When it comes to Indian Boarding School Graves, Tribal Spiritual Law is Shunned as Repatriations Continue to Fail Some Tribes
In 1879, Carlisle Barracks became the site of the nation’s first government-run Indian boarding school. It was operated by the Department of the Interior until 1918. Under the motto of “kill the Indian, save the man,” it tried to forcibly assimilate 7,800 Native American children from more than 140 tribal nations through a mix of Western-style education and hard labor. At least 186 children died there, of disease often made worse by poor living conditions and abuse.
A year of pain and healing since 751 unmarked graves announced at Cowessess First Nation
While residential schools may have ended in Canada, their legacy and generational trauma has not.
Manitoba Métis Federation will investigate priest charged with residential school sexual assault
The Manitoba Métis Federation says it plans to conduct its own investigation into a retired priest now charged with indecent assault at a residential school in the province.
Residential school abuses call for criminal charges, Indigenous leaders say
Beginning in the late 1800s, approximately 150,000 Indigenous children were separated from their families and forced to attend residential schools, facilities that aimed to replace their languages and culture with English and Christian beliefs. The schools were set up by the Canadian government and most were run by the Catholic Church.
Federal Indian Boarding School System Intentionally Sought to Destroy Native Families
“There’s not a single American Indian, Alaskan Native, or Native Hawaiian in this country whose life hasn’t been affected by these schools,” Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Bryan Newland said during the press conference about the investigation and report last week.“That impact continues to influence the lives of countless families, from the breakup of families and tribal nations, to the loss of languages and cultural practices and relatives. We haven’t begun to explain the scope of this policy until now.”
‘We’re still here’: past and present collide at a Native American boarding school
The report found that, from 1819 to 1969, there were 408 boarding schools running in every corner of the country. The federal government continues to operate four off-reservation boarding schools for Native American children through the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), but in 2019, the BIE’s deputy assistant secretary Mark Cruz said the schools were “no longer in the business of assimilation” and “their purpose was transformed to support and respect tribal self-determination and sovereignty”.
Cruelty of Canada’s residential schools ‘unimaginable’, governor general says
The federal government says it has already released nearly C$80m (US$62m) in funding to nations conducting their own investigations into unmarked graves, including a painstaking search on the grounds of the Mohawk Institute.
In her remarks, Simon acknowledged the discoveries over the last year were a reality long suspected by Indigenous communities whose loved ones never returned home .
“We mourn with you. We stand with you,” she said. “We believe you.”
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169 Possible Graves Discovered
(March 1, 2022) - Searchers have discovered up to 169 possible graves at the former Grouard Mission residential school site, about 370 kilometres northwest of...