Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for standing up for the Indigenous peoples of this country, for calling attention to the ongoing resistance to true justice and reconciliation. Keep it up.
The Canadian government has lied about justice for Aboriginal peoples for so long. So much money has been spent on lawyers defending racist laws, unfair and unequal practices, instead of actual services for Aboriginal peoples. The more we uncover the more unfairness is revealed. The RCMP have been beating up people on their own land to build pipelines. We have a racist, unfair government, nicer than the U.S. but still unfair.
How much money did the federal government pay to have the pope visit Canada to issue formal apologies?
Why would the federal government be paying anything for protection of the pope when the Catholic Church has more money than God and hoards it instead of paying restitution by the abuse perpetuated by the Catholic Church.
This is not just a first nations problem. Many survivors of sexual abuse by catholic priests has gone unanswered and witnessing the church shuffling priests around without warning to new congregations was their answer.
I place a lot of responsibility on the Catholic Church which they have never accepted.
Charlie. Thank you so much for this detailed history of the failure of our government to responsibly acknowledge the harm done in these residential schools. And for being a leader in the St. Anne’s residents’ fight for Justice.
It has always been a source of embarrassment and shame to me the way the residential survivors of the Aboriginal community were treated by our government. Spending all that money in the court system defending themselves was further abuse that to me cut so very deep. And the role of the Catholic Church was unspeakable and absolutely cringeworthy in it’s attempts to hide the abuse meted out by its priests and nuns. And to avoid the payments imposed on them by the courts. These victims of the most appalling abuse should not have to still be asking for Justice.
"The power of the colonial state was still present." Thank you, Mr. Angus, for this chilling, but necessary historical summary. My outrage is amplified by having been raised in the Roman Catholic Church.
Could there be more to this story? At this point not one of the 106 comments references the book Grave Error. You might want to give it a look see if you are unaware of it as it presents a somewhat different perspective that is at least worth some consideration.
And thankfully you're the first to reference this racist-to-the-core book (published by right-wing platform True North with one of its authors, Tom Flanagan, well known for his opposition to Indigenous rights) peddling residential school denialism. How you have the nerve to do this after reading what Charlie wrote is beyond me. A grave error on your part.
Glad to see you are retired. This is a multi-generational process, and getting those blindly loyal to British and Canadian settler-colonialism out of the bureaucracy and workforce in general will be an important step.
I am disgusted by the pettiness of the legal thinking on the part of Justice Department lawyers: Defend the Employer, i.e. the Canadian State! Adversarial lawyering and trickery all the way. Those lawyers and their bosses, meaning the entire chain of command, are intellectually and emotionally deficient, in my opinion. I am ashamed. Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Charlie. To the Indigenous children forced to attend that hellhole, I apologize to you. Please accept my profound sympathies, my prayers and my blessings for your healing.
Seems there's always a dark side. A national day of reconciliation is wonderful, and I'm glad we have it. But this story of how one particular school's story had to be hidden from full view is disturbing......and somehow irrational.
What possible motive could our government have for silencing St Anne survivors?? I'm surprised they got away with it.
Thanks Charlie , this was a great article outlying the hurtles still in place towards the National recognition of this tragedy. I am angry at the Supreme Court and the Government of Canada . There is no will to take corrective action. This issue will fester and destroy the legitimacy of the Canadian Government until it is resolved. I am so disappointed and disillusioned . Canada must be better than this.
Thank you Charlie! The St Ann’s case should have been openly dealt will, all that government money to lawyers would have been better spent on the victims. My heart goes out to all those who suffered these awful indignities, the physical and verbal beatings, the cover ups, the lies from those meant to protect children. My family experienced such abuses and it destroyed some of their lives, they carried a burden to big for any child. My father was of European decent but was put into an Orphanage during the 1930s Great Depression, the same kinds of things occurred there. But in fairness, he told me of some wonderful people who worked in the Orphanage with the children, some of the Nuns were strict about education and tidiness but they were fair and gentle when children needed comfort and love. Some of the Priests were truly wonderful amazing people, who took their jobs seriously. They really believed they were helping homeless children, and native children have a better life. My father would not have survived if not for them and he got the education he needed to be successful in life. Many Indigenous parents wanted their children to get an education because schools were few and far between on the prairies back then. But often times their government funding requests were denied or medical care was not sent, or abuse investigations not followed up on. The school administrators were in a difficult position without much support at all from those in power. We must try to remember all those people who did care and try not to put out the image that every person who worked in these government run schools and orphanages were awfully bad people. One or two bad apples can ruin the whole barrel. They should have been rooted out and tossed away.
