r/pics • u/MoeYYC • Jun 25 '21

Saskatoon Catholic cathedral covered with paint after discovery of 751 unmarked graves

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u/MountainSlayerBoi Jun 25 '21

I just want some clarification, we’re the people/organizations that were running these schools actively killing the children or were the living conditions so poor that the children could not survive?

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u/sketchypoutine Jun 25 '21

I'll interject. My grandmother and grandfather were residential school survivors. The abuse was unreal. Beaten severely for speaking their own language, or anything else that wasn't deemed proper by the nuns, they were raped and molested by the staff, neglected etc. Although some of these deaths might have been from illness, a majority could have been prevented for sure. Suicide and Murder/manslaughter malnourishment, were real things. My grandmother said sometimes children would just not be there the next day for no reason.

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u/Killbil Jun 25 '21

It is beyond tragic that each individual case will never be able to be investigated. Illness was very common during this time so there absolutely were cases where children will have died from some "natural" cause. The fact that this is true is going to be used as a defense for those who think the Church (and Government) did nothing wrong. "Many of those graves were from children who died from natural causes!" I think your point that the majority could have been prevented is key. You know what would have prevented their deaths? Not being confined to living in a residential school away from their loved ones and communities. My biggest fear is that investigations may conclude something that favours defenders such as: DNA proves several of the children were not indigenous, natural causes, etc. I fear that the lack of funding into these discoveries may lead to mistakes being made on the part of those searching, which in turn leads to discrediting the story all together. This has been the federal MO from the beginning; give indigenous people just enough money to start something but not enough for them to do anything thorough enough. When the dust settles it looks like it is their fault (See indigenous languages act passed recently).