We speak of mans inhumanity to man do we not; who is guilty and who shall bear the cross? do we call ourselves christians for naught I wonder or just for sundays best? - same issues with Hitler the Aryan - you wanna be lumped with him and the North Korean today against their own peoples ; the rich white of S Africa who thankfully have become less rich - but it does happen on the other side also where ever humans are found there we can find inhumanity - it's why some still want to preach the sermons of the Christ is it not?
Canadian government settles residential class action suit.
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PeppermintPatty
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More Evidence of Indigenous Childrenās Graves Is Found in Canada - The New York Times
This is about the Kamloops grave sites. It was written in 2023. Itās an update where penetrating radar was used to prove these bodies existed.
OTTAWA ā An Indigenous group in Canada announced on Wednesday that ground-penetrating radar had located what it said appeared to be the remains of Indigenous children on the grounds of a former school in northwestern Ontario, the latest in a series of similar reports that have been jolting Canada over the last two years.
Chief Chris Skead of the Anishinabe of Wauzhushk Onigum Nation said 171 āplausibleā graves of former pupils had been found at St. Maryās Indian Residential School in Kenora, Ontario. Five of the potential grave sites are marked.
āAs we grieve these findings, remember that we have survived,ā Chief Skead said in a video announcement of the preliminary finding to members of Wauzhushk Onigum Nation. āRemember that we are still here, and that has taken our Anishinabe strength, the strength of our ancestors.ā
Reports of such remains began in May 2021, when an Indigenous community in British Columbia announced that it had located what it said appeared to be 215 unmarked graves of former pupils at the now-closed Kamloops Indian Residential School in the province. The revelations have been seen as further proof of the brutality of a now-defunct system of education for Indigenous children that a national commission declared a form of ācultural genocide.ā
The educational system included about 130 largely church-run schools set up by the Canadian government in the 19th century, and lasted until the 1990s. It took Indigenous children from their communities, sometimes by force, and barred the use of their languages and cultural practices, sometimes violently. Thousands of students are believed to have died at the schools from disease, malnutrition, neglect, accidents, fires and violence.
Since 2021, researchers affiliated with Indigenous communities said they have used ground-penetrating radar to locate thousands of possible remains on or near former residential school grounds.
Last week, The Star Blanket Cree Nation in Saskatchewan said that a childās jawbone had been found on the site of a former residential school. Preliminary results from its ground-penetrating radar search also found many below-ground āanomalies,ā some of which may be grave sites, the First Nation said. It plans to drill core samples and test them for human DNA.
In July, Pope Francis traveled to Canada to apologize to Indigenous people for the role of the Catholic Church, which operated the majority of the schools for the government.
Chief Skead said in an interview that his communityās search, which is not complete, was prompted by the announcement of findings at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.
The findings in his community and others were more affirmation of the stories of former students than discoveries, he said.
He said the school operated when it āwasnāt a very safe time to be Anishinaabe, let alone a childā of the Anishinaabe.
The St. Maryās School was operated for the government by an order of the Catholic Church from 1897 until 1972. Canadaās National Center for Truth and Reconciliation lists 36 students as having died at the school. But lack of access to former school records, among other factors, means that the center believes that its account greatly understates the numbers of deaths at all schools.
Former students of the school guided anthropologists and ground-penetrating radar experts in the search. But Chief Skead said that the surviving former students believe there may be remains under land so densely overgrown that it defeats the radar system. The community plans to bring in dogs trained to locate human remains for those areas in the spring. It also is in negotiations with some private landowners to investigate their properties.
While students were sent to St. Maryās from a large number of Indigenous communities, Chief Skead said that the Wauzhushk Onigum Nation members have already decided that no remains will be exhumed. Other Indigenous communities that are conducting searches, which have been supported by the federal government and provinces, are still considering that question.
Ultimately, any land that is likely to have graves will be turned into a memorial site, Chief Skead said. In the interim, he said, the community is taking extra precautions to ensure that remains arenāt unearthed by any construction work.
āWe donāt want to rush anything,ā Chief Skead said. āWeāre really taking our time. Weāre being careful, weāre not afraid.ā
This is about the Kamloops grave sites. It was written in 2023. Itās an update where penetrating radar was used to prove these bodies existed.
