Canada - Remains of children found at former residential schools in Canada, May 2021

[TootsieFootsie]

Remains of 215 children found buried at former B.C. residential school, First Nation says

 

[MissUnderstood]

Is this one of those schools set up by the government for indigenous people? Similar ones were set up in Australia, I don’t think they were ever good!
Moo

 

[Feme98]

Oh my god!

 

[Catmommy]

I read a horror story fairly recently with this premise involving indigenous peoples. Truth is stranger and more horrible than fiction.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I'm hoping this can't be true, though I've seen a few reports of it now.

 

[Blurgle]

Is this one of those schools set up by the government for indigenous people? Similar ones were set up in Australia, I don’t think they were ever good!
Moo

They were much closer to prisons than schools. Kids were stolen from their families and transported to these schools where they were held involuntarily for years and subjected to beating, choking, mass rape, and nearly any other atrocity you can imagine. Nearly all indigenous men of their generation are deaf in at least one ear, because the punishment for speaking their mother tongue was a hard punch to the ear on the part of a priest. Imagine how many kids didn’t survive.

These schools' overt intent - literally - was to "beat the Indian out of the child".

 

[Blurgle]

I'm hoping this can't be true, though I've seen a few reports of it now.

This is the teeny tip of the iceberg. I would not be surprised if the actual secret death toll across the system topped 5,000.

 

[Richard]

Remains of 215 children found at former indigenous school site in Canada

TORONTO (Reuters) - 28 May 2021
By Anna Mehler Paperny

The remains of 215 children, some as young as three years old, were found at the site of a former residential school for indigenous children, a discovery Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described as heartbreaking on Friday.

The children were students at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia that closed in 1978, according to the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc Nation, which said the remains were found with the help of a ground penetrating radar specialist.

"We had a knowing in our community that we were able to verify," Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc Chief Rosanne Casimir said in a statement. "At this time, we have more questions than answers."

Canada's residential school system, which forcibly separated indigenous children from their families, constituted "cultural genocide," a six-year investigation into the now-defunct system found in 2015.

The report documented horrific physical abuse, rape, malnutrition and other atrocities suffered by many of the 150,000 children who attended the schools, typically run by Christian churches on behalf of Ottawa from the 1840s to the 1990s.

It found more than 4,100 children died while attending residential school. The deaths of the 215 children buried in the grounds of what was once Canada's largest residential school are believed to not have been included in that figure and appear to have been undocumented until the discovery.

Trudeau wrote in a tweet that the news "breaks my heart - it is a painful reminder of that dark and shameful chapter of our country's history."

In 2008, the Canadian government formally apologized for the system.

The Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc Nation said it was engaging with the coroner and reaching out to the home communities whose children attended the school. They expect to have preliminary findings by mid-June (2021).

In a statement, British Columbia Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Terry Teegee called finding such grave sites "urgent work" that "refreshes the grief and loss for all First Nations in British Columbia."

 

[Bit of hope]

Say what??? How horrible. Thanks @Richard for sharing. The world should know, could have known.....

 

[Richard]

The Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia once housed 500 children

A mass grave containing the remains of 215 children has been found in Canada at a former residential school set up to assimilate indigenous people.

The children were students at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia that closed in 1978.

The discovery was announced on Thursday by the chief of the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it was a "painful reminder" of a "shameful chapter of our country's history".

The First Nation is working with museum specialists and the coroner's office to establish the causes and timings of the deaths, which are not currently known.

Rosanne Casimir, the chief of the community in British Columbia's city of Kamloops, said the preliminary finding represented an unthinkable loss that was never documented by the school's administrators.

Canada's residential schools were compulsory boarding schools run by the government and religious authorities during the 19th and 20th Centuries with the aim of forcibly assimilating indigenous youth.

• Canada reveals names of residential school victims
• The schools that had cemeteries instead of playgrounds

Kamloops Indian Residential School was the largest in the residential system. Opened under Roman Catholic administration in 1890, the school had as many as 500 students when enrolment peaked in the 1950s....

LINK:

Canada mourns as remains of 215 children found at indigenous school

 

[Bit of hope]

The Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia once housed 500 children

A mass grave containing the remains of 215 children has been found in Canada at a former residential school set up to assimilate indigenous people.

The children were students at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia that closed in 1978.

The discovery was announced on Thursday by the chief of the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it was a "painful reminder" of a "shameful chapter of our country's history".

The First Nation is working with museum specialists and the coroner's office to establish the causes and timings of the deaths, which are not currently known.

Rosanne Casimir, the chief of the community in British Columbia's city of Kamloops, said the preliminary finding represented an unthinkable loss that was never documented by the school's administrators.

Canada's residential schools were compulsory boarding schools run by the government and religious authorities during the 19th and 20th Centuries with the aim of forcibly assimilating indigenous youth.

• Canada reveals names of residential school victims
• The schools that had cemeteries instead of playgrounds

Kamloops Indian Residential School was the largest in the residential system. Opened under Roman Catholic administration in 1890, the school had as many as 500 students when enrolment peaked in the 1950s....

