Infamous Port Alberni residential school dormitory to be demolished Tuesday

Unionist wrote:

Just before I hit "send" on my group email, I wondered whether this is the right thing to do. The article seems to quote Tseshaht leaders and survivors supporting the demolition, as an opportunity to heal, while saying that: "Some have suggested that since the school's main building is no longer standing, the dormitories should remain as a reminder of the atrocities committed within."

What should we do here?

 

There won't be one answer, of course. People will have different opinions, and some won't agree with protesting the demolition.

My concern is possibly destroying evidence just ahead of the  Working group on missing children. I hoped there was already a halt on any demolitions, etc., but apparently not.

Unionist wrote:

I have now received responses from Jack (saying he would task Jean Crowder, Aboriginal affairs critic, with following up) and from the PM (referring it to Chuck Strahl, although I had already cc'ed Strahl). Nothing from Iggy or any of the others yet.

 

Thanks for following up folks. There may still be some time for authorities to act. I would have thought that Dr.John Milloy (TrentU), head of the TRC Working group on missing children, would have called for a moratorium on demolition. I think we have to ask ourselves ... and him ... just exactly what he is doing if not protecting the sites of the disappearances of so many children! However, the TRC is well protected from the public as email addresses are not available, except the general one. Last I heard, it was being received by someone in the Dept of Indian Affairs! Now there are simply no responses at all. The TRC appears to be a black hole where no public views penetrate!

How is THAT independent???

However, it does appear that there is still some time as tomorrow's event is largely symbolic.

[url=http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_central/albernivalleynews/ne... man travels to Valley to watch former residential school building dismantled[/url]

People will be allowed tear the building’s facing away, which they can then place on a fire that is being set specifically to burn it. The entire building won’t be taken down on Feb. 10; it will instead will be demolished by a contractor later, George said.

I can certainly understand the survivors wishes to 'crush the beast'. However, someone also has to speak out for justice for the children who did not survive the school.

It certainly appears that preserving the sites should be Milloy's first priority!!However, perhaps he just wants some 'stories', not the reality of buried children and unmarked graves, or the horrific truth of infants buried between walls and under foundations!

[url=http://www.trentu.ca/newsDetails.aspx?Channel=%2FChannels%2FAdmissions+C...

Historian John Milloy Seeks Out Stories of Residential School Children Who Never Went Home[/url]

Once the graveyards and burial grounds are located and documented, the working group's plan envisions traditional aboriginal ceremonies being conducted at the sites to "ask the spirits of the missing children" to return home to their communities. The second phase of the massive research project is more ambitious and complicated because it will require Canada's provinces to open up confidential and sensitive files.

“The goals of this project - identifying those who died in the schools or who went and remain missing, as well as documenting the burial grounds and those children buried there – have a very high priority with residential school survivors and the families and communities of the dead and disappeared,” explained Prof. Milloy. “A thorough and transparent review of all documentation held by the government and the churches as well as a respectful process of collecting the oral record will not only bring closure to many but will symbolize the willingness of Canada to expose the truth fully and will be therefore an important contribution to reconciliation.”

I REALLY question the work of the TRC. It is quite apparent that it works FOR the Government of Canada, not independently as it is mandated to.

I personally believe very strongly that it should be turned over to the appropriate independent INTERNATIONAL body.If you have similar concerns, please contact ICTJ.

ICTJ Offices New York Office (Headquarters) 5 Hanover Square. Floor 24 New York, NY USA 10004 Click for directions Google Map of office location Tel: +1 917 637 3800 Fax: +1 917 637 3900 [email protected]

[email protected]

[url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081103.wcotruth04/B... and Mail article by Eduardo Gonzalez of ICTJ[/url]

As The Globe and Mail has reported, bodies of aboriginal children lie in unmarked graves across Canada, on the grounds of residential schools where the federal government sought for more than a century to extinguish aboriginal culture.

... many of the children are thought to be in the anonymous graves at the school sites. It is their memory that Canada should honour as it presses forward with its historic truth commission, and works to achieve a healthier, more united country.

Eduardo Gonzalez is deputy director of the Americas program at the International Center for Transitional Justice and a former staff member of the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

 The question in my mind today is ... IF there is no attempt to preserve the sites of possible deatrhs/burial/graves, is this a real investigation by John Milloy or just a pretense?

