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Canada – Niigaanwewidam Sinclair says the recent findings at several Indian children’s graves have confirmed what his community already knows.
“People of all backgrounds have stories of lost children, so all of this is not surprising,” Sinclair, an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba, told Al Jazeera. “The only thing that surprised me was that the people of Canada were so shocked.”
The first three races in Canada recently they found hundreds of unmarked graves of Indian children instead of “residential schools” – government agencies, founding institutions run by various churches for more than 100 years.
From the late 1800’s to 1996, Canada forced the expulsion of 150,000 American children from their families and forced them to attend. They were made to cut their long hair, were forbidden to speak their own language, and many were subjected to sexual abuse. Thousands he is believed to be dead.
For decades, survivors have been aware of their deaths, but now they can use technology, a the grave is being searched. As the First Nations announces the number of missing children, much grief has fallen on Indian communities.
These findings are also present encouraged accountability from Ottawa and the churches that run the day-to-day operations of the institutions – especially the Roman Catholic Church, which oversees many of them.
But local leaders say the government or the Catholic government has not done enough to address the ongoing crisis – and has not done enough to implement a long list of recommendations made by the 2015 commission of inquiry.
“They don’t have a plan, they don’t have the means or the political will to achieve the little they have done, and if they get too upset about their commitment. Their words don’t match what they are doing,” Sinclair said of the Canadian government.
Call for action
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was thought of as a way to document school survivors and bring them justice, but a few years after the TRC called for action, Canada and the Catholic Church have achieved only eight out of 94 ideas, a December report said. A 2020 study led by the First Group, the Yellowhead Institute, found.
However, when the Indian children’s cemetery was counted last month, Canada was ahead of four others, said Yellowhead Institute colleagues at the Yellowhead Institute, who co-authored the report, although warned that it was unclear whether the four had been fully implemented.
“Canada can call for political will in the event of a heat wave,” he told Al Jazeera.
“There is a lot of pressure on Canada to take action and to take action, and all of a sudden there is a new interest in the Commission and Reconciliation rates for action. We’ve been neglected for a long time, and all of a sudden they get this, and the Canadians rush to say, ‘Well, I think we’re doing something.’ ”
Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada told Al Jazeera in an email this month that the 2019 global budget provided $ 28m ($ 33.8m Canada) over three years to help with the death toll in schools in particular. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his ministers also said they were committed to supporting First Nation groups in their efforts.
But Indian activists said little had been done, and Jewell said the situation was forcing their citizens to take action in the event of a disaster.
“There was no time to cry, there was no time to sit back and mourn, it was a springboard to take action and take the time, trying to focus on the political will to achieve the most important things, and that will change our community,” he said. and I believe that the people of Canada are committed. “
The role of the church
The TRC’s summit includes an apology from Pope Francis for the Catholic Church’s actions in public schools, as well as assistance from the federal government to help uncover unknown graves and identify the remains.
But the pope did not apologize, to describe “pain” this month 215 Indian children were found in an unmarked cemetery at Kamloops Indian Residential School in the western part of British Columbia. A few weeks later, the remnants of 715 civilians were seized he found at the Indianval Resident School in Saskatchewan. Both organizations are run by the Catholic Church, and they continue to call on the church to provide its full documentation.
“The church deserves full responsibility, releases all documents from the Indian Residential School, and sells apologetic words appropriately through action,” Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, said. words.
Donald Bolen, Archbishop of Regina, the capital of Saskatchewan, said the bishop had very little schooling. But he said the death records from 1885 to 1952 were handed over to the Cowessess First Nation, who found an unknown grave at Marieval. The archdiocese also has letters describing when more priests began working in local schools, Bolen told Al Jazeera.
“According to the secret law, we share what we have and help our people connect with religious groups that may have more information,” he said, adding that the bishop also donated $ 70,000 in 2019 to help First Nation search for unknown graves.
So far, Mary Immaculate’s two Missionary Oblates religious groups – which used the Marieval and Kamloops organizations – He said on June 24 that “he will disclose all the old documents that we have kept and that we have, according to all the laws, of our involvement”.
Bolen did not respond directly when asked why Pope Francis did not apologize. He also said that Indian ambassadors would travel to Rome in less than a year to meet with the pope. “The pope will have the opportunity to hear from them directly and engage with them,” Bolen said. “This approach is very important.”
Self-examination
So far, the findings of the schools have been criticized in other countries, including those from the United Nations expert group on June 4. singing as a result of a “thorough search” of Kamloops cemetery.
Murray Sinclair, a former chairman of the TRC, also recently told The Globe and Mail that any investigation “should not be left in the hands of the government or the churches and should instead be done in collaboration with the Indians”.
Trudeau was asked at a press conference on June 25 what his government would allow him to do to respond to the case, including police or international experts to investigate. “I think the first thing we need to do is live in communities with what they want, and what they want, and the answers they need to get,” he said. he replied.
“In any case, my promise to all Canadians is that we will put Indians and their interests – for their loved ones, their communities – at the forefront of our mission.”
Asked if police or international groups should investigate school accommodation, Prime Minister Trudeau said there should be a response but that “what should be done is to follow the decisions and aspirations and needs of the people in the middle of this.”#alirezatalischioriginal pic.twitter.com/JCMaUaqM7Y
– CPAC (@CPAC_TV) June 25, 2021
Melanie Klinkner, an associate professor at Bournemouth University and a specialist at many cemeteries, said two things are well known in boarding schools: the manner in which children die and the unacceptable nature of their bodies.
He also said that countries have a responsibility to “carefully and properly investigate” the deaths of suspects. “This research should be independent, non-discriminatory, it should be conducted in a way that builds confidence in the findings. It also means he has to have the ability to respond to a case, “Klinkner told Al Jazeera.
Klinkner added that other forms of justice are also being implemented in Canada, including identifying, returning and restoring the remains of indigenous children in a way that is culturally sound, past reminders on the pages, and helping school survivors. “I have a government to enforce the law,” he said, “which is why I think an investigation should be carried out.”
Sinclair at the University of Manitoba said Canada should end its killings, return the land to Indian citizens, recognize their right to unity, and establish a long-term plan to implement the TRC’s demands, as well as ideas. reports on women and girls who went missing and killed.
“Now is the time to create a world different from the one we received,” he said.
