Location of Mass Graves of Residential School Children Revealed for the First Time; Independent Tribunal Established
Squamish Nation Territory ("Vancouver, Canada")
Thursday, April 10, 2008 11:00 am PST
At a public ceremony and press conference held today outside the colonial "Indian Affairs" building in downtown Vancouver, the Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared (FRD) released a list of twenty eight mass graves across Canada holding the remains of untold numbers of aboriginal children who died in Indian Residential Schools.
The list was distributed today to the world media and to United Nations agencies, as the first act of the newly-formed International Human Rights Tribunal into Genocide in Canada (IHRTGC), a non-governmental body established by indigenous elders.
In a statement read by FRD spokesperson Eagle Strong Voice, it was declared that the IHRTGC would commence its investigations on April 15, 2008, the fourth Annual Aboriginal Holocaust Memorial Day. This inquiry will involve international human rights observers from Guatemala and Cyprus , and will convene aboriginal courts of justice where those persons and institutions responsible for the death and suffering of residential school children will be tried and sentenced. (The complete Statement and List of Mass Graves is reproduced below).
Eagle Strong Voice and IHRTGC elders will present the Mass Graves List at the United Nations on April 19, and will ask United Nations agencies to protect and monitor the mass graves as part of a genuine inquiry and judicial prosecution of those responsible for this Canadian Genocide.
Eyewitness Sylvester Greene spoke to the media at today's event, and described how he helped bury a young Inuit boy at the United Church's Edmonton residential school in 1953.
"We were told never to tell anyone by Jim Ludford, the Principal, who got me and three other boys to bury him. But a lot more kids got buried all the time in that big grave next to the school."
For more information: www.hiddenfromhistory.org, or write to the IHRTGC at: genocidetribunal@yahoo.ca
Issued on Squamish Territory , 10 April, 2008, under the authority of Hereditary Chief Kiapilano.
And the locations:
Press Statement: April 10, 2008Okay, bigass news media. There you go. This has been out there for 9 days and there's been barely a peep from the mainstream news outlets. I'm callin' yer sorryasses on this. If these graves was in Afghanistan or EyeRack, the media'd be all over it.
Mass Graves of Residential School Children Identified – Independent Inquiry Launched
We are gathered today to publicly disclose the location of twenty eight mass graves of children who died in Indian Residential Schools across Canada , and to announce the formation of an independent, non-governmental inquiry into the death and disappearance of children in these schools.
We estimate that there are hundreds, and possibly thousands, of children buried in these grave sites alone.
The Catholic, Anglican and United Church , and the government of Canada, operated the schools and hospitals where these mass graves are located. We therefore hold these institutions and their officers legally responsible and liable for the deaths of these children.
We have no confidence that the very institutions of church and state that are responsible for these deaths can conduct any kind of impartial or real inquiry into them. Accordingly, as of April 15, 2008, we are establishing an independent, non-governmental inquiry into the death and disappearance of Indian residential school children across Canada.
This inquiry shall be known as The International Human Rights Tribunal into Genocide in Canada (IHRTGC), and is established under the authority of the following hereditary chiefs, who shall serve as presiding judges of the Tribunal:
Hereditary Chief Kiapilano of the Squamish Nation
Chief Louis Daniels (Whispers Wind), Anishinabe Nation Chief Svnoyi Wohali (Night Eagle), Cherokee Nation
Lillian Shirt, Clan Mother, Cree Nation
Elder Ernie Sandy, Anishinabe (Ojibway) Nation
Hereditary Chief Steve Sampson, Chemainus Nation
Ambassador Chief Red Jacket of Turtle Island
Today, we are releasing to this Tribunal and to the people of the world the enclosed information on the location of mass graves connected to Indian residential schools and hospitals in order to prevent the destruction of this crucial evidence by the Canadian government, the RCMP and the Anglican, Catholic and United Church of Canada.
We call upon indigenous people on the land where these graves are located to monitor and protect these sites vigilantly, and prevent their destruction by occupational forces such as the RCMP and other government agencies.
Our Tribunal will commence on April 15 by gathering all of the evidence, including forensic remains, that is necessary to charge and indict those responsible for the deaths of the children buried therein.
Once these persons have been identified and detained, they will be tried and sentenced in indigenous courts of justice established by our Tribunal and under the authority of hereditary chiefs.