Hi Darlene, I for one relate to your expression of empathy and the sadness for all the injustice done . I also know that the whole of the then Religious system should not be painted with the same brush . I am positive that the knowledge and reports of abuse, had to be disdainful for most of the members of that religious order. These actions were undoubtedly reported but intentionally ignored by those who feared the stigma that came with the "cruelty /unholy and impure" actions committed by these priests and nuns.. The complex rules and regulations of all Religious Orders of that area , were controlled by silence and obedience. Obedient to the Church rulers ie: Bishops /priests and silenced by the ie: Mother Superior of each Order / and each House Mother! Most Nuns were regimented and strict but not cruel . Some Priests thought themselves more entitled due to their position and others wore their religious vows with kindness and humility. But still the children suffered from the unjust actions of a society that failed them!
💯agreed, well said. Coming from an Indigenous Catholic background my great grandmother and myself looked forward to visits from our local Priest. He brought food, blessings and kindness to our little old shack. Some of the sisters would come and visit us on special occasions bringing gifts. But, stories from my teen female cousin who worked in the kitchen at a residential school revealed that some of the priests were not so godly. She had to fight a few of them off and finally quit because of that. Her parents simply could not believe that it was happening and blamed her instead. This was a common occurance, children were not believed because the system was designed to cover up crimes. It is good that these crimes are being exposed, although it’s too late for my three uncles who were abused and drank themselves to death because of racial discrimination and their painful childhoods. Thankfully, my mother went to public school, but often had to fight with mean white girls. Back then a half white half Indigenous person was hated by both sides. They were lost culturally and had no clear identities. Any blond blue eyed children in residential schools were doubled down on by both sides and it was exceptionally hard on them. So, injustices are everywhere, and in every culture, even today where children are separated from their parents and dying in America’s concentration camps.
I think you put your finger on a difficult issue in your last sentence, Darlene. I am sure there were some very decent people working in these schools and in children's homes and orphanages, but the abuses were so horrific and so widespread, I don't see how everyone working there did not know what was going on. I know folks stay quiet for many reasons, but I find that very hard to accept.
I agree completely, silence is not the answer, but fear and isolation are powerful tools of control making people submit to and ignore the most horrific crimes against humanity. Sexual abuses were rampant in those days, a girl was married by the time she was 16 years old on the farms. Indigenous people practiced human trafficking, planned marriages, child brides, homosexuality, long before any Europeans came to the country. Authorities were not blind they were complicit in not caring what was really happening, which made it difficult for any woman to go to the police. We feel the pain of the children’s suffering in our history and throughout time. Right now, children are being held in ICE detention centres in America, separated from their parents, let’s not forge them too.
In religious schools I suspect back then the power of the priests went unquestioned. We're all over the rising authoritarianism in the States right now, but too often, we don't connect all the dots and remember/figure out.......where authoritarianism starts.......
It's with All powerful Authorities.....we've had those in church and state for as long as I can remember. Just now, they're intent on clawing back any power that women, people of colour or all those 'others' have gained in the last decades....
We heard what Pete Hegseth said to his generals......'no more of that shit'.
There is nothing Pete Hegseth says that even hints that he’s not a racist bigot intent on taking Indigenous lands across the country.
Injustices have happened across history and have never been fairly resolved for all parties if people. We can only try to keep putting one foot in front of the other on a highway toward true acceptance of each other through Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Greed, Power, division and hate will only drift us apart, we are one humanity, living on one planet in one solar system. We need each other more than ever to work together.
While the Trumpsters are doing real damage, they are also only the latest manifestation of America's latent fascism. Years ago, I read Derrick Jenson's book.......A CULTURE OF MAKE BELIEVE, I think that's the title, though I may have the article wrong.
The stories he dug up from the early to mid years of the 20th C....up to that terrible Bhopal disaster of a few years ago.........curled the hair.
The real challenge we face is the challenge of global warming. And the real enemy of the current Repugs (a party Noam Chomsky called the most dangerous organization on earth) is the truth that fossil fuel use has to end.
They could ignore the science as long as they thought there was no alternative.....but now that there is, and a solar economy is rising.....they've decided only dictatorship will keep the black crud flowing.
Those masked thugs calling themselves ICE??? Every fascist knows you start by demonizing those without power. That any human goes that cowardly road......likely says a lot about how bad the state of American capitalism really is these days. More of us should have read our Marx...he told us that at the end, monopoly capitalism has to cannibalize its own people.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for standing up for the Indigenous peoples of this country, for calling attention to the ongoing resistance to true justice and reconciliation. Keep it up.
I had no idea any of this happened. I am appalled.
