Support is available for anyone affected by their experience at residential schools and those who are triggered by the latest reports. A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for former students and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.
Support is available for anyone affected by their experience at residential schools and those who are triggered by the latest reports. A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for former students and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419. Lost children | CBC News https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/lon...VIT6YqGi5-LEXmjY7yRTwEW2ZI4P_0kUM48V2A1Rw-ZCA Lost children The threat of death was part of life at the Kamloops Indian Residential School. So why is it so hard to determine how many children died there? By Jorge Barrera June 13, 2021 WARNING: This story contains details some readers may find distressing. During a 1937 outbreak of measles at the Kamloops residential school, a nurse gave student Mary Francois some Aspirin, mustard plasters and brandy after the girl fell ill on May 3. On May 10, Mary was taken by car to the nearby Royal Inland Hospital. She had been sick with pneumonia, two bacterial ear infections and inflamed kidneys. That day, the school principal sent a letter to her parents — but they never received it. The local Indian agent phoned them on the morning of May 13. But when the parents arrived at the hospital that evening, it was too late. Mary was dead from a blood clot in her brain. Afterward, Mary's father, the chief of the Adams Lake Band, which sits about 60 kilometres to the east, wrote a letter to the Indian agent. "I would request... when a child of the school is taken sick and requires hospital attention, that the parents or guardian be notified at once." "In connection with the death of my daughter Mary, while attending Kamloops Indian Residential School," read the letter from Chief Francois, "I would request, as Chief of the Adams Lake Band, that in future, when a child of the school is taken sick and requires hospital attention, that the parents or guardian be notified at once." The typewritten letter is signed with an "X." The information about Mary Francois's case is found in a death memorandum from the Indian Affairs department (which does not, in fact, note her age). Mary's record now lies in the holdings of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation alongside 10 other death memorandums from 1935 to 1945, in a folder titled "Kamloops Residential School, Pupil Deaths." The folder is twice stamped with the word "dormant." An image of Mary Francois's death record, kept by the Indian Affairs department. (National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation) These memorandums are a reminder that the threat of death was part of life at the Kamloops Indian Residential School. The institution has become a household word since Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation announced the discovery of what are believed to be the unmarked burial sites of children's remains adjacent to the former school's grounds. The death of students at Kamloops residential school was no secret among the First Nations whose children were forced to go there. Finding out how they died is a challenge, but the evidence that does exist reveals a record characterized by the indifference of authorities, who saw the children as a means to an end that had little to do with their well-being. CBC News obtained historical records as well as an out-of-print book that, along with the oral history of survivors, sheds light on the lives and suffering of the students who attended the school. An undated photo of the Kamloops residential school. (National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation) Many causes of death Survivor testimony and historical records reveal how children died at the institution throughout the years. Many fell to diseases like tuberculosis and measles. Others drowned in the Thompson River, which flowed nearby. Some, fleeing school, tried to hop trains and died. Others died of suicide. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, the repository of residential school records gathered by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, found evidence for 51 fatalities at the institution. There are likely more. The federal government purged three volumes of funeral records from Kamloops residential school, according to listings of destroyed files held by the National Archives of Canada. The Indian Affairs department also destroyed three volumes of Indian agent reports, along with quarterly "returns" for 1956 to 1961 — student lists that would include deaths. The memories of survivors fill in some of the gaps left by the reports. Barbara McNab-Larson, who attended the school from 1948 to 1950, often goes down to a creek near her house in Skeetchestn First Nation. It's a place teeming with life and scents that bring her back to the place before her childhood was shattered. "That was probably the safest time in my life," said McNab-Larson. Barbara McNab-Larson walks along a creek near Skeetchestn First Nation in B.C. where she went as a child before being sent to Kamloops residential school. (CBC News) When she was five, a cattle truck came to take her to Kamloops residential school. "The first thing they did was take us down to the cleansing room, where they cut off our hair," she said. "Then, they deloused us. Then, they scrubbed us down with disinfectant like we were diseased animals." McNab-Larson returned home for the summer, but the next year, she said the school came to