School Residence System Separates Indigenous Children and Families as ‘Cultural Genocide’
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, OTOWA – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the country has recovered the bodies of 215 children, the youngest aged 3. The bodies were found in a former school for indigenous children.
These children are students at Kamloops Indian Residential School which is located in British Columbia. According to the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Conservation Administration, the school was closed in 1978. The bodies were recovered with the help of radar experts.
“We know our community can verify it. At this point we have more questions to answer,” Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc chief Rosanne Casimir said on Saturday (29/5).
In 2015, Canada released the results of a six-year survey of Canada’s now defunct school residence system. The investigation determined that the system that separated Indigenous children from their families was “cultural genocide.”
The report documents the sexual, physical, malnutrition and other abuse suffered by more than 150,000 children who attend school. Schools were generally run by Christian churches from the 1840s to the 1990s.
It was found that over 4,100 children died while attending residential schools. The deaths of the 215 children buried on the grounds of Canada’s largest former residential school were unknown and did not appear to have been recorded until they were found.
“(This news) broke my heart, became a painful reminder of dark times and has embarrassed our nation’s history,” Trudeau said in his tweet.
In 2008, the Canadian government formally apologized for the system. The Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Nation Conservation Administration said it has cooperated with the coroner and contacted families whose children attend school. They expect the first conclusions to be made in mid-June.
source: Reuters
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