LINK:

Canada mourns as remains of 215 children found at indigenous school

It's breaking my heart and ugly words are coming up....ETA I think it's wonderful and respectful to name each and every child.....

 

[Richard]

Mass Grave of Indigenous Children Found at Former BC Residential School
The buried remains of 215 children who were students of the Kamloops Indian Residential School have been located on the school’s grounds with the help of a specialist in the use of ground penetrating radar, said Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Kukpi7 (Chief) Rosanne Casimir in a May 27 news release. Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc is the home community of the Kamloops Indian Residential School, the largest school in the residential school system run by Indian Affairs, a system that persisted until 1996.

Casimir said the deaths were spoken about but had not been previously confirmed. “We had a knowing in our community that we were able to verify. To our knowledge, these missing children are undocumented deaths,” stated Casimir, who said the discovery is an unthinkable loss. “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.”...

LINK:

Mass Grave of Indigenous Children Found at Former BC Residential School - Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist)

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Work underway for forensics experts to identify and repatriate B.C. school remains

Plans are being made to identify and return home the remains of more than 200 children found buried at the site of a former residential school in British Columbia’s Interior, says a provincial Indigenous leader.

The Kamloops Indian Band wants to undertake the “heart-wrenching” process to eventually tell the stories of the children and bring peace to their families, said Terry Teegee, Assembly of First Nations regional chief.

The effort could involve the B.C. Coroners Service, the Royal B.C. Museum and forensics experts, he said.

 

[JMapes]

Remains of 215 children found buried at site of former B.C. residential school | National Post

"The remains of 215 children have been found buried on the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.

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.

It’s believed the deaths are undocumented.

Some of the children were as young as three.

Casimir said band officials are informing community members and surrounding communities that had children who attended the school.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued its final report on residential schools more than five years ago. The nearly 4,000-page account details the harsh mistreatment inflicted on Indigenous children at the institutions, where at least 3,200 children died amid abuse and neglect."

This is an atrocity. This is genocide. ALL of these children deserve justice. They deserve their names back and their stories heard.

Those responsible for creating, upholding and perpetuating these human rights atrocities must be held accountable. MOO.

 

[JMapes]

Canada mourns as remains of 215 children found at indigenous school

A mass grave containing the remains of 215 children has been found in Canada at a former residential school set up to assimilate indigenous people.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it was a "painful reminder" of a "shameful chapter of our country's history".

The First Nation is working with museum specialists and the coroner's office to establish the causes and timings of the deaths, which are not currently known.

-I'd like to point out that while Trudeau believes this is a relic of the nation's past, this is erasure language. Human rights violations against Indigenous peoples are still being carried out today. Many of us here have been made aware of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women human rights crisis and we cannot pretend that enough has been done to address any of these atrocities. MOO.

 

[Sillybilly]

As horrific as it is, there is fear that more graves could be found.

Chief Rosanne Casimir of the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation said that "more bodies may be found because there are more areas to search in the school grounds".

This is sickening and heartbreaking. I can't begin to imagine the trauma and grief of survivors. I know of someone who is a residential school survivor from the early 1950s, and to this day she can not discuss it. She was adopted by a non-native family who perpetuated the emotional and mental abuse by making her feel terrible about her blood, her ancestry, her "where she came from", her everything.

I hope they use ground penetrating radar at every site that ever existed in Canada as a residential school, and repatriate every single one of these dear children back to the communities of their ancestors.

 

[Tiff23fr]

This is heart breaking

Has there been any indication in media of the apx year(s) these burials occurred?

I found the video in this article very touching, sad and courageous. Wishing him and all families impacted continued strength, courage and peace.

1:35 mark:
“My reconciliation includes reconciling with that 5 year old boy and that nothing was his fault”

Canada mourns as remains of 215 children found at indigenous school

 

[Sillybilly]

This is horrific! Has there been any indication in media of the apx year(s) these burials occurred?

Haven't seen any reporting on that yet Tiff. Could be a wide range because the Kamloops school was established in 1890 and was in operation until 1969 when the Canadian government took it over.

Not specifically about the Kamloops location, but here's a Canadian encyclopedia link with some history.

 

[borndem]

They were much closer to prisons than schools. Kids were stolen from their families and transported to these schools where they were held involuntarily for years and subjected to beating, choking, mass rape, and nearly any other atrocity you can imagine. Nearly all indigenous men of their generation are deaf in at least one ear, because the punishment for speaking their mother tongue was a hard punch to the ear on the part of a priest. Imagine how many kids didn’t survive.

These schools' overt intent - literally - was to "beat the Indian out of the child".

Oh, my dear people, WHY??
Does every country in our world have atrocities to hide?

 

[Reasonable & Just]

Absolutely horrifying, and yes, I agree, @JMapes . It's not like it's over and done with. The mindset that made this permissible echoes through laws, institutional practices, and attitudes across generations.