Systemic racism exists in Canada a lot more than Canadians would ever want to admit and its embedded in our system. We have a whole thread discussing it last year. Part of that systemic racism exists from the outright refusal to teach our children about the atrocities that occurred in Canada that we choose to hide to keep our self-righteous image.
On the native residential school issue, I never even heard of them until maybe about 10 years ago in passing? And it's not like if I am uninformed, can't know of something if you never heard it existed and it was not taught to you. Canada kept a lid on it for decades.
I'm not sure on how history is taught nowadays, but history in school deliberately avoided speaking of anything which would put Canada in a bad light. Luckily I did have some great high school teachers who took it upon themselves to show some, like my teacher who showed a concentration camp video in an English class, and a geography teacher who showed us the Louis Riel movie.
It's great that I had some teachers who took their opportunity to teach parts of history that wants to be left buried by Canadian school curriculum. But I still never heard of the residential schools there. Heck both world wars and the Korean War were completely omitted as well, the railroad was talked about but not the details on how it was built by mostly chinese labourers (who were pretty much slaves).
The fact that Ethan Bear had to make a statement due to vile racists shows we are still far from anywhere close to equality and making amends.
One minute a person comments about how horrifying a mass grave is, the next minute they shout racist insults at a hockey player for making a bad play.
We as a collective hid the residential school system and dismissed it since we were not the ones impacted, everything about it needs to be revealed, so that we can truly make amends and treat it for what it was.
It's time to teach people, and to learn from our past, otherwise we are doomed to continue to repeat it.
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Unbelievably awful. I know the government deserves its share of disgust and responsibility in all of this but the Catholic church really needs to be held to account.
Unfortunately, they are like teflon and don't seem to ever bare any repercussions. Between this and the thousands of other sexual abuse victims the entire organisation should be sued out of existence.
They'll never be held to account because their followers bury their heads in the sand on all the abhorrent views and actions of the church. There are people on this forum who go to Catholic churches every Sunday and indoctrinate their kids in Catholic schools every day of the school year who will not leave their cult even though it has raped, killed and abused.
Government can't fight them, the media has tried and failed to help...it's just an enormous death cult that worships three gods, ceremoniously drinks the blood and body of its long-dead leader and teaches absurdities to the gullible. It's hopeless unless the followers wake up, which they clearly won't. Nothing moves the needle. I bet not one single Catholic leaves over this.
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Systemic racism exists in Canada a lot more than Canadians would ever want to admit and its embedded in our system. We have a whole thread discussing it last year. Part of that systemic racism exists from the outright refusal to teach our children about the atrocities that occurred in Canada that we choose to hide to keep our self-righteous image.
On the native residential school issue, I never even heard of them until maybe about 10 years ago in passing? And it's not like if I am uninformed, can't know of something if you never heard it existed and it was not taught to you. Canada kept a lid on it for decades.
I'm not sure on how history is taught nowadays, but history in school deliberately avoided speaking of anything which would put Canada in a bad light. Luckily I did have some great high school teachers who took it upon themselves to show some, like my teacher who showed a concentration camp video in an English class, and a geography teacher who showed us the Louis Riel movie.
It's great that I had some teachers who took their opportunity to teach parts of history that wants to be left buried by Canadian school curriculum. But I still never heard of the residential schools there. Heck both world wars and the Korean War were completely omitted as well, the railroad was talked about but not the details on how it was built by mostly chinese labourers (who were pretty much slaves).
The fact that Ethan Bear had to make a statement due to vile racists shows we are still far from anywhere close to equality and making amends.
One minute a person comments about how horrifying a mass grave is, the next minute they shout racist insults at a hockey player for making a bad play.
We as a collective hid the residential school system and dismissed it since we were not the ones impacted, everything about it needs to be revealed, so that we can truly make amends and treat it for what it was.
It's time to teach people, and to learn from our past, otherwise we are doomed to continue to repeat it.
I never learned about it in school except for a few passing mentions in high school.
But both my kids (kindergarten and grade 1) came home from pink shirt day and told me about residential schools and how kids were taken from their families for being different. While that in no way makes up for hiding it in the past, at least that is progress on acknowledging it now.
And this discovery is truly horrifying. I really hope there is an "epidemic" type explanation but I'm not optimistic.
A 2008 geological survey found 20 burial sites in the field, but it is estimated between 50 and 70 children who attended the school between 1893 and 1918 are buried on the grounds. The Red Deer Industrial School was plagued by widespread disease, a defective sanitation system that led to further contamination and illness, underfunding, overcrowding and one of the highest mortality rates of any such school in Canada.
That would line up with the Spanish flu, which may explain a lot of it and why im wondering if the Kamloops thing might be the same.
Again though the graves, at the very least, should have been marked, proper notification of families, and a paper trail cataloging the whole thing should be public record.
I have grown far more sympathetic and compassionate to aboriginal and indigenous people, their history and affairs as I get older. Listening to stories from those directly affected - across multiple generations - is an exercise all Canadians need to listen to and understand. A completely difference understanding and perspective than what I had growing up as a naïve youth.
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That would line up with the Spanish flu, which may explain a lot of it and why im wondering if the Kamloops thing might be the same.
Again though the graves, at the very least, should have been marked, proper notification of families, and a paper trail cataloging the whole thing should be public record.
I think chalking it up to the Spanish Flu is too convenient, and excuses the horrific conditions and lack of care these places operated under for decades before and after.
