WAUZHUSH ONIGUM NATION – On May 29 will mark the first anniversary of the horrific discovery of 215 bodies of Indigenous children found at the Kamloops Residential School.
Since that tragic day, First Nations communities across the country have conducted archaeological investigations of former Residential School sites in an attempt to bring closure, healing and justice to those who have died and survived while in the custody of an institution whose mandate wasn’t to educate but to eradicate the culture and personhood of Indigenous People.
The Government of Canada has worked directly with communities to support their plans to locate and commemorate the children who lost their lives in residential schools. By setting up grants through Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada's Residential School Missing Children's Community Support Funding program.
So far, $238.8 million has been delivered to Indigenous communities across the country to support 70 initiatives in research, knowledge gathering, commemoration, memorialization, and fieldwork investigation around the sites of former residential schools. The funding addressed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action 72 to 76 on missing children and burial information in residential schools.
On May 16, the survivors of Wauzhushk Onigum Nation will start their investigation of St. Mary’s Residential School being with a ceremony to start the healing path.
Reflecting on this path, Chris Skead, Chief of Wauzhushk Onigum said, “This process has not been easy for our Elders, for our Survivors. But we have seen such strength in their commitment to uncover the truth. And we honour them. We honour their courage, their resilience, their leadership. They do this for us, for our Anishinaabe children, and for grandchildren and great-grandchildren and future generations to come. We will continue to find ways to support our Survivors on this journey – whatever it takes”.
With support from federal and the Ontario provincial governments, Survivors of Wauzhushk Onigum Nation have continued creating a healing path that involves preserving language and land, memorializing community and ancestral roots, and supporting reconciliation across Canada.
"The historical relationship between Canada and Indigenous Peoples is one framed by colonial practices, especially the residential school system. We acknowledge this and the devastation it has caused, and recognize that trust needs to be built, wrongs need to be addressed, and healing needs to be supported. That is why we remain committed to working with leadership, Survivors, their families, and communities in undertaking the difficult work ahead - at their own pace, according to their own vision and priorities, “said Marc Miller, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations.
The history of Canada’s Residential School System is not entirely well-known to most non-indigenous people. Most public-school curriculums across Canada have either wholly glossed over a part of Canada’s genocidal history with our First Nation or briefly touched upon aspects of a Nation of people that greeted settlers and taught them how to survive on land that was not their own.
"The impacts of residential schools have affected generations of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. The hard work to address this shameful policy and the intergenerational trauma it created will take time. We are committed to listening to Indigenous voices as we work to address the legacy of residential schools and support Survivors, their families and communities, said Patty Hajdu, Minister of Indigenous Services
The Residential School System operated from 1831 to 1996. It is estimated that 150,000 children were forcefully taken from their homes and placed unwillingly into boarding houses where they weren’t allowed to practice their culture, including speaking their language.
Former students (Survivors) regularly describe extreme physical, psychological, sexual, and spiritual abuse while attending these “Schools.”
Records report that more than 6,000 children are known to have died. However, we know now that these records are incomplete, and this number is believed to be much higher.
St. Mary’s Indian Residential School St. Mary’s Indian Residential School in Kenora was a Roman Catholic residential school operation between 1897 and 1972. Between 1897 and 1937, St. Mary’s changed names three times: the Rat Portage Boarding School, the Kenora Boarding School, and the St. Anthony’s Roman Catholic School before being changed to St. Mary’s in 1938.
During the 1960s, St. Mary’s began integrating students into the local day school system. More than 6,114 children attended St. Mary’s from sixteen Treaty #3 communities, seven communities in Manitoba, and 10 eastern districts during its 75 years of operation.
According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission records, at least 36 children died while the school was operating. Based on conversations with survivors and their testimonies, the actual number is believed to be significantly higher.
