What do we know about the finds of Aboriginal children’s graves that shock Canada | World

• Over 1,000 unidentified graves have been discovered in the past 30 days

The results highlight a policy of cultural assimilation practiced for decades by the Canadian government, in collaboration with the Catholic Church, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of children and was considered genocide by a Canadian commission.

“You can never fully prepare for something like this,” said Chief Jason Louie of the Lower Kootenay Tribe, which is part of the Ktunaxa Nation.

Indigenous leaders said they hoped more graves would be discovered as investigations progressed.

The most recent discovery took place on the eve of Canada Day, the founding day of the country, when three British colonies united in 1867.

Many indigenous peoples in Canada never recognized the date, a feeling that has grown in recent weeks as more graves have been discovered.

Cities across the country have canceled celebrations and statues have been vandalized or removed.

How were the bodies found?

the community of aq’am, one of the four tribes of the Ktunaxa nation, used devices emitting electromagnetic waves to uncover the graves near the former Saint-Eugène mission school

The Indian nation said it was too early to say whether the remains belonged to former students. Some remains were found in shallow graves, Lower Kootenay said in a statement.

St. Eugene was operated by the Catholic Church from 1912 until the early 1970s. Up to 100 members of Lower Kootenay were forced to study there, the tribe said.

But the remains were found in ʔaq̓am cemetery, which dates back to 1865. Cemeteries were often marked with wooden crosses which either disintegrated or were removed over the years.

“These factors, among others, make it extremely difficult to establish whether or not these anonymous graves contain the remains of children who attended school,” the community said.

St. Eugene’s was one of more than 130 boarding schools funded by the Canadian government and operated by religious authorities during the 19th and 20th centuries with the goal of assimilating Aboriginal youth. The Catholic Church was responsible for up to 70%.

When enrollment in these institutions became compulsory in the 1920s, parents risked imprisonment if they did not comply.

Between 1863 and 1998, more than 150,000 indigenous children were taken from their families and placed in these schools. Often they were not allowed to speak their language or practice their culture.

An estimated 6,000 have died while attending these schools – so far more than 4,100 children have been identified – largely due to poor health conditions.

Students were often housed in poorly constructed, poorly heated and unsanitary premises. In 1945, the infant mortality rate in residential schools was nearly five times that of other Canadian children. In the 1960s, the rate was still double.

Physical and sexual abuse by school authorities prompted others to flee. “They made us believe we had no soul,” the former student said at a press conference. “They demeaned us as people, so we learned not to like who we were.”

Other bodies have already been found

This is the third time that anonymous graves have been discovered in such places since May.

That month, the remains of 215 Indigenous children were found in the largest residential school of its kind in Kamloops, British Columbia. The youngest of them would be around 3 years old.

The school operated between 1890 and 1969 and hosted 500 indigenous students at the same time, many of whom were sent to live hundreds of kilometers from their families.

Among the remains found, 50 children have already been identified, said Stephanie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Truth and Reconciliation, a commission launched in 2008 to document the impacts of this system.

Their deaths, when known, range from 1900 to 1971. But for the 165 others, no document is available to identify their identity.

Last week, Cowessess Nation leaders said the remains of 751 bodies, mostly children, were found at the site of another school in Saskatchewan.

They said it was “the most important and important discovery to date in Canada.”

The Marieval Indian Residential School was administered by the Catholic Church from 1899 to 1997. It is still not known if all the remains are linked to the school.

Politics was seen as cultural genocide

This news comes amid a long process of re-examining national awareness of the legacy of these Canadian schools. The findings angered many people and improvised memorials were created across the country.

“The outrage and surprise of the general public is certainly to be welcomed,” said Assembly of First Nations President Perry Bellegarde. “But that’s not surprising. The survivors have been saying this for years and years, but no one believed them.”

On Wednesday, 30/7, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the findings of the tomb “forced us to reflect on the historical and enduring injustices facing indigenous peoples.”

The National Center for Truth and Reconciliation, created by an agreement between the government and Indigenous nations, has found that large numbers of children have never returned to their communities. The commission’s report, released in 2015, said the practice amounts to cultural genocide.

The 4,000-page document detailed the complete failures in the care and safety of children and the complicity on the part of the church and government. The poor condition of schools, according to the report, is in large part due to the Government of Canada’s decision to cut costs.

In 2008, the Canadian government formally apologized for the system. The Catholic Church has yet to issue a formal apology.