Blue Quills University

Inside the search for the unmarked graves of children lost to Indian Residential Schools — Podcast

Retrieved on: 
星期四, 九月 28, 2023
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More than 150,000 Indigenous children from across Canada were forced to attend Indian Residential Schools.

Key Points: 
  • More than 150,000 Indigenous children from across Canada were forced to attend Indian Residential Schools.
  • Now, there are ongoing efforts to find the final resting places of those missing children.
  • As we approach the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we take you inside the ongoing quest to document the children who died in Canada’s Indian Residential Schools system.
  • She says the number of unmarked graves across the country is much higher than many of us could have imagined.

Residential school deaths are significantly higher than previously reported

Retrieved on: 
星期四, 九月 28, 2023
Survivor, Learning, National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, University, Distortion, Culture, First Nations, GPR, Research, Mental, Terminology, Blue Quills University, Saddle Lake Cree Nation, Indigenous peoples, Death, School, Grief, Radar, Beauty, Hope, Love, Genocide, SMR, Mortality, Knowledge, Trauma, Grave, Education, Wellness, Interior design, Residential care, Pharmaceutical industry, Surveying, Life insurance, Tutoring, Hospital, Entertainment, Nursing

Over the past year I have worked at University nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills (UnBQ) as the Indian Residential School Coordinator.

Key Points: 
  • Over the past year I have worked at University nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills (UnBQ) as the Indian Residential School Coordinator.
  • There, I spent time speaking with survivors of Indian Residential Schools and I also helped conduct a search for grave sites of missing children.
  • Listening to the truths of residential school survivors was a stark reminder that we need to continue educating people about what happened at these schools, both for Indigenous and non-Indigenous folks.
  • Despite the irrefutable evidence, there are still those who deny or refuse to acknowledge the abuse and deaths of Indigenous children in residential schools.

Survivor testimonies help lead the search

    • Our initial findings released publicly on April 19 identified 19 “reflections of interest” on 1.29 acres of land.
    • The term “reflections of interest” is used to describe traits that are similar in ground penetrating radar data (GPR).
    • This is only the start of the search process as UnBQ is located on 240 acres of land.

Addressing residential school denialism

    • In-depth measuring of the deaths of residential school students is critical to research and communities to help provide clearer understandings of the lives of these children across Canada.
    • Denialists may argue that uncovering a certain number of graves is not indicative of problematic conditions in the schools.
    • Indigenous scholars, leaders and survivors have long known that the number of deaths of children in residential schools was substantial.

Compassion as we mourn

    • I honour his wish by learning, unlearning and educating in systems that were not made for me.
    • Education is healing and it offers people an opportunity to understand, unlearn and relearn the truths of this country.
    • The intergenerational trauma of residential schools has interrupted and challenged our Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing.
    • We need to be more compassionate with one another, as people, but also as practitioners working with Indigenous families.
    • Mental health support is available through the Hope for Wellness chatline at 1-855-242-3310 or using the chat box at hopeforwellness.ca.