get her in an army truck. WATCH | Barbara McNab-Larson talks about her time at the Kamloops residential school: Watch Remembering life in the Kamloops residential school 15 days ago 0:43 Not all were so lucky — to live and remember. Seven years before McNab entered the doors of Kamloops residential school, a student named Florence Morgan became sick there. Her death memo notes that it was at 6:30 a.m. on June 26, 1941; by 6:50 a.m., she was taken to the Royal Inland Hospital. Florence died on June 28 from the viral infection encephalitis, the memo says. The Indian agent reported that her body was returned by truck to her parents on the Bonaparte First Nation, which sits 90 kilometres to the east of the school. The viral infection that killed Florence was a common after-effect of contracting measles. Outbreaks of measles coursed through the school during this era. One of these outbreaks sickened nine-year-old Leslie Lewis. On Sept. 22, 1935, while Leslie was recovering, he suffered an epileptic attack. The nurse at the school gave him three grams of luminal, an anti-seizure medication. Leslie was put in a car and sent to the hospital at 9 a.m. the next day. The doctor reported that Leslie seemed fine that morning, but the next day he was dead, his memo says. The doctor reported that the measles infection likely triggered the seizure. An image of Leslie Lewis's death memo. (National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation) The Indian agent concluded the memo by commenting on the overcrowded conditions at Kamloops residential school, where five dormitories accommodated 285 students. "During an epidemic it is impossible to properly isolate the patients and contacts," typed the Indian agent. "The need for separate quarters to house sick children is evident." 'They still get nightmares about it' It wasn't just disease. Some students were also driven to suicide. "This … young boy hung himself in the bathroom. You know, my brother's age group," said Gerry Oleman, who attended Kamloops residential school from about 1960 to 1968, in a recent interview with CBC. Oleman, who is from St'át'imc First Nation in B.C.'s Interior but now lives in Brandon, Man., said the students who witnessed it still can't shake the moment. "Still today they remember that. They still get nightmares about it," he said. Oleman also mentioned other distraught students: "the runaways and people jumping trains, getting killed jumping a train, you know, freezing to death." WATCH | Gerry Oleman explains how memories of the Kamloops school still haunt him: Watch Kamloops residential school survivor on 'that homesick feeling' 15 days ago 0:47 Suicide also haunts the stories of survivors gathered in the book Behind Closed Doors: Stories from the Kamloops Indian Residential School, which was published by the Secwepemc Cultural Society in 2001. James Charles, who attended from 1964 to 1978 and is featured in the book, knew of three boys who died of suicide. "One suicide was over on the swings beside the brown building," Charles says in Behind Closed Doors. "No one could figure out how that really took place, because it happened in broad daylight, blue sky out, sun was shining." Charles said there was another child who died on the bell rope and a third found in the orchard. "I think remembering these suicides played a big role in a lot of my anger that I had bottled up inside," Charles says. According to the book, some of the children who died attempting to escape on a nearby train came from the Lillooet district, about 170 km west of the school. One anecdote in the book, told by a survivor who signed their story "Anonymous," said their older sister Nellie died at the school. She was sick for months with hepatitis and yellow jaundice. No doctor came to treat her and no one told her parents of her illness until after her death. "When my father came to the school after hearing of the sad news, he beat the principal and punched him down the stairs," says the survivor in the book. "As much as I want the memories of my education years to be positive, it just can't be." A photo from April 4, 1937, of students, administration and teaching staff at Kamloops residential school. The photo is from the Quebec archives of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. (National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation) Another survivor in the book, Eddy Jules, spoke of abortions and a furnace. "All of us that were going to school would hear the clang, and we would say, 'Oh, that's so and so's friend, and they gave her an abortion,'" said Jules, noting the strangeness of "fire in September or October or November when it's not cold." Retired senator Murray Sinclair, who chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, said in a recent video statement that he also heard testimony from survivors about this use for a furnace in residential schools. "Some survivors talked about infants who were born to young girls at the residential schools, infants who had been fathered by priests, were taken away from them and deliberately killed — sometimes thrown into furnaces, we were told," said Sinclair. 