OTTAWA ā An Indigenous group in Canada announced on Wednesday that ground-penetrating radar had located what it said appeared to be the remains of Indigenous children on the grounds of a former school in northwestern Ontario, the latest in a series of similar reports that have been jolting Canada over the last two years.
Chief Chris Skead of the Anishinabe of Wauzhushk Onigum Nation said 171 āplausibleā graves of former pupils had been found at St. Maryās Indian Residential School in Kenora, Ontario. Five of the potential grave sites are marked.
āAs we grieve these findings, remember that we have survived,ā Chief Skead said in a video announcement of the preliminary finding to members of Wauzhushk Onigum Nation. āRemember that we are still here, and that has taken our Anishinabe strength, the strength of our ancestors.ā
Reports of such remains began in May 2021, when an Indigenous community in British Columbia announced that it had located what it said appeared to be 215 unmarked graves of former pupils at the now-closed Kamloops Indian Residential School in the province. The revelations have been seen as further proof of the brutality of a now-defunct system of education for Indigenous children that a national commission declared a form of ācultural genocide.ā
The educational system included about 130 largely church-run schools set up by the Canadian government in the 19th century, and lasted until the 1990s. It took Indigenous children from their communities, sometimes by force, and barred the use of their languages and cultural practices, sometimes violently. Thousands of students are believed to have died at the schools from disease, malnutrition, neglect, accidents, fires and violence.
Since 2021, researchers affiliated with Indigenous communities said they have used ground-penetrating radar to locate thousands of possible remains on or near former residential school grounds.
Last week, The Star Blanket Cree Nation in Saskatchewan said that a childās jawbone had been found on the site of a former residential school. Preliminary results from its ground-penetrating radar search also found many below-ground āanomalies,ā some of which may be grave sites, the First Nation said. It plans to drill core samples and test them for human DNA.
In July, Pope Francis traveled to Canada to apologize to Indigenous people for the role of the Catholic Church, which operated the majority of the schools for the government.
Chief Skead said in an interview that his communityās search, which is not complete, was prompted by the announcement of findings at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.
The findings in his community and others were more affirmation of the stories of former students than discoveries, he said.
He said the school operated when it āwasnāt a very safe time to be Anishinaabe, let alone a childā of the Anishinaabe.
The St. Maryās School was operated for the government by an order of the Catholic Church from 1897 until 1972. Canadaās National Center for Truth and Reconciliation lists 36 students as having died at the school. But lack of access to former school records, among other factors, means that the center believes that its account greatly understates the numbers of deaths at all schools.
Former students of the school guided anthropologists and ground-penetrating radar experts in the search. But Chief Skead said that the surviving former students believe there may be remains under land so densely overgrown that it defeats the radar system. The community plans to bring in dogs trained to locate human remains for those areas in the spring. It also is in negotiations with some private landowners to investigate their properties.
While students were sent to St. Maryās from a large number of Indigenous communities, Chief Skead said that the Wauzhushk Onigum Nation members have already decided that no remains will be exhumed. Other Indigenous communities that are conducting searches, which have been supported by the federal government and provinces, are still considering that question.
Ultimately, any land that is likely to have graves will be turned into a memorial site, Chief Skead said. In the interim, he said, the community is taking extra precautions to ensure that remains arenāt unearthed by any construction work.
āWe donāt want to rush anything,ā Chief Skead said. āWeāre really taking our time. Weāre being careful, weāre not afraid.ā
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PeppermintPatty
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This was a residential class action suit, not a hand out. 
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Alligatorob
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You make some good points John, however I do think we need to know and teach what happened, what our history is, even if it was 100+ years ago. For the same reasons I think we need to remember our history of slavery in the US. Understanding what we are capable of makes repeating it less likely.
Awful, and things like this happened elsewhere. My grandmother taught English in the 20s through the 40s in Louisiana. They beat the Cajun kids for speaking French... Not trying to defend the practice at all, but those who did it thought they were doing the children right by forcing them to learn English. Today we know teaching them to be bilingual and value their native languages is best... but that wasn't understood then.
I don't know much about compensation in Canada, but if Canadians decide compensation is owed I can certainly understand taxing all to pay for it. Just like any other governmental liability.
Wow, $10,000 seems far too low. A token at best, but more likely an insult... Not expressing an opinion as to the rationality for compensation, I don't know the Canadian situation well enough to do that. However, if compensation is the right thing to do this seems wrong...
