Honouring the 215 Residential School Children

By: Amanda Bernard

 

The news of 215 children's remains discovered at the former Kamloops residential school in British Columbia has seeped through the country recently and has shocked many Canadians. I wish I could say I was just as surprised, but I wasn’t. I have always been aware of the horrible things that took place at these residential schools, as so many survivors have spoken out. Unfortunately many Canadians did not take it seriously and the Government of Canada has tried for so long to hide or brush off what was done at these schools.

The explicit intent of residential schools was to separate the children from their families and cultures, in an effort to “kill the Indian in the child”. In 1920, the Indian Act made attendance at a Indian residential school mandatory for Treaty-status children between the ages of 7 and 15. The schools were often underfunded and overcrowded. The children were severely mistreated, degraded and abused. In fact, those who went and fought in World War II had a better chance of surviving than the students who attended residential schools.

The dark history of residential schools is very recent. Many residential school survivors are alive today, some are speaking about the trauma they faced. In fact, the last residential school closed in 1996.

What I hope to come out of this story, is for people across the country to realize how Indigenous people today are still impacted by the negative effects of residential schools. It’s not surprising that Indigenous people are overrepresented in prisons or child welfare facilities, when their mother, father, aunts and uncles were the ones that had to attend these systematically oppressed schools.

As well, Indigenous people continue to fight today for their rights and what was taken away from them. For example, just last year white fishermen were setting fire to Mi’kmaw fishing boats and lobster pounds and poisoning their catches.

I ask that everyone learn about whose land you live on, read the Truth and Reconciliation report and enlighten yourself about Indigeonus culture and traditions. I ask that the government take ownership and continue to provide Indigenous people with the support they deserve.

For those who are interested, please find some organizations below that settlers can donate to if they would like to support:

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