'We mourned these children' Despite all this evidence of death at the school, no record has yet surfaced of a graveyard at the institution — no shred of paper, cross or stone marks conveying who might lie beneath the earth. Sister Marie Zarowny, chair of the board for the Order of St. Anne's, which provided teachers and nurses to the school, told CBC News a fire destroyed the first 30 years of records from the institution. She said that to her knowledge, no students were ever buried on the school grounds. She said that if a child died at the Royal Inland Hospital, the body would not be returned to the school. If a student did die at the school, the body would be sent back to their home community for burial. "We mourned these children at the school. We had a ceremony for them, but they were ... returned to their parents," said Zarowny. She said that students from Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc who died at the school were buried in the community's cemetery. There are hints of another, now-forgotten graveyard in the records, she said, but couldn't confirm any aspect of this. "I actually don't know if that reference comes from that school or from another school," she said. As a result of destroyed records, the true number of students who died at residential school may never be known. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was created to delve into the long history of the schools, concluded that at least 4,100 children died in these institutions. The Catholic Church has faced widespread calls to release all records related to residentials schools. The same uncertainty shadows the location of graveyards. Many children were buried in unmarked graves, some of which are now lost to time. One institution that holds large pieces of this history in its archives is the Catholic Church. Catholic entities ran roughly 75 per cent of residential schools. The church has faced widespread calls, from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on down, to release all records related to residential schools, to augment the incomplete government record. Zarowny said her order is sharing any relevant records with Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc that could help aid in the quest to identify the suspected remains on the Kamloops residential school grounds. She said the Sisters of St. Anne's turned over what they viewed as records related to residential schools to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). A photo from 1931, taken at the Kamloops residential school. (National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation) But the order has yet to sign off on the transfer of its records to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, said Stephanie Scott, executive director of the institute. "The [Sisters of St. Anne's] remain unwilling to authorize disclosure of [its] records currently in the possession of the government of Canada," said Scott, in a statement to CBC News. Several Catholic entities never turned over any records to the TRC. According to an internal TRC document obtained by CBC News, 17 Catholic entities failed to hand over any archival material to the commission. "There are a lot of records in church archives that we never got to go through," Tom McMahon, the former general counsel for the TRC, told CBC. McMahon said the Catholic entities that did provide files made their own determinations about what was deemed to be a "relevant" document to hand over. The Oblates of Mary Immaculata, which ran Kamloops residential school, turned over what it deemed to be relevant records to the TRC, according to the internal TRC document. McMahon said the Catholic entities that did provide files made their own determinations about what was deemed to be a "relevant" document. He said the Catholic entities held onto records connected to church functions and personnel files. "When you start talking about personnel records, they did not see that as relevant to the children and education of the children," said McMahon. "When we talk about deaths of children, you want to think about the church records, the baptism records, death records held by the church. The church told us those records pertain to church activities and were not relevant." McMahon said one of the potentially richest sources of survivor testimony is held by the federal Justice Department in documents relating to roughly 4,000 civil actions filed by survivors against Canada and the various churches that ran residential schools. He said most of those files were never turned over to the TRC. An undated photo inside a classroom at Kamloops residential school. (National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation) Survivors and descendants have long spoken about unmarked graves and children who never came home. Their calls made it to the House of Commons in 2007 and then-Indian Affairs minister Jim Prentice, who asked the interim executive director of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to begin working on the issue. According to a 2008 memo obtained by CBC News, the TRC asked the research branch of Indian Residential Schools Resolutions Canada, a federal agency created to deal with a multitude of civil claims filed by survivors, to conduct an internal records search for cemeteries. Numerous schools came back with no records of cemeteries, including Kamloops residential school, according to a preliminary report. The folder containing the student death records from Kamloops residential school from 1935 to 1945. (National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation) But those who went to the institution knew differently. They heard children were buried in an apple orchard. "We would go down by the apple orchard there to steal apples because we're hungry, and I figured that's probably where [the burial site] is," said Gerry Oleman. "That's the only place I can think of. That's where they are. You know, when you're a child ... you hear things." Children held 'hostage' to quell unrest The shock that reverberated across this country following news of possible children's remains in Kamloops was