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Remains of 215 children found at former residential school in British Columbia

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Re: Remains of 215 children found at former residential school in British Columbia

#71

Post by pera »

bhouston wrote: post #28
fmajid wrote: post #9

And then there is the forced sterilization of indigenous women that is still happening , specially in Alberta: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/sterilization-indigenous-1....

According to the article the incident in question happened in 1978. It may be still happening, but this article does not make that claim. Rather it says it happened 40 years ago and there should be an investigation to its extent. EDIT: I was wrong. In addition to the specific incident discussed and the focus on the past, there is this: "New research shows the forced sterilization of Indigenous women is not just a sha…

This case is from 2010: https://www.vice.com/en/article/9kj3vp/this-woman-says-a-hos...

Here another one from 2017: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-november...

Re: Remains of 215 children found at former residential school in British Columbia

#72

Post by kellyarne »

at_a_remove wrote: post #21

This is one incident among many, but it has less to do with indigenous children as it does with any system wherein the accounting of "disconnected" children is left to that system. Tuam, County Galway ... eight hundred infants with missing graves. St Mary's Cemetery in Lanark, four hundred left in a single mass grave. In Germany, nuns pimping out orphans. The Sisters of Mercy scandal. I could go on. Bluntly put, when…

It's similar to the "contract children" or "indentured child laborers" scandal in Switzerland[1], for children born out of wedlock, which continued until 1960. It's amazing how the same story keeps repeating in many countries.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verdingkinder

Re: Remains of 215 children found at former residential school in British Columbia

#73

Post by tw04 »

koheripbal wrote: post #63
tw04 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The average family doesn't have a child buried in their yard. So yes I think we can say with confidence these institutions were and are quantifiably worse.

The average institute also doesnt have children buried in the yard. Your conclusion isnt logical.

> The average institute also doesnt have children buried in the yard. Your conclusion isnt logical.

I dont think you have any idea what you're talking about. The average residential school does. That's why they're looking. The estimate was 6000 dead children across Canada and they expect that's low.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/06/canada-dark-of...

> As many as 6,000 children died in residential institutions, which ran from 1876 to 1996.

>The accurate figure could be much higher however, since the government stopped recording aboriginal students’ deaths in 1920 in light of the alarming statistics.

Re: Remains of 215 children found at former residential school in British Columbia

#74

Post by logicchains »

fmajid wrote: post #9

And then there is the forced sterilization of indigenous women that is still happening , specially in Alberta: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/sterilization-indigenous-1....

On the subject of forced sterilization, the US funded forced sterilisation of Puerto Rican women up to the 1970s, sterilising over 30% of the population: https://www.panoramas.pitt.edu/health-and-society/dark-histo....

Re: Remains of 215 children found at former residential school in British Columbia

#75

Post by Retric »

batch12 wrote: post #66
Retric wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Child abuse and neglect by parents is also something that exists. It’s easy to see problems, but context and improvements are much more difficult. The US removed sanitariums due to serious issues, but the situation didn’t improve instead dumping the mentality ill into the prison and homeless populations. Currently the US use foster homes rather than orphanages, but is it a better system, just different, or worse simp…

> Currently the US use foster homes rather than orphanages, but is it a better system, just different, or worse simply a more efficient way to hide problems I can say anecdotally that being in a foster home was a much better experience than being in group homes. I am sure experiences vary, but I went from feeling like I was a prisioner in group homes to a family in a foster home.

To be clear, I truly believe the median foster homes is better than the median group home. Unfortunately the variance is the problem, with some foster homes and some group homes being truly abusive.

Re: Remains of 215 children found at former residential school in British Columbia

#76

Post by garyrichardson »

elliekelly wrote: post #67
at_a_remove wrote: post #21

This is one incident among many, but it has less to do with indigenous children as it does with any system wherein the accounting of "disconnected" children is left to that system. Tuam, County Galway ... eight hundred infants with missing graves. St Mary's Cemetery in Lanark, four hundred left in a single mass grave. In Germany, nuns pimping out orphans. The Sisters of Mercy scandal. I could go on. Bluntly put, when…

It seems like the Catholic Church is often (always?) somehow involved in these systemic child abuse/mass grave stories and it’s mind-boggling to me that we continue to allow an organization with that kind of track record to take responsibility for caring for and placing at-risk children.

While that may be true, it’s only part of the situation here. Residential schools in Canada were part of a system by the gov of Canada to eliminate/assimilate the First Nations people. Many argue this was genocide.

Re: Remains of 215 children found at former residential school in British Columbia

#77

Post by Xylakant »

tw04 wrote: post #73
koheripbal wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The average institute also doesnt have children buried in the yard. Your conclusion isnt logical.

> The average institute also doesnt have children buried in the yard. Your conclusion isnt logical. I dont think you have any idea what you're talking about. The average residential school does. That's why they're looking. The estimate was 6000 dead children across Canada and they expect that's low. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/06/canada-dark-of... > As many as 6,000 children died in residential institu…

Residential schools are a special case compared to other institutions, though. They were deliberately created to destroy indigenous communities. The cruelty was not an aberration, it was part of the system.

Re: Remains of 215 children found at former residential school in British Columbia

#78

Post by JeremyNT »

cheschire wrote: post #3

The final paragraph is the context I desperately needed for the article to have an impact. "The Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued its final report on residential schools more than five years ago. The nearly 4,000-page account details the harsh mistreatment inflicted on Indigenous children at the institutions, where at least 3,200 children died amid abuse and neglect."

Yes, this was a Catholic "reeducation" program to forcibly convert indigenous peoples to Catholicism. Apparently the Canadian government turned a blind eye to their crimes for years.

That it apparently continued up through the 70s is terrifying.

Re: Remains of 215 children found at former residential school in British Columbia

#79

Post by FooBarBizBazz »

garyrichardson wrote: post #76
elliekelly wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems like the Catholic Church is often (always?) somehow involved in these systemic child abuse/mass grave stories and it’s mind-boggling to me that we continue to allow an organization with that kind of track record to take responsibility for caring for and placing at-risk children.

While that may be true, it’s only part of the situation here. Residential schools in Canada were part of a system by the gov of Canada to eliminate/assimilate the First Nations people. Many argue this was genocide.

The slash between "eliminate" and "assimilate" is doing a lot of work. It highlights two very different meanings of "genocide". It's the distinction between "killing people" and "killing a people".

You're right regarding the history, of course.

Also sadly, one has a way of turning into the other.

Well, both are sad anyway.

Re: Remains of 215 children found at former residential school in British Columbia

#80

Post by protomyth »

boomboomsubban wrote: post #52

The US still has residential schools except they are privately run making the church in charge earn tens of millions of dollars every year as a charity. Though there's less death, they're still removing Native Americans from their home, exposing then to rampant abuse and bigotry, and giving them a standard public school education.

There are a couple run by tribes that serve the purpose of getting children who are in danger at home to a safe place. These are run by enrolled members and have some BIA/BIE or tribal affiliations. Do research who runs the school before donating. The good ones are always short of general operating funds.
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