The reality is that the Spanish Flu played some part, but was certainly not responsible for the majority of these deaths. And if you look at the data breakdown of deaths, guesses are that the pandemic did not kill at a significantly higher rate for children under 15. The Spanish Flu primarily impacted those between 20 and 40.
I know very little on the subject aside from those schools sounded like hell. But wondering, if it operated for 80 years that # is a couple deaths per year - is that outside the norm for child death rates in the late 1800s early 1900s with their medical practices? I was under the impression lots of kids used to die back then (sobering) and it was just part of life, hence why you had lots of kids.
Not excusing the terrible things that happened there, but looking for some context since the initial headline just makes it sound like they murdered 200 kids.
ninja edit: looks like while I was typing, others have raised the Q.
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I never learned about it in school except for a few passing mentions in high school.
But both my kids (kindergarten and grade 1) came home from pink shirt day and told me about residential schools and how kids were taken from their families for being different. While that in no way makes up for hiding it in the past, at least that is progress on acknowledging it now.
And this discovery is truly horrifying. I really hope there is an "epidemic" type explanation but I'm not optimistic.
My dad was molested as a child for years at a catholic convent school (would have been the late 50s 60s). It was a standard practice at the time for boys to go to convents for a few years. He's never talked about it and it totally damaged him. I only found out about it very late and not to myself, but through my aunt. Stories like his would never make it to the news because these secrets are kept hidden by the victims of the acts. For every priest that was outed, there was probably hundreds that were not.
And he was a white boy at the time. What would have happened to a native girl that is seen as a subhuman that needed to be assimilated to the Canadian catholic life in the first half of the 20th century? We only know the parts that were allowed to be let out in the open.
Be weary of pining all of this on the Catholic Chruch, they were operating under federal grants to the marching order of federal policy.
I would say any non-indigenous Canadian bears some responsibility. Canada is a colonizing nation. The residential school system was a way of doing away with pre-existing nations that didn't make our ongoing colonization possible.
I would say any non-indigenous Canadian bears some responsibility. Canada is a colonizing nation. The residential school system was a way of doing away with pre-existing nations that didn't make our ongoing colonization possible.
Whoa, I'm not sure about that line of thinking. Like frankly this particular case is about a school that started and finished it's course before I was even alive. I have a hard time seeing how I'd "bear some responsibility" for any atrocities committed there?
Things that were done to the first nations were abhorrent. I actually think there are things still happening today that are absolutely unconscionable and unacceptable. I completely agree with that line of thinking and feel that the governments (provincial and federal) have a duty to make inroads toward resolving those issues. I think that many of them are basic, human rights issues and it's a disgrace that in a country as rich as ours has allowed this to continue.
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I have a family member on my husband's side, who I got into a discussion with, regarding residential schools, a few years back, after we stopped at the St Eugene resort, which was formerly a residential school, near Cranbrook.
Their comment was "I don't know why all we ever hear about is the negative stuff, surely there had to be some kids there that found it to be positive." When I tell you my mouth dropped open...
My poop may or may not have been in a group in terms of my response. Suffice it to say, I hope that I educated them on the matter, at least a little bit. I so very badly want to send them a link to this horror story and ask if they still think it was a positive experience for even 1 child, who was ripped from their home, their family and their culture, and many of whom died without there ever being acknowledgement that they disappeared.
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I have grown far more sympathetic and compassionate to aboriginal and indigenous people, their history and affairs as I get older. Listening to stories from those directly affected - across multiple generations - is an exercise all Canadians need to listen to and understand. A completely difference understanding and perspective than what I had growing up as a naïve youth.
My too. I'm really ashamed to admit that I was prejudice against and stereotyped First Nations people a lot when I was younger and even up until recently to some degree. That changed when I had a friend focus her dissertation on the historical and present day treatment of First Nations people in Canada and it really opened my eyes to the injustices they faced and still face today. I never once learned about any of the things they went through when I was going to school and was completely ignorant to the trauma that is ingrained in the community. It's embarrassing for me and all I can do now is continue to educate myself and listen to their stories.
I hope they get justice.
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Whoa, I'm not sure about that line of thinking. Like frankly this particular case is about a school that started and finished it's course before I was even alive. I have a hard time seeing how I'd "bear some responsibility" for any atrocities committed there?
Things that were done to the first nations were abhorrent. I actually think there are things still happening today that are absolutely unconscionable and unacceptable. I completely agree with that line of thinking and feel that the governments (provincial and federal) have a duty to make inroads toward resolving those issues. I think that many of them are basic, human rights issues and it's a disgrace that in a country as rich as ours has allowed this to continue.
The issue is what have Canadians done to repair the damage done to first nations communities. We are all going about our lives using and/or owning land that belonged/belongs to them and was acquired via their suffering.
You can't just pass the buck, and state this was the responsibility of the church, previous governments, etc...Canadian society is built over top of the previous ones. Anyone who partakes in Canadian society is partaking in a continued injustice.
I'm not stating that individuals should just give up their land. I certainly won't do that. However, it is important to at least acknowledge the reality of the situation, as that is the only way to work towards some form of repair. True repair will never be possible, as there is no way to undo damage, and realistically, Canadian society is going nowhere and will continue to expand. It is important to understand the scope of what's happened and continues to happen. It's far more than just this one group of church members doing something awful.
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