accompanied by questions about how there could be no record of these suspected deaths. John Milloy, one of the country's leading historians and author of A National Crime, perhaps the seminal book on residential schools, said that may be because Indian Affairs never prioritized residential school files. When government edicts forced the department to destroy records through recycling — for example, as a result of a paper shortage during the Second World War — such files were seen as expendable. "An awful lot of information which one could have had, to describe the nature of the system, the treatment of the children… a lot of that information was simply lost," said Milloy, who was involved with the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Male students at Kamloops residential school in 1944. (National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation) Milloy said the Indian Affairs department, which is now known as Indigenous and Northern Affairs, is really a large real estate company, holding in trust reserve lands across the country. It also determines who has the right to live on this property, holding registries with status records and band membership lists. "So those are the records which are most critical to the department," said Milloy. "One of the purposes of the schools was to hold the children hostage against the good behaviour of their parents." He also said that the Canadian public has not properly understood the rationale for the evolution of a residential school system under the country's first prime minister, John A. Macdonald. The schools were a means of nation-building and achieving state-security ends, he said. "It becomes pretty obvious that, as far as Macdonald and other senior members of the Indian Affairs department [were concerned]… one of the purposes of the schools was to hold the children hostage against the good behaviour of their parents," said Milloy. He said the officials used children as bargaining chips to counter any attempts by Indigenous nations from raising arms against the still-fledgling state. John Milloy, one of the country's leading historians and author of A National Crime, considered one of the seminal books on residential schools. (CBC News) Milloy provided CBC News with a pre-print academic paper he wrote that details the strategy. The draft title is "Sir John A.'s Hostages." It states that government and North-West Mounted Police officials were increasingly concerned about a breakout in hostilities between the state and armed Indigenous nations such as the Blackfoot in the Prairies, just as Canada was building a railway to deliver goods and people — as well as establish control over territory. The use of the schools to neutralize Indigenous resistance was put bluntly by school inspector J. A. Mcrea in a 1886 letter to the Indian commissioner: "It is unlikely that any Tribe or tribes would give trouble of a serious nature to the Government whose members had children completely under Government control." At the time, Canada wanted to avoid a repeat of the wars in the U.S. and feared any new conflicts would eclipse the violence from the rebellion led by Louis Riel in 1885, Milloy's research showed. A 1879 report by Nicolas Flood Davin, which recommended the creation of residential schools, followed a fact-finding mission to explore how the Americans used similar institutions, the paper said. "Davin would have discovered this covert purpose for residential schools in his conversations with Carl Schurtz, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, and Ezra Hayt, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs," said the paper. "Certainly, for the Department, the resolution of the 'Indian problem,' characterized so often as carrying the white man's burden of Christian duty was, in fact, countering the perceived threat to state security and social purity." Milloy said that "this is one of the reasons why the Kamloops school is developed in the 1890s, because the situation in the area is tenuous for the government … The schools are also very much part of the colonial process … for the sake of the development of Canada." An undated photo of students in a classroom at Kamloops residential school. (National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation) The schools used fear and violence — and fear of violence — to bend generations of children under the cross and flag. Much remains hidden from the record about the fate of thousands of children who attended these institutions, but this history is carried by those who came home. "'You better behave. Don't get out of line, because there's a graveyard and there's also the river.' Those were warnings that were given to us as little, tiny children — five, six years old," said Barbara McNab-Larson of her time at the Kamloops school. "I don't think you really grasp it at the time, but when your friends disappear and they don't come back, even as a child, you know something's wrong." Support is available for anyone affected by their experience at residential schools and those who are triggered by the latest reports. A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for former students and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419. Lost children | CBC News https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/lon...VIT6YqGi5-LEXmjY7yRTwEW2ZI4P_0kUM48V2A1Rw-ZCA
Support is available for anyone affected by their experience at residential schools and those who are triggered by the latest reports. A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for former students and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.
