‘Unthinkable loss’: Remains of 215 children found at Indigenous boarding school in Canada
The remains of 215 children have been discovered on the grounds of a former boarding school set up more than a century ago to assimilate Canada’s Indigenous peoples, according to a local tribe.
A specialist used ground-penetrating radar to confirm the students remains who attended the school near Kamloops, British Columbia, the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc tribe said in a statement late Thursday.
“Some were as young as three years old,” said Chief Rosanne Casimir, calling it “an unthinkable loss that was spoken about but never documented” by school administrators.
She said that its preliminary findings are expected to be released in a report next month.
In the meantime, the tribe is working with the coroner and museums to shed further light on the horrific discovery and find any records of these deaths.
It also reaches out to the student’s home communities across British Columbia and beyond.
The “distressing” discovery of the remains “breaks my heart,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a Twitter message. “It is a painful reminder of that dark and shameful chapter of our country’s history,” he said. Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett echoed his comments and offered government support to the families and Indigenous communities for their “healing as we honor loved ones lost.”
The Kamloops Indian Residential School was the largest of 139 boarding schools in the late 19th century, with up to 500 students registered and attending any time.
It was operated by the Catholic church on behalf of the Canadian government from 1890 to 1969. Some 150,000 Indian, Inuit, and Metis youngsters in total were forcibly enrolled in these schools, where students were physically and sexually abused by principals and teachers who stripped them of their culture and language. Remains of 215 children were found on the grounds of the school, which is now closed” src=” https://sl.sbs.com.au/public/image/file/42fc5367-cb3c-48bc-86dd-9435762ab52a” alt= “The remains of 215 children were found on the grounds of the school, which is now closed” width= “700” height= “467”/>
Today, those experiences are blamed for high poverty, alcoholism, domestic violence, and increased suicide rates in their communities.
A truth and reconciliation commission identified the names of, or information about, at least 3,200 children who died from abuse or neglect while attending a residential school. The exact number remains unknown.
At the Kamloops school, the principal in 1910 had raised concerns that federal funding was insufficient to properly feed the students, according to the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc statement.
Canada formally apologized 2008 for what the commission later termed a “cultural genocide” as part of a $1.9 billion (AUD 2 billion) settlement with former students.