 Recallig that the Working group on missing children was never part of the TRC mandate, UNTIL protesters and media and finally an MP demanded action to investigate deaths in the schools. The Working group was formed, but not funded, and seems to be, frankly, just a pretense to me.

John Milloy is an 'apologist' for genocide, who already concluded in his slyly named book 'A National Crime' that there was no intention to commit genocide, just thousands upon thousands of 'accidental' deaths. <Yes, that's sarcasm>.

I think he should be forced to respond about this issue.

For those who don't know, the Globe and Mail did an independent investigation of government records and confirmed Kevin Annett's findings. I want to again thank the Globe for addressing this issue:

[url=http://canadiandimension.com/articles/2007/04/29/1086/]Natives died in droves as Ottawa ignored warnings[/url]

Bill Curry and Karen Howlett

Globe and Mail April 24, 2007

Globe and Mail April 24, 2007

As many as half of the aboriginal children who attended the early years of residential schools died of tuberculosis, despite repeated warnings to the federal government that overcrowding, poor sanitation and a lack of medical care were creating a toxic breeding ground for the rapid spread of the disease, documents show.

remind wrote:

Someone at the NDP communications office better get their information straight theTseshaht are NOT Coast Salish, they are of the Nuu-Cha-Nulth nation. Formerly labelled a "Nootka".

 

Thanks for the clarification, remind.

I want to share an observation so people know where I'm coming from.

Well ... now that I look at it, maybe a couple of points. lol

This is the mandate of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, developed in collaboration with the AFN and survivor groups.

http://www.residentialschoolsettlement.ca/SCHEDULE_N.pdf

Nowhere in the TRC Mandate does it acknowledge the fact that children died and disappeared in the schools and some may be buried there. The word "death" (etc) does not appear.

This TRC Mandate was part of the (court) Settlement Agreement (2006), developed well after the RCAP report and chapter on Residential Schools (1996). The RCAP chapter on residential schools, researched by John Milloy, shows 20 incidences of the word "death", the first one here:

Those conditions constituted the context for the neglect, abuse and
death of an incalculable number of children and for immeasurable damage to Aboriginal communities.

then here ... 

The cumulative weight of underfunding of the system throughout this period, which pressed down on the balance books of the churches and the
department and drove individual schools into debt, was nothing compared
to its consequences for the schools and their students. Badly built, poorly
maintained and overcrowded, the schools' deplorable conditions were a
dreadful weight that pressed down on the thousands of children who
attended them. For many of those children it proved to be a mortal weight. Scott, reviewing the history of the system for the new minister, Arthur Meighen, in 1918, noted that the buildings were "undoubtedly chargeable with a very high death rate among the pupils."

 ... and so on.

It is this avoidance of the topic of missing children by the TRC - dead or disappeared - that concerns me. Frankly I think the government(s) of Canada would like to avoid the issue entirely, but that isn't right.

It's understandable that as the Truth and Reconciliation begins its work, Indigenous communities are reflecting on ceremonies and healing, and I certainly understand their desire to pull, sledgehammer, and/or burn the places down asap!

My concern is that significant evidence related to the missing children might thus be lost, and that 'forces' may be at work to help that happen.

Of course, Port Alberni School is infamous because it's Kevin Annett's former parish where former students spoke from his pulpit about deaths in the school, burials on the hill and infants/fetuses entombed in buildings.

There are some people in government and throughout Canada including in Indigenous communities who might like to glide over the painful 'truth' part, and just 'put it behind us' and 'get on with healing' and with reconciliation.

I don't see reconciliation working at all unless the whole truth is clearly told to all Canadians.  Maybe I'm wrong in thinking that, but the story certainly does not end at cultural, physical and sexual abuse.

To date, on the issue of the death of children in the schools, the government, INAC and the TRC itself have acted only in response to public pressure, and then only marginally: John Milloy (TrentU) has a contract to review records looking for evidence of children's deaths and of locations of burial. That will take years. By the time that is completed, all existing physical evidence may be destroyed as communities (understandably) want to destroy the buildings and reuse the sites.

 The Truth and Reconciliation Commission itself has only office staff in attendance, it seems. However, I think we all know that Indian Affairs is still pulling the strings on the Commission, and [email protected] is the prime contact, as indicated above by Harper.