Peter Kear February 3, 2018 · The grave of Dr. Peter Henderson Bryce, located in a forgotten corner of Ottawa's Beechwood National Cemetery. From 1904 until 1921 as a federal medical officer, Dr. Bryce documented the appalling health conditions in the federal residential schools. In the spring of 1907, he toured 35 residential schools in Western Canada and discovered the First Nations students were basically being warehoused in overcrowded dormitories that lacked ventilation, inadequate heating, poor nutrition, limited health care, all resulting in a staggering death rate among the students. In his report, he stated: “It suffices for us to know … that a total of 1,537 pupils reported upon, nearly 25% are dead … of one school with an absolutely accurate statement, 69% of ex-pupils are dead are dead, and that everywhere the almost invariable cause of death given is tuberculosis.” He blamed both the churches and the government for the avoidable deaths. His 1907 report was suppressed by the Liberal government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier! In 1913 , Dr. Bryce’s research funding was cut and was denied sharing his findings at international public health conferences by the Conservative government of Sir Robert Borden. Denied promotions for which he was supremely qualified, he was forced into retirement in 1920, but the story doesn’t end thereeter Kear February 3, 2018 · The grave of Dr. Peter Henderson Bryce, located in a forgotten corner of Ottawa's Beechwood National Cemetery. From 1904 until 1921 as a federal medical officer, Dr. Bryce documented the appalling health conditions in the federal residential schools. In the spring of 1907, he toured 35 residential schools in Western Canada and discovered the First Nations students were basically being warehoused in overcrowded dormitories that lacked ventilation, inadequate heating, poor nutrition, limited health care, all resulting in a staggering death rate among the students. In his report, he stated: “It suffices for us to know … that a total of 1,537 pupils reported upon, nearly 25% are dead … of one school with an absolutely accurate statement, 69% of ex-pupils are dead are dead, and that everywhere the almost invariable cause of death given is tuberculosis.” He blamed both the churches and the government for the avoidable deaths. His 1907 report was suppressed by the Liberal government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier! In 1913 , Dr. Bryce’s research funding was cut and was denied sharing his findings at international public health conferences by the Conservative government of Sir Robert Borden. Denied promotions for which he was supremely qualified, he was forced into retirement in 1920, but the story doesn’t end there! Peter Kear February 3, 2018
This doctor tried to raise alarms about residential schools 100 years ago but was ignored (ctvnews.ca) https://beta.ctvnews.ca/national/ca...RQslxUphG9gg8fyNIvzY8G4LYnaxwtOHZ9XzxBZtqdehU CANADA News This doctor tried to raise alarms about residential schools 100 years ago but was ignored Published June 9, 2021 1:22 p.m. ET By Jeremiah Rodriguez CTVNews.ca Writer Share this story: SASKATOON -- More than 100 years ago, a Canadian doctor tried to sound the alarm on residential schools but historians say he was silenced by government officials. Indigenous advocates working to reclaim his legacy now say a great deal can be learned from his example. In the early part of the 20th century, medical health officer Dr. Peter H. Bryce repeatedly warned his superiors at the Department of Indian Affairs of the rampant spread of tuberculosis killing Indigenous children in residential schools. He spent months examining dozens of schools in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta and found unsanitary conditions, poor health practices, buildings that were prone to fires, and a lack of ventilation. In a damning report to the government in 1907, initially hidden from the public by his bosses, he wrote “it’s almost as if the prime conditions of the outbreak of epidemics had been deliberately created.” View the interactive content on CTVNews.ca John Milloy, historian and Trent University professor, said it was one of the first attempts to flag the “dreadful health conditions” of the schools to the broader Canadian public. “He made the mistake of illustrating that pretty effectively,” Milloy, author of “A National Crime,” told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview. His book title refers to the words Bryce himself used in a 1922 public exposé, after his pleas for reform were ignored for years. Milloy characterized Bryce as a whistleblower when the department shunned his findings. Milloy said that Bryce was subsequently blocked from speaking at academic conferences; and that for the rest of his life, he was “hounded” and disparaged by his boss, deputy superintendent Duncan