PeppermintPatty
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Yes @Alligatorob , Iām sure things happened like this everywhere in the world. The things that happened to children and adults are horrific. Speaking a different language should never be punishable but this was about the compensation given to these families for a huge mistake our government made needlessly. Iām not sure how much each child was worth but Iād think $10,000 was a huge slap in the face for them. The fact that we all have to pay for it is the way the government has always worked. All their mistakes we end up paying for. Im certainly not going to begrudge these people for it.
I didnāt realize that āIā shape looking out your window was one of those schools. That must be a bit haunting at times. There isnāt much we can do about it now but I hope we all do learn from it. Trying to strip other peoples culture away from them isnāt helping them. Iām not sure what should have been done but this is an unfortunate and very true part of our history. I donāt think observing mistakes made in the past should make anybody feel guilty. None of us were responsible for any of these historical events but I also donāt believe it should be belittled either. Itās unfortunate but it happened.
I didnāt realize that āIā shape looking out your window was one of those schools. That must be a bit haunting at times. There isnāt much we can do about it now but I hope we all do learn from it. Trying to strip other peoples culture away from them isnāt helping them. Iām not sure what should have been done but this is an unfortunate and very true part of our history. I donāt think observing mistakes made in the past should make anybody feel guilty. None of us were responsible for any of these historical events but I also donāt believe it should be belittled either. Itās unfortunate but it happened.
Alligatorob
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No, in fact I believe it should be encouraged, maybe even required. And good science backs that up: The cognitive benefits of being multilingual https://www.brainscape.com/academy/benefits-of-being-multilingual/. Being multilingual has demonstrated benefits, including reducing the risk of Alzheimer's. I wish I had been educated multilingually, I speak only a very little Spanish...
I know the Louisiana situation better than the Native American one. As a result of oppressive anti-French policies the Louisiana French language is mostly lost, there are still a few native speakers in the state, but very few. Most often today you only hear French in the music. I knew a few older people who spoke French as a first language, but no one alive today. Beginning in the 70s there were efforts to revive French speaking, some teachers were even brought in from Canada. It's had limited effects. I suspect most native American languages are long lost, but here in Utah (and nearby states) there are still native Navaho speakers, that is the only one I know of.
It does serve as a reminder. However it would not still be visible without the efforts of some of the school's alumni. I think that shows not all have bad memories, or I'd like to think that is true. The school near my house did not open until the 1940s and closed in 1984, probably later than the time of the worst abuses. It was one of the larger ones, over 2,000 students at it's peak. Predominately Navaho, but many different tribes were there, Wikipedia says over 100.
I got to know a few of the students through athletic events, they competed against the local high schools. One thing I shared with many of them was being non-Mormon, a rarity at the time (and still) in this part of Utah. I knew two boys who graduated same time as I and went to Utah State University when I did, but lost track of them after a few years. None of those I knew complained of abuse, but they did miss their families. I am sure they would have been better off living and going to school nearer home. All I knew spoke fluent Navaho, and at the time I was there Navaho was spoken quite freely on campus. They spoke English well also, with only a minor accent.
PeppermintPatty
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Changed my mind
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Packerjohn
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We all could learn from our histories. Sweeping it under the carpet doesn't do anything except gives us another chance to make the same mistakes. So whether the event is the treatment of aboriginals, the killing of Jews, the expulsion of Acadians or stealing Mexican territories, pretending it never happened just doesn't make sense. Nor does it make sense toppling statues of people we don't like.
Apparently, some early American Presidents were slave owners. Canada's 1st Prime Minister, John A. Macdonald loved his drink. Pretending it "ain't" so, doesn't change the fact. So, it's time to take the binders off the eyes and call an "ace an ace."
Apparently, some early American Presidents were slave owners. Canada's 1st Prime Minister, John A. Macdonald loved his drink. Pretending it "ain't" so, doesn't change the fact. So, it's time to take the binders off the eyes and call an "ace an ace."
Alligatorob
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Yep, 12 of the first 18, including Ulysses Grant (and his wife). More than half when slavery was legal...
List of presidents of the United States who owned slaves https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_United_States_who_owned_slaves
Not something to be proud of, but not something to forget either.
If I had lived in the antebellum times I probably would have owned slaves. The same is likely true for other members. Would like to think I'd have been the exception and seen the evil of it, but I know that's not realistic. Some of us probably would have been those slaves too.
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