As a first step in this process, the IHRTGC will present this list of mass graves along with a statement to the United Nations in New York City on April 19, 2008. The IHRTGC will be asking the United Nations to declare these mass graves to be protected heritage sites, and will invite international human rights observers to monitor and assist its work.
Issued by the Elders and Judges of the IHRTGC
Interim Spokesperson: Eagle Strong Voice
Email: genocidetribunal@yahoo.ca pager: 1-888-265-1007
IHRTGC Sponsors include The Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared, The Truth Commission into Genocide in Canada, the Defensoria Indigenia of Guatemala, Canadians for the Separation of Church and State, and a confederation of indigenous elders across Canada and Turtle Island.
...................................................................................................
Mass Graves at former Indian Residential Schools and Hospitals across Canada
A. British Columbia
1. Port Alberni: Presbyterian-United Church school (1895-1973), now occupied by the Nuu-Chah-Nulth Tribal Council (NTC) office, Kitskuksis Road . Grave site is a series of sinkhole rows in hills 100 metres due west of the NTC building, in thick foliage, past an unused water pipeline. Children also interred at Tseshaht reserve cemetery, and in wooded gully east of Catholic cemetery on River Road .
2. Alert Bay : St. Michael’s Anglican school (1878-1975), situated on Cormorant Island offshore from Port McNeill. Presently building is used by Namgis First Nation. Site is an overgrown field adjacent to the building, and also under the foundations of the present new building, constructed during the 1960’s. Skeletons seen “between the walls”.
3. Kuper Island: Catholic school (1890-1975), offshore from Chemainus. Land occupied by Penelakut Band. Former building is destroyed except for a staircase. Two grave sites: one immediately south of the former building, in a field containing a conventional cemetery; another at the west shoreline in a lagoon near the main dock.
4. Nanaimo Indian Hospital: Indian Affairs and United Church experimental facility (1942-1970) on Department of National Defense land. Buildings now destroyed. Grave sites are immediately east of former buildings on Fifth avenue , adjacent to and south of Malaspina College .
5. Mission: St. Mary’s Catholic school (1861-1984), adjacent to and north of Lougheed Highway and Fraser River Heritage Park . Original school buildings are destroyed, but many foundations are visible on the grounds of the Park.
In this area there are two grave sites: a) immediately adjacent to former girls’ dormitory and present cemetery for priests, and a larger mass grave in an artificial earthen mound, north of the cemetery among overgrown foliage and blackberry bushes, and b) east of the old school grounds, on the hilly slopes next to the field leading to the newer school building which is presently used by the Sto:lo First Nation. Hill site is 150 metres west of building.
6. North Vancouver: Squamish (1898-1959) and Sechelt (1912-1975) Catholic schools, buildings destroyed. Graves of children who died in these schools interred in the Squamish Band Cemetery , North Vancouver .
7. Sardis: Coqualeetza Methodist-United Church school (1889-1940), then experimental hospital run by federal government (1940-1969). Native burial site next to Sto:lo reserve and Little Mountain school, also possibly adjacent to former school-hospital building.
8. Cranbrook: St. Eugene Catholic school (1898-1970), recently converted into a tourist “resort” with federal funding, resulting in the covering-over of a mass burial site by a golf course in front of the building. Numerous grave sites are around and under this golf course.
9. Williams Lake : Catholic school (1890-1981), buildings destroyed but foundations intact, five miles south of city. Grave sites reported north of school grounds and under foundations of tunnel-like structure.
10. Meares Island (Tofino): Kakawis-Christie Catholic school (1898-1974). Buildings incorporated into Kakawis Healing Centre. Body storage room reported in basement, adjacent to burial grounds south of school.
11. Kamloops : Catholic school (1890-1978). Buildings intact. Mass grave south of school, adjacent to and amidst orchard. Numerous burials witnessed there.
12. Lytton: St. George’s Anglican school (1901-1979). Graves of students flogged to death, and others, reported under floorboards and next to playground.
13. Fraser Lake : Lejac Catholic school (1910-1976), buildings destroyed. Graves reported under old foundations and between the walls.