Campbell Scott, whose department ran the schools. In the wake of the horrific discovery of the unmarked graves of 215 children at a residential school in Kamloops, B.C., Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, tweeted about Bryce’s efforts decades ago. “He fought to save these children’s lives,” Blackstock, a member of the Gitxsan First Nation, told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview. “Had he been listened to, I think it's fair to say thousands of children's lives could have been saved.” “He was just an example of moral courage. He was willing to stand up for his professional values.. and for his moral values, no matter what the price for him personally,” Blackstock said. She has “great admiration for him” and, last year, even wrote an article for the Canadian Medical Association Journal about the need to reclaim his legacy and learn from it now. HOW GOV'T SILENCED BRYCE Bryce, a non-Indigenous doctor, was not only a founding member of the Canadian Public Health Association but had served as the president of the American Public Health Association. And in 1884, he even drafted the country’s first provincial public health act, which went on to be used as a model in some U.S. states, Milloy said. But a pivotal moment in his career came in 1904, when the government asked him to be the chief medical health officer of the Department of Indian Affairs. According to statistics at the time, Indigenous people were dying from tuberculosis (TB) at a rate 20 times higher than that of non-Indigenous Canadians. So Bryce was tasked with investigating the health conditions and deaths in residential schools and on reserves. In 1907, Bryce released a critical report stating that, based on records he surveyed, up to a quarter of the 1,537 pupils across Canada’s residential schools were dead because of TB. In one example, he found 69 per cent of former students died after they left one school. His reports and calls for reforms such as better ventilation systems, fixing structural problems in the buildings, improved diet, and having specialized nurses trained to treat TB, were largely ignored. Duncan Campbell Scott Photo of Department of Indian Affairs' deputy superintendent Duncan Campbell Scott. (Photo by Yousuf Karsh, courtesy of the Library and Archives of Canada) His boss Scott and others felt the reforms would have been too expensive, Milloy said. This would be the case with all Bryce’s subsequent reports. Scott’s stance on the need for residential schools was well-known. He famously told a Canadian Senate hearing: “our object is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic, and there is no Indian question, and no Indian department.” The department never published Bryce’s 1907 findings publicly but they were leaked to the press, Milloy explained. That year, newspapers ran editorials on them, with The Evening Citizen -- a precursor to The Ottawa Citizen -- even running a front-page story about Bryce’s findings. “It was very annoying to the department to say the least, because it showed the public what a scandal it was,” Milloy said. “The death rate was, in many schools, larger than it had been for Canadian soldiers in the First World War.” 'HOUNDED' FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE Although the reaction to the report was mixed, with Catholic church officials responding defensively, Milloy said it sparked a personal vendetta by Bryce’s boss at the Department of Indian Affairs. “He was hounded by Duncan Campbell Scott for the rest of his life -- for the rest of his career,” Milloy said. He said Scott stopped Bryce from speaking publicly, blocked his nomination to lead the then-new Department of Health, and eventually cut funding for his work, pushing him out of public service. One of Bryce’s last attempts to make change came in 1922, when he published a short book entitled “The Story of a National Crime: An Appeal for Justice to the Indians of Canada.” It laid out just how much the government was at fault for the TB deaths and it included correspondence showing how Scott and the department had hamstrung Bryce’s decade-long efforts. Bryce died 10 years later, with residential schools in Canada not closing until 1996. LEGACY BEING RESTORED Cindy Blackstock Bryce was buried in Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa, the same place as Scott. Several years ago, Blackstock first became aware of the story of Bryce and Scott through Milloy’s book and that inspired her to begin to restore Bryce’s legacy. Up until 2015, Scott had a glowing plaque referring to him as "one of the outstanding figures in Canadian poetry.” But Blackstock said it made no mention of how his inactions helped to prolong residential schools as an institution. So, with the full support of cemetery staff and approval of the Bryce family, Blackstock worked with the former commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Murray Sinclair, Milloy and others to replace the plaque with more balanced wording, including adding the phrases “cultural genocide" and "Confederate poet." Dr. Peter H. Bryce She’s since become close with Bryce’s descendants, and that same year, Blackstock helped erect a historical plaque at the cemetery for Byrce that celebrates the work he tried to accomplish. Blackstock has become something of a caretaker of Bryce’s grave and even built a small garden at the site. “I go there probably once a month at least. We always refresh the flowers and it’s been so wonderful to see so many people come to visit.” Although some of the research that went into writing Bryce’s plaque is included in the B.C. elementary school curriculum, Blackstock wishes Bryce could’ve had a larger impact on changing and ending the practice of residential schools and the way Indigenous people are treated in Canada. She believes much of the school’s legacy remains across many facets of society, including the disproportionate representation of Indigenous children in the foster-care system. “Courage is not a value, it's an activator of value,” she said when thinking of Bryce. And when it comes to undoing all the unjust legacies of residential schools today, she urges people in government or in the health field to learn from Bryce’s stand. RELATED IMAGES Portrait of Peter H. Bryce taken in 1890 by Lancefields of Ottawa and his grave site in Ottawa. (Public domain, courtesy of Bryce family and Cindy Blackstock) Advertisement Read the original version Use of this Website assumes acceptance of Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy ©2020 All rights reserved. This doctor tried to raise alarms about residential schools 100 years ago but was ignored (ctvnews.ca) https://beta.ctvnews.ca/national/ca...RQslxUphG9gg8fyNIvzY8G4LYnaxwtOHZ9XzxBZtqdehU
An excellent education resource on the residential school system in Canada … ECE.GOV.NT.CA www.ece.gov.nt.ca
Leesa Van Peteghen says" According to Evan Solomon ("Power Play", CTV National news, 27 June 2021), the Canadian government spent over 1.5 million dollars finding the names and locations of alleged perpetrators of the Residential School abuses/murders. Over a dozen private investigators reported back with names of thousands of *LIVING abusers.* The investigation goes back to 2005! Link to the original report below - 2016. The list was given to the federal government in 2016. WHERE'S THE LIST?! WHERE ARE THE ARRESTS?! Shelley TSivia Rabinovitch Idle No More - OFFICIAL Shelley TSivia Rabinovitch says: According to Evan Solomon ("Power Play", CTV National News, 27 June 2021), the Canadian government spent over 1.5 million dollars finding the names and locations of alleged perpetrators of the Residential School abuses/murders. Over a dozen private investigators reported back with names of over FIVE THOUSAND alleged *LIVING abusers.* The investigation goes back to 2005! Link to the original report below - 2016. The list was given to the federal government in 2016. WHERE'S THE LIST?! WHERE ARE THE ARRESTS?! Why do I keep posting these historical news articles regarding the Genocide perpetrated against Indigenous peoples by the Canadian government and the churches? BECAUSE I HOLD THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DIRECTLY ACCOUNTABLE FOR ACKNOWLEDGING THIS AS INTENTIONAL GENOCIDE, AND STARTING THE PROCESS OF UNRAVELING WHAT HAS *NOT BEEN HIDDEN*. IT HAS BEEN *IGNORED*. CBC.CA 5,300 accused of abuse at Canada's Indian residential schools located by Ottawa | CBC News Investigators hired by the federal government Indian residential schools: 5,300 alleged abusers located by Ottawa | CBC News https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/...yY-Yk17rn9EPUBzkNtyGB1Nw247aLeJwmcyDjTrE55FnM
Indian residential schools: 5,300 alleged abusers located by Ottawa | CBC News https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/...yY-Yk17rn9EPUBzkNtyGB1Nw247aLeJwmcyDjTrE55FnM Indigenous Indian residential schools: 5,300 alleged abusers located by Ottawa Social Sharing Facebook Twitter Email Reddit LinkedIn 17 private investigation firms contracted by government, at a cost of over $1.5M, to help settle abuse claims Martha Troian · for CBC News · Posted: Feb 02, 2016 6:00 AM ET | Last Updated: February 2, 2016 The federal government has located thousands of people accused of physically and sexually abusing students at Canada's Indian residential schools. (Edmund Metatawabin collection/Algoma University) Investigators hired by the federal government have located thousands of people accused of physically and sexually abusing students at Canada's Indian residential schools — though they may never face criminal charges. As part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement agreement, the government located 5,315 alleged abusers, both former employees