The Canadian government has lied about justice for Aboriginal peoples for so long. So much money has been spent on lawyers defending racist laws, unfair and unequal practices, instead of actual services for Aboriginal peoples. The more we uncover the more unfairness is revealed. The RCMP have been beating up people on their own land to build pipelines. We have a racist, unfair government, nicer than the U.S. but still unfair.
How much money did the federal government pay to have the pope visit Canada to issue formal apologies?
Why would the federal government be paying anything for protection of the pope when the Catholic Church has more money than God and hoards it instead of paying restitution by the abuse perpetuated by the Catholic Church.
This is not just a first nations problem. Many survivors of sexual abuse by catholic priests has gone unanswered and witnessing the church shuffling priests around without warning to new congregations was their answer.
I place a lot of responsibility on the Catholic Church which they have never accepted.
An apology is not enough.
Charlie. Thank you so much for this detailed history of the failure of our government to responsibly acknowledge the harm done in these residential schools. And for being a leader in the St. Anne’s residents’ fight for Justice.
It has always been a source of embarrassment and shame to me the way the residential survivors of the Aboriginal community were treated by our government. Spending all that money in the court system defending themselves was further abuse that to me cut so very deep. And the role of the Catholic Church was unspeakable and absolutely cringeworthy in it’s attempts to hide the abuse meted out by its priests and nuns. And to avoid the payments imposed on them by the courts. These victims of the most appalling abuse should not have to still be asking for Justice.
"The power of the colonial state was still present." Thank you, Mr. Angus, for this chilling, but necessary historical summary. My outrage is amplified by having been raised in the Roman Catholic Church.
Thank you for this. I had no part in any of this yet as a Canadian I am ashamed.
Provinces have evaded their responsibilities to investigate this crime, allowing conservatives to all the victims liars.
Only 94 recommendations made by the TRC have been implemented. Shameful.
Could there be more to this story? At this point not one of the 106 comments references the book Grave Error. You might want to give it a look see if you are unaware of it as it presents a somewhat different perspective that is at least worth some consideration.
And thankfully you're the first to reference this racist-to-the-core book (published by right-wing platform True North with one of its authors, Tom Flanagan, well known for his opposition to Indigenous rights) peddling residential school denialism. How you have the nerve to do this after reading what Charlie wrote is beyond me. A grave error on your part.
https://theconversation.com/confronting-residential-schools-denialism-is-an-ethical-and-shared-canadian-responsibility-265127
Glad to see you are retired. This is a multi-generational process, and getting those blindly loyal to British and Canadian settler-colonialism out of the bureaucracy and workforce in general will be an important step.
I am disgusted by the pettiness of the legal thinking on the part of Justice Department lawyers: Defend the Employer, i.e. the Canadian State! Adversarial lawyering and trickery all the way. Those lawyers and their bosses, meaning the entire chain of command, are intellectually and emotionally deficient, in my opinion. I am ashamed. Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Charlie. To the Indigenous children forced to attend that hellhole, I apologize to you. Please accept my profound sympathies, my prayers and my blessings for your healing.
It makes me sick that these survivors have basically been abused twice - first by the school/church and then by the government. For what? Over money?
Son of a !!!
Seems there's always a dark side. A national day of reconciliation is wonderful, and I'm glad we have it. But this story of how one particular school's story had to be hidden from full view is disturbing......and somehow irrational.
What possible motive could our government have for silencing St Anne survivors?? I'm surprised they got away with it.
Thanks Charlie , this was a great article outlying the hurtles still in place towards the National recognition of this tragedy. I am angry at the Supreme Court and the Government of Canada . There is no will to take corrective action. This issue will fester and destroy the legitimacy of the Canadian Government until it is resolved. I am so disappointed and disillusioned . Canada must be better than this.
Thank you Charlie! The St Ann’s case should have been openly dealt will, all that government money to lawyers would have been better spent on the victims. My heart goes out to all those who suffered these awful indignities, the physical and verbal beatings, the cover ups, the lies from those meant to protect children. My family experienced such abuses and it destroyed some of their lives, they carried a burden to big for any child. My father was of European decent but was put into an Orphanage during the 1930s Great Depression, the same kinds of things occurred there. But in fairness, he told me of some wonderful people who worked in the Orphanage with the children, some of the Nuns were strict about education and tidiness but they were fair and gentle when children needed comfort and love. Some of the Priests were truly wonderful amazing people, who took their jobs seriously. They really believed they were helping homeless children, and native children have a better life. My father would not have survived if not for them and he got the education he needed to be successful in life. Many Indigenous parents wanted their children to get an education because schools were few and far between on the prairies back then. But often times their government funding requests were denied or medical care was not sent, or abuse investigations not followed up on. The school administrators were in a difficult position without much support at all from those in power. We must try to remember all those people who did care and try not to put out the image that every person who worked in these government run schools and orphanages were awfully bad people. One or two bad apples can ruin the whole barrel. They should have been rooted out and tossed away.
