Affairs residential school system.

“We had a knowing in our community that we were able to verify. To our knowledge, these missing children are undocumented deaths,” Casimir said. “Some were as young as three years old. We sought out a way to confirm that knowing out of deepest respect and love for those lost children and their families, understanding that Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc is the final resting place of these children.” B.C. Premier John Horgan issued a statement early Friday, saying he was “horrified and heartbroken” to hear about the burial site.

“I honour Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc as they grapple with this burden from a dark chapter of Canadian history and uphold their commitment to complete this investigation over the coming weeks – bringing to light the full truth of this loss,” said Horgan.

“Each child has been forever taken from a family and a community that loved them. This is a tragedy of unimaginable proportions. And it is a stark example of the violence the Canadian residential school system inflicted upon Indigenous peoples and how the consequences of these atrocities continue to this day.” Two hundred-and-fifteen pairs of kids shoes line the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery Friday.

Horgan said support services are available for those affected by this news. A National Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for former Residential School students and those affected. Access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1 866 925-4419.

The work was undertaken by the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc language and culture department, with ceremonial Knowledge Keepers who ensured that the work was conducted respectfully in light of the serious nature of the investigation, with cultural protocols being upheld. A commemorative monument has been erected directly in front of the main building. The inscription reads: “This monument is dedicated to honour all survivors from the Secwépemc bands who attended the Kamloops Residential School; who all suffered the genocide period in the history of the Kamloops Indian Residential School; and to honour all survivors who are not with us today, but are with us in spirit.”

Casimir said that, given the children are buried within the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc community, and with all community members still grappling with the effects of residential school, chief and council first reached out to their community members to make them aware of the situation, contact that continues.

Lisa Lapointe, B.C.’s chief coroner, said the BC Coroners Service was advised by the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc about the discovery of the burial site and is in the process of gathering information.“We recognize the tragic, heartbreaking devastation that the Canadian residential school system has inflicted upon so many, and our thoughts are with all of those who are in mourning today,” said Lapointe, in a statement Thursday.

Casimir said Tk’emlúps will continue to work with the ground-penetrating radar specialist to complete the survey of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School grounds, which are at the corner of Highway 5 and Shuswap Road. Preliminary work in confirming that the remains of the children were on the reserve began in the early 2000s, Casimir said, with the radar technology confirming the stories.

“We are thankful for the Pathway to Healing grant we received to undertake this important work,” Casimir said. “Given the size of the school, with up to 500 students registered and attending at any one time, we understand that this confirmed loss affects First Nations communities across British Columbia and beyond. We wish to ensure that our community members, as well as all home communities for the children who attended, are duly informed. This is the beginning, but given the nature of this news, we felt it important to share immediately. At this time, we have more questions than answers. We look forward to providing updates as they become available.”
Article content

Tk’emlups is now in communication with the B.C. Coroners Service, reaching out to the home communities that had children who attended the Kamloops Indian Residential School, and taking measures to ensure the locations of the remains are protected. In addition, the Secwépemc Museum archivist is working with the Royal British Columbia Museum, among others, to seek out any existing records of the deaths.

Tk’emlups’ Heritage Park is closed to the public and no one will be permitted on site for the duration of the work. The band is expected to complete preliminary findings by mid-June and will be providing updates as they become available.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) noted that large numbers of Indigenous children who were sent to residential schools never returned to their home communities. Some children ran away and others died at the schools. The students who did not return have come to be known as the Missing Children. The Missing Children Project documents the deaths and the burial places of children who died while attending the schools. To date, more than 4,100 children who died while attending a residential school have been identified.

The Kamloops Industrial School (later known as the Kamloops Indian Residential School) was opened, under Roman Catholic administration, in 1890. It was part of the Canadian residential school system, established as part of the government policy of forced assimilation that resulted in the oppression of generations of Indigenous children. It was one of more than 130 such schools that operated in Canada between 1874 and 1996.


Located on the traditional territory of the Secwépemc people, hundreds of Secwépemc and other First Nations children attended the Kamloops school. Students were sent there from as far away as Penticton, Hope, Mount Currie, Lillooet and even outside the province. Enrolment peaked in the early 1950s at 500. Children were forcibly removed from their homes once attendance became mandatory by law in the 1920s, with their parents under threat of prison if they refused. Students lived at the school from September to June, alienated from their family except for Christmas and Easter visits.

It became the largest school in the Indian Affairs residential school system. In 1969, the federal government took over the administration of the school, which no longer provided any classes and operated it as residence for students attending local day schools until 1978, when the residence was closed.
Home communities of students

Neskainlith, North Thompson, Kamloops, Pavilion, Penticton, Adam’s Lake, Bonaparte, Fountain, Douglas L., Okanagan, Quilchena, Shulus, Little Shuswap, Coldwater, L. Nicola, Bridge R. Enderby, Deadman’s Cr., Hope, Leon’s C., Cayoose, Salmon R., Canoe C., Lillooet, Mount Currie (Lilwat Nation), D’Arcy (Nquatqua), Seabird Island, Skwah, Kamloops, Union Bar, Head of L., Deroche, Spuzzum, Shalalth, Spalumcheen.

* Note: Tk’emlups said it is its understanding there were children that came from other communities not listed here.

[lagatta]

Thanks for this. Lots of protests and memorials, in Ottawa and Montréal as well as on the Pacific coast and doubtless elsewhere.