and students. Seventeen private investigation firms were contracted, at a cost of $1,576,380, beginning in 2005, according to information provided by Indigenous and North Affairs Canada (INAC). The alleged perpetrators, however, weren't tracked down to face criminal charges — it was to see if they would be willing to participate in hearings to determine compensation for residential school survivors. The Independent Assessment Process (IAP), not involving the courts, was set up to resolve the most severe abuse claims. "There's not a lot in it for them to come forward," says Bill Percy, a Manitoba-based lawyer who has represented numerous residential school survivors. That's because participation in the IAP hearings is optional. Based on the total number of people found, so far, 4,450 have declined to participate in the IAP, with only 840 persons of interest indicating a willingness to participate. 'There was 1 that groomed me' One of the people who went through the IAP process is Janet Longclaws, who attended the Brandon Indian Residential School in Brandon, Man., from age seven until she was 12 years old. "There was a group of four girls that were bullies, and there was one that groomed me," said Longclaws. "She became my protector, but at the same time it turned into her being the abuser next." Janet Longclaws attended the Brandon Indian Residential School in Manitoba from the age of seven until she was 12 years old. (Supplied) Now age 60, Longclaws suffers from nightmares and anxiety, especially in late August — a time that would have marked the beginning of a new school year. Still, despite the nightmares and flashbacks of the physical and sexual abuse she endured, Longclaws cannot remember the names of her tormentors. "I just see silhouettes of girls," she said. "I've tried many times, many ways, to recall their names." Even though she can't remember names, Longclaws eventually received a settlement for the abuse she suffered — though she waited 15 months for a decision. Working as a health support worker for other residential school survivors, Longclaws said she has heard of others who have waited more than two years to hear whether they'll be compensated. She said she wishes she had the opportunity to face her alleged abusers in a hearing. According to the Indian Residential School Secretariat, 33,712 residential school survivors so far have been compensated for sexual and physical abuse, with 4,278 applications in progress. No information released to law enforcement Only 708 alleged abusers — who are among the more than 5,300 located by investigators — have taken part in hearings since last November, with another 22 hearings scheduled. "I think some of them … could be fearful there might be further repercussions, even criminal charges," said Percy. Percy also said many of these alleged perpetrators may have died, aged, or are living with some kind of medical condition, making it difficult for them to participate in an IAP hearing. The identity and names of alleged perpetrators who want to participate in the IAP are kept on a secure server with other data related to IAP claims. They are not disclosed to anyone, other than the adjudicator in each specific claim, and to the Department of Indigenous Affairs. Information would only be released if the adjudication secretariat is served with a search warrant, or if it's believed a child could be at risk. An alleged abuser is entitled to be notified of the claimant's name and the allegations made by the claimant in the IAP application, but that person will not be given the claimant's location, contact information, or any of the claimant's personal information or records. Few criminal charges Percy says there is more former students can do, if they choose. "There's nothing to stop the individual survivor to go to the police, even though they told their story through this process," he said. Few, it seems, ever have. Through the history of residential schools — which lasted over a century, with tens of thousands having suffered abuse — fewer than 50 people have been convicted for crimes related to the schools. In the case of St. Anne's Residential School, once located in Fort Albany, Ont., six school officials were criminally convicted following a five-year OPP investigation into the school during the 1990s. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Martha Troian Originally from Obishikokaang (Lac Seul First Nation) located in northwestern Ontario, Martha Troian is an investigative journalist who frequently contributes to CBC News, including work on the multiple award-winning and ongoing Missing & Murdered: The Unsolved Cases of Indigenous Women and Girls. Follow her @ozhibiiige Indian residential schools: 5,300 alleged abusers located by Ottawa | CBC News https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/...yY-Yk17rn9EPUBzkNtyGB1Nw247aLeJwmcyDjTrE55FnM