Alberta:
1. Edmonton : United Church school (1919-1960), presently site of the Poundmaker Lodge in St. Albert . Graves of children reported south of former school site, under thick hedge that runs north-south, adjacent to memorial marker.
2. Edmonton : Charles Camsell Hospital (1945-1967), building intact, experimental hospital run by Indian Affairs and United Church . Mass graves of children from hospital reported south of building, near staff garden.
3. Saddle Lake : Bluequills Catholic school (1898-1970), building intact, skeletons and skulls observed in basement furnace. Mass grave reported adjacent to school.
4. Hobbema: Ermineskin Catholic school (1916-1973), five intact skeletons observed in school furnace. Graves under former building foundations.
Manitoba:
1. Brandon : Methodist-United Church school (1895-1972). Building intact. Burials reported west of school building.
2. Portage La Prairie: Presbyterian-United Church school (1895-1950). Children buried at nearby Hillside Cemetery .
3. Norway House: Methodist-United Church school (1900-1974). “Very old” grave site next to former school building, demolished by United Church in 2004.
Ontario:
1. Thunder Bay : Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital , still in operation. Experimental centre. Women and children reported buried adjacent to hospital grounds.
2. Sioux Lookout: Pelican Lake Catholic school (1911-1973). Burials of children in mound near to school.
3. Kenora: Cecilia Jeffrey school, Presbyterian-United Church (1900-1966). Large burial mound east of former school.
4. Fort Albany : St. Anne’s Catholic school (1936-1964). Children killed in electric chair buried next to school.
5. Spanish: Catholic school (1883-1965). Numerous graves.
6. Brantford : Mohawk Institute, Anglican church (1850-1969), building intact. Series of graves in orchard behind school building, under rows of trees.
7. Sault Ste. Marie: Shingwauk Anglican school (1873-1969), some intact buildings. Several graves of children reported on grounds of old school.
Quebec:
1. Montreal : Allan Memorial Institute, McGill University , still in operation since opening in 1940. MKULTRA experimental centre. Mass grave of children killed there north of building, on southern slopes of Mount Royal behind stone wall.
Sources:
- Eyewitness accounts from survivors of these institutions, catalogued in Hidden from History: The Canadian Holocaust (2nd ed., 2005) by Kevin Annett. Other accounts are from local residents. See www.hiddenfromhistory.org .
- Documents and other material from the Department of Indian Affairs RG 10 microfilm series on Indian Residential Schools in Koerner Library, University of B.C.
- Survey data and physical evidence obtained from grave sites in Port Alberni , Mission , and other locations.
This is a partial list and does not include all of the grave sites connected to Indian residential Schools and hospitals across Canada. In many cases, children who were dying of diseases were sent home to die by school and church officials, and the remains of other children who died at the school were incinerated in the residential school furnaces.
This information is submitted by The Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared (FRD) to the world media, the United Nations, and to the International Human Rights Tribunal into Genocide in Canada (IHRTGC). The IHRTGC will commence its investigations on April 15, 2008 on Squamish Nation territory.
For more information on the independent inquiry into genocide in Canada being conducted by the IHRTGC, write to: genocidetribunal@yahoo.ca
10 April, 2008
Squamish Nation Territory (“ Vancouver , Canada ”)
*******************************************************
If yer a Facebookworm, there's a group for this issue. Join up and help tell the MSM we need them doin' some investigative work.
Stageleft has been all over this one and there's some good commentin' there.
JimBobby
8 comments:
If that many children were missing, don't you think someone would have noticed before now? The people who have made this allegation refuse to speak to media, or even the first nations who own the land they claim children are buried on. Big media wants to help, but the accusers are nowhere to be found.
The accusers put out a list of burial sites. I republished it. How can you say the accusers are nowhere to be found. They have identified themselves and have included contact information in their press releases. They can be found very easily.
Thousands of native kids were kidnapped over the 60-odd year history of the residential schools. After they were taken from their traditional homes, many were never seen or heard from again. Who was going to report them missing? The parents knew the government agents had taken their kids away. Were they supposed to report them missing to the same authorities that kidnapped them?
People noticed that these kids were missing. Their families noticed. The media didn't care anymore then that it does now, apparently.
