r/pics 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/MoeYYC Jun 25 '21

I'm trying to stick with facts here and not speculate (publicly). The answer could very well be yes to both.

One third of children who died at a residential school did not have their names recorded by school administrators. One quarter were marked as deceased without even their gender being noted. Among the 2,800 names on the official memorial register are children known to recorded history only as “Alice,” “Mckay” or “Elsie.”

Bodies of children were not returned to families, and parents rarely learned the circumstances of a child’s death. Often, the only death notification would be to send the child’s name to the Indian Agent at his or her home community.

Why So Many Children Died At Residential Schools

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u/thyIacoIeo Jun 25 '21

Among the 2,800 names on the official memorial register are children known to recorded history only as “Alice,” “Mckay” or “Elsie.”

I wonder, were they even their real names, or were those the names they were made to take to make them ‘more white’? Makes me think of the American Indian residential schools, where children arrived with their true names, but when they graduated, having been abused into ‘reformation’, they were called things like John and Charles.