A few days ago in Canada they discovered the bodies of 215 indigenous children who were at a residential school . This school operated by a church, from about 1890 to 1980 . The bodies were on the school property
Churches made an aggressive effort to get aboriginal children to their school. Children were forcibly taken from their parents. Many times the parents did not know where their children were. Just think what a trauma it would be if your young children were taken away from you?
The churches idea was Christianity , make the kids into little white men and beat the aboriginal culture out of them. Along the way there were many tragedies. Children were mistreated badly. In many cases they were beaten and assaulted. Living conditions were poor and many children died. Tuberculosis was common and at that time they didn't know much about treating it. Kids were crammed into small quarters so any germs could spread rapidly.
But 215 kids? Come on. There should have been some kind of communication. In many cases parents were not told of the death of their child.
Kids went back to their communities and were not able to cope in their home community. The original culture was gone.
In 1968 , when I was a local administrator in a small Innuit settlement, a child was murdered. The police came in and took the body out for forensic examination. About a year later one of the elders asked me where the child's body was. I couldn't tell him. I regret that I did not write and ask where the child's body was. So in the 1960's the authorities still played fast and lose with the way aboriginals were treated.
Now begins the sad task of identifying the bodies and telling families what happened to their ancestors.
Will we ever learn?