At a minimum, there should be physical investigations by experts onsite to locate possible burial locations without disturbing anything, imo.

LeighT wrote:

thanks for updates.

a) The ceremony held with survivors needs to respected.

b) The demolition is not going to take place tomorrow, which is good news. 

c) There is still insufficient information regarding the process of the demolition, reported above to be done by a contractor.  It is still unclear  whether the mandate of the Working Group on Missing Children will be upheld before the demolition, and if the requests of families and  indigenous groups for full investigation will be met or not.

d) I'll admit I'm a bit ticked, saga, that it appears you did this call-out on your own, and not in support of a particular current effort of a local group.  That makes it difficult to trust your judgement/call-outs in future. Nevertheless I stand by the concerns stated in my letter, and above, that given the history of the situation, demolition should not occur before full investigation.  Even then there should be full oversight by affected groups, including survivors if they so desire.  As one survivor quoted in the bclocal article said, he wants to "tear the whole place down [him]self,”.  It might increase the levels of accountability.

thanks again for updates on this.

I think we all hope when we send things out that others will send them on to their contacts, and that's what I do, to some effect. I don't claim to speak for anyone but myself, and I don't ask anyone to trust my judgment: I ask them to use their own, as people here have done. There will always be different perspectives in this babble community and others.

I am glad to hear that the Alberni ceremony can go forward, and is separate from the actual demolition.

I certainly agree that investigations should be done before any more demolitions. However, now that I've looked at it again, it appears that John Milloy's mandate includes only records, not any site investigation at all. I just don't think that's adequate.

[url=http://news.scotsman.com/world/Playground-bones--force-Canada.4845558.jp... bones ...[/url]

Since there are no Commissioners at present, I expect only Strahl can send the order to local Band offices to stop any demolitions or disturbances of residential school sites.

ps. I think some of the Tseshaht emails went through.

Well, I have to give the Alberni Valley News credit for printing this letter from Kevin Annett: [url=http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_central/albernivalleynews/op... move to demolish residential school buildings is happening now, I suggest, because of a panic by the government and churches and their need to hide the growing evidence of the deaths of thousands of children in these institutions.[/url]
  And there is also this update from the Council: [url=http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_central/albernivalleynews/ne... privacy paramount during dismantling of residential school building[/url]  

Former residential school residents will be allowed to take part in dismantling the dormitory they once lived in, but the event will largely be a private one.

“I want to take a sledgehammer in my damn hands and tear the whole place down myself,” said Ray Guno, 63. “I hated what that system did to us.”

The former Tseshaht First Nation administration building is being demolished on Feb. 10 at noon. At one time named Peake Hall, the building had historically been used as a dormitory housing Grade 11 and 12 students. They lived, slept and ate in the building for 10 months out of the year.

According to Tseshaht councillor Williard Gallic, the event will be traumatic for many, and therefore privacy is in order. "We won't be allowing any pictures to be taken during the tear down," he said. "We want to give people respect and privacy when they say their farewell to those bad times."

A cleansing will also take place, as well as a meal at Maht Mahs gym, Gallic said. Media will be allowed to take pictures and conduct interviews at 3 p.m., he added.

  .....  And some background from 1998 ... [url=http://www.firstnationsdrum.com/education/Default.htm]Alberni School Victim Speaks Out[/url]

RevolutionPlease wrote:

I'm impressed with your courage to speak up when others might not be brave enough to saga.  Thank you, there is no need to rush here.  Because of history, even more reason to go slow.

 

At the risk of sounding rude, I'd even say that to the survivors.  "Our people have disappeared".

Thx rev.

We were concerned about the demolition date tomorrow, but that's just ceremonial. I hope the publicity will slow it down more.

 However, it points out the problem of possible disturbances to sites before the Truth Commission. Unfortunately, the 'Commission' doesn't exist at the moment, and no such directive has ever gone out.

LeighT wrote:

saga, your comment is reasonable; "At a minimum, there should be physical investigations by experts onsite to locate possible burial locations without disturbing anything", and with community representatives involved.

Where are the groups formerly involved in the process?, eg.

Mike Cachagee, the chairman of the National Residential Schools Survivors' Society (from the 'Playground Bones' article you've linked).

 

Forward to as many contacts as you can think of.

As for investigation, I think a surface mapping team should be made  available to every First Nation community, under their direction, to map the surface