160 graves found at old school site in Canada
The Penelakut Tribe confirmed on Monday that more than 160 “unmarked and undocumented graves” have been discovered at the site of a former residential school near Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.
According to a statement issued by the indigenous tribe, the graves were found near the site of the Kuper Island industrial school in their territory, where the school operated from 1890 to 1975.
“We understand that many of our brothers and sisters from our neighboring communities attended the Kuper Island industrial school. We also recognized with a tremendous amount of grief and loss that too many did not return home,” said Chief Joan Brown in a statement.
“It is impossible to get over acts of genocide and human rights violations. Healing is an ongoing process, and sometimes it goes well, and sometimes we lose more people because the burden is too great. We are at another point in time where we must face the trauma because of these acts of genocide. Each time we do, it is possible to heal a little more,” the statement said.
The discovery comes shortly after three other grave sites were uncovered at former residential schools across Canada. In May, the remains of 215 children, some as young as 3, were found on the site of a former Indian Residential School in British Columbia’s Kamloops, which was once the largest in Canada’s residential school system.
Weeks later, 751 unmarked graves were found near a former residential school in Marieval, Saskatchewan. Later in June, 182 human remains were found in unmarked grave sites near a former residential school in Cranbrook, southeastern British Columbia.
At least 150,000 children from indigenous communities throughout Canada were forced to attend the residential schools from the late 1800s to the 1990s. The institutions were funded by the federal government and run by churches.
The children were prevented from speaking their languages and practicing their beliefs, separated from their siblings, and suffered widespread physical, psychological and sexual abuse. Several thousand children are believed to have died in the residential schools, and in its final report in 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded that Canada had committed “cultural genocide”.
Steve Sxwithul’txw, a member of the Penelakut Tribe who was forced to attend the facility on Kuper Island in the 1970s, told CBC News that in 2019, when the commission released
the names of almost 3,000 children who died in residential schools, he noticed eight children with the same last name as his. The residential school, known as “Canada’s Alcatraz”, was in a remote location and there are documented cases of children who died trying to escape.
“I know some families want to identify their lost loved ones and bring them home in a proper way,” said Sxwithul’txw. “And personally, for me, I have relatives that have died over there, so I would like to know, and I think it’s important that they get the proper respect and burial that they deserve.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday that his “heart breaks” for the Penelakut Tribe and for indigenous people across the country.
Canada formally apologized for residential schools in 2008. The federal government has pledged further support for the identification and investigation of burial grounds near former residential schools after allocating $27 million in 2019. The British Columbia provincial government said in June it is providing $12 million to support First Nations groups with investigative work at former residential school sites.
However, leaders of the indigenous community said that the government has failed to implement most of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action, and the current policies continue to disproportionately harm indigenous children in Canada.
The Indian Residential School Survivors Society, a nonprofit organization that supports residential school survivors, said on Tuesday that, “It is important to learn, understand and acknowledge why these numbers are significant.”
“It is not about sensationalizing this history but shaping current events so we all can heal; not to overlook, normalize or silence these little children any longer but to bring them home,” the group said in a social media post.