Hi Darlene, I for one relate to your expression of empathy and the sadness for all the injustice done . I also know that the whole of the then Religious system should not be painted with the same brush . I am positive that the knowledge and reports of abuse, had to be disdainful for most of the members of that religious order. These actions were undoubtedly reported but intentionally ignored by those who feared the stigma that came with the "cruelty /unholy and impure" actions committed by these priests and nuns.. The complex rules and regulations of all Religious Orders of that area , were controlled by silence and obedience. Obedient to the Church rulers ie: Bishops /priests and silenced by the ie: Mother Superior of each Order / and each House Mother! Most Nuns were regimented and strict but not cruel . Some Priests thought themselves more entitled due to their position and others wore their religious vows with kindness and humility. But still the children suffered from the unjust actions of a society that failed them!
💯agreed, well said. Coming from an Indigenous Catholic background my great grandmother and myself looked forward to visits from our local Priest. He brought food, blessings and kindness to our little old shack. Some of the sisters would come and visit us on special occasions bringing gifts. But, stories from my teen female cousin who worked in the kitchen at a residential school revealed that some of the priests were not so godly. She had to fight a few of them off and finally quit because of that. Her parents simply could not believe that it was happening and blamed her instead. This was a common occurance, children were not believed because the system was designed to cover up crimes. It is good that these crimes are being exposed, although it’s too late for my three uncles who were abused and drank themselves to death because of racial discrimination and their painful childhoods. Thankfully, my mother went to public school, but often had to fight with mean white girls. Back then a half white half Indigenous person was hated by both sides. They were lost culturally and had no clear identities. Any blond blue eyed children in residential schools were doubled down on by both sides and it was exceptionally hard on them. So, injustices are everywhere, and in every culture, even today where children are separated from their parents and dying in America’s concentration camps.
I think you put your finger on a difficult issue in your last sentence, Darlene. I am sure there were some very decent people working in these schools and in children's homes and orphanages, but the abuses were so horrific and so widespread, I don't see how everyone working there did not know what was going on. I know folks stay quiet for many reasons, but I find that very hard to accept.
I hope we are all wiser now.
I agree completely, silence is not the answer, but fear and isolation are powerful tools of control making people submit to and ignore the most horrific crimes against humanity. Sexual abuses were rampant in those days, a girl was married by the time she was 16 years old on the farms. Indigenous people practiced human trafficking, planned marriages, child brides, homosexuality, long before any Europeans came to the country. Authorities were not blind they were complicit in not caring what was really happening, which made it difficult for any woman to go to the police. We feel the pain of the children’s suffering in our history and throughout time. Right now, children are being held in ICE detention centres in America, separated from their parents, let’s not forge them too.
In religious schools I suspect back then the power of the priests went unquestioned. We're all over the rising authoritarianism in the States right now, but too often, we don't connect all the dots and remember/figure out.......where authoritarianism starts.......
It's with All powerful Authorities.....we've had those in church and state for as long as I can remember. Just now, they're intent on clawing back any power that women, people of colour or all those 'others' have gained in the last decades....
We heard what Pete Hegseth said to his generals......'no more of that shit'.
There is nothing Pete Hegseth says that even hints that he’s not a racist bigot intent on taking Indigenous lands across the country.
Injustices have happened across history and have never been fairly resolved for all parties if people. We can only try to keep putting one foot in front of the other on a highway toward true acceptance of each other through Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Greed, Power, division and hate will only drift us apart, we are one humanity, living on one planet in one solar system. We need each other more than ever to work together.
While the Trumpsters are doing real damage, they are also only the latest manifestation of America's latent fascism. Years ago, I read Derrick Jenson's book.......A CULTURE OF MAKE BELIEVE, I think that's the title, though I may have the article wrong.
The stories he dug up from the early to mid years of the 20th C....up to that terrible Bhopal disaster of a few years ago.........curled the hair.
The real challenge we face is the challenge of global warming. And the real enemy of the current Repugs (a party Noam Chomsky called the most dangerous organization on earth) is the truth that fossil fuel use has to end.
They could ignore the science as long as they thought there was no alternative.....but now that there is, and a solar economy is rising.....they've decided only dictatorship will keep the black crud flowing.
Those masked thugs calling themselves ICE??? Every fascist knows you start by demonizing those without power. That any human goes that cowardly road......likely says a lot about how bad the state of American capitalism really is these days. More of us should have read our Marx...he told us that at the end, monopoly capitalism has to cannibalize its own people.
And here we are.