JB
Jimbobby... there are some facts behind this that really make anons comment look especially ignorant. More than 50% of the children who attended residential schools died while there. More than 50% didn't go home again, and their families were told that they had died there. The fact that there are graves shouldn't be the surprising part here, because the numbers of First Nations children who died in the residential schools has been long since established. But the story truly is that they are in mass graves. Personally, I want to believe that what is being said about the exact locations is true, but I don't want to jump to any conclusions yet. I am familiar with two of the schools in Ontario that were mentioned and the people that attended them, so i'm hoping that we can verify some of this information, and the sooner the better
"The people who have made this allegation refuse to speak to media, or even the first nations who own the land they claim children are buried on. Big media wants to help, but the accusers are nowhere to be found.'
Total and utter horseshit! I just saw a program on CTV this afternoon - a rebroadcast from several months ago I should add - with those very people who supposedly won't meet with the media. Who dreams up these lies anyway? Whose guilty ass are you trying to protect Nonnymouse?
It was very odd. The MSM followed our events for over a month, waiting for evidence, and then blacked out the release of the gravesite locations. very odd things like this are common around this issue, due to the government's continuing cover up efforts.
Bloggers help!! Thanks!
Hi,
My name is Bookwilla aka Charlie Thompson, from the Ditidaht 1st Nation. I attended the Alberni Indian Residential School for ten years starting at the age of nine.
While there, I never heard of 'mass graves' as Annett alleges.
It would have been something, we as a group of young children, would have heard whispered about. But, we did not.
It is time that the authorities such as the Tseshaht 1st Nation, take this man to task and once and for all and lead the RCMP investigators to where he claims the 'mass graves' are.
He is and has been doing more harm than good to our people since he went on 'his personal crusade' on saving the poor Indian survivors.
And, more important news outlets should have caught on by now on this man's outrageous claims. Instead you continue to buy into his ridiculous claims and print his headlines.
We, as Survivors of these horrible institutions, have a difficult time as it is without this man claiming that children were 'murdered' at these schools.
Someone please take this man to task for lying and using Survivors for his own personal gain; gain of notoriety.
Bookwilla
There are plenty of eyewitnesses, even if Bookwilla never heard anything about it. Some were murdered and some died of disease and neglect - did you know that residential schools received 1/3 the funding of orphanages? It's in the Royal Commission report on the INAC website.
I wish the band councils WOULD lead investigators to the alleged gravesites, but they seem more interested in keeping their power than finding out what actually happened.
In terms of Kevin Annett, as usual, the messenger is being blamed for the message. He came forward because, as a white man, he felt he had a responsibility to combat what his race had done. And to say that he is using survivors makes it look as if survivors don't have minds of their own and are easily duped.
Actually, I don't care whatever Kevin's shortcomings are; we ALL have them. We who work with him aren't part of a cult of personality - we believe uncovering these outrages is important and that an apology and a bit of money is NOT justice for residential school survivors, as the "Truth & Reconciliation" commission claims.
In terms of "outrageous" claims, yes it is outrageous how many children died at residential schools, so let's spend our time FINDING OUT WHAT HAPPENED!
JimBobby,
I'm all for investigating any of the allegations of supposed mass graves. I also admit that I'm a member of the United Church of Canada, which some might argue makes me biased about this story. However, a lot of this stuff doesn't seem to add up.
Here's a story about this particular fellow, Kevin Annett at thetyee.ca (not exactly mainstream press)
http://thetyee.ca/Views/2008/04/30/TruthAndAbuse/
Now, I would urge researching this further. The numbers don't add up, for starters, and the Squamish First Nations have distanced themselves from Annett.
I know Rev. Bill Phipps, who Annett has accused of helping to cover up the supposed mass graves. I, and everyone else I know who knows him find this suggestion laughable. In fact, Bill led the drive to reconciliation for the residential schools, and if you ask anyone they'll tell you that if there was a conspiracy, Bill would be the first one in there trying to uncover it. Not only that, but the United Church especially has no real reason to hide this stuff. The church nowadays is small, financially insecure, and you'll find more ministers as members of the NDP than willing to conceal such criminal acts by the Canadian state.
The church has done some pretty shameful things in the past for which I am ashamed. But don't confuse the mistakes of the past by simply willing to believe that the churches (Anglican, UCC and Catholic) are capable of doing ANYTHING without gathering all of the facts.
Post a Comment