[casimira]

I had a really difficult time wrapping my head around this news when it hit the headlines recently. How and why something of this magnitude could go unreported for so long is mind boggling. How could so many children just "disappear"?
I have read reports of how the indigenous people in many of the Provinces are mistreated and maligned over many, many years. Decades.
Has PM Trudeau come out with any statement on this?

[kerouac2]

It was on the news again tonight in France.

Something similar happened in France in the mid-20th century, although not really similar at all since nobody was killed although there were some suicides. In the 60s and 70s, approximately 1600 children from Réunion were taken from their parents and placed in foster homes in metropolitan France. At the time, Réunion was overpopulated with the average family having 9 children, so the authorities decided that some of the children should be taken away to ensure a better life for them. I'm sure that the original Canadian plan was also about a "better life" before things when horribly wrong. In France, some of the foster families were excellent but too many of them were not -- just in it for the money. The kids were basically told that their families had abandoned them, which was not at all the case. Now in their 40s and 50s, they are still trying to get over the trauma in many cases.

[bjd]

The residential schools in Canada were probably similar to those in Australia, where indigenous children were taken away to become more "white". I don't know whether churches, and particularly the Roman Catholic Church, were as guilty in Australia as in Canada, but essentially it comes down to the same thing: feeling that an imposed white culture was superior and that the way to do it was to take children away from their parents.

The same mentality existed in Ireland with the Magdalene institutions where "fallen girls" slaved away as laundresses and where many babies died.

[lugg]

I have just been reading about this today too, heart wrenching reading made even more so when I read this thread and your first hand knowledge spaceneedle. Just awful.

.

May 30, 2021 9:29:33 GMT spaceneedle said:

This subject is very personal to me because one of my Grandparents and her siblings were forced into a similar school for indigenous children during the 1920s/30s. My grandparent was permanently traumatized by this experience.

[lagatta]

Now PM Trudeau is calling on Pope Francis to apologise. However the federal government had as least as much a hand in the residential school system as any Church (there were Protestant churches involved in this as well).

[bjd]

"The Roman Catholic Church was responsible for operating up to 70 per cent of residential schools, according to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS). United, Anglican and Presbyterian churches were among those operating the remainder.

In the years since, the Roman Catholic Church is the only one that hasn't made a formal apology. The closest it came was in 2009, when Pope Benedict XVI expressed "sorrow" for some of the "deplorable" conduct of church members." from the CBC news site.

The Catholic church indeed has a lot to answer for, but as Lagatta says, the federal government was at least as guilty, if not more for allowing it.

[spaceneedle]

The problem with the boarding school system in Canada is that parents were required by LAW to surrender their children to these facilities. This was not optional and was subject to punishment.

Here is a good and recent expose on it:

nationalpost.com/news/canada/this-school-is-a-jail-house-documents-reveal-the-horrors-of-indian-residential-schools

Here is an American perspective very similar to that of my Grandmother.

www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/03/traumatic-legacy-indian-boarding-schools/584293/

[lagatta]

Thank you, Space Needle. Similar patterns of forced assimilation - and far more outright massacres - occurred in the US and several South American countries. I'm certainly not evoking those to play down Canada's shameful record.

[kerouac2]

The most awful thing about all of this in all of the countries concerned is that it was caused at the start by people with purportedly good intentions. "We'll give the children a better life."

[lagatta]

rabble.ca/news/2021/06/why-did-it-take-kamloops-discovery-accept-what-weve-known-decades

This article includes some frankly shocking material (triggers?) but it is well documented and worth a read.

[spaceneedle]

The Biden Administration has opened an inquiry into boarding schools in the US. I guess that's good, but it's sad that it took so long.

www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/06/22/native-american-boarding-schools-get-scrutiny-us-government/5310463001/

U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said Tuesday the Biden administration will review the government's role in operating boarding schools for forced assimilation of Native Americans and "uncover the truth about the loss of human life" at those schools.

That could include schools in Michigan. From 1893 to 1934, some 300 Native American children from kindergarten through eighth grade were boarded annually at a school in Mount Pleasant where rumors of abuse have persisted. This month, the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan said 227 children died at the school, though government records — as reported by the Traverse City Record-Eagle — documented only five.

The announcement by Haaland, the first Native American to head the Interior Department, comes amid renewed scrutiny into boarding schools for indigenous people after the remains of 215 children were discovered at a former boarding school site in British Columbia, Canada.

[lagatta]

An even worse case: www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/24/canada-school-graves-discovery-saskatchewan

[bjd]

Not to take away any of the shameful sides of this topic, but today I was wondering why the Canadian government gave so many of these residential schools into the care of the Catholic Church. Other than in Quebec, where the RC church was extremely powerful, there was a lot of anti-Catholic bias and discrimination against Catholics. In Ontario, for example: Orange Day parades in July in small Ontario towns, people being asked their religion on work application forms. My mother's older colleagues who had grown up in Toronto in the late 1930s or 1940s told her they weren't allowed to play with Catholic kids, etc. Certainly less discrimination than against Jews, but there still was quite a lot.

Was it that the Catholics had more experience running schools than Anglicans, for example?

Also, why now? None of this is recent. The mistreatment of kids in residential schools, the disappearance of Indigenous girls and women in large numbers, has been known for a long time. And the use of ground-penetrating radar to look in the grounds of the former schools is something odd too. It's not something you can buy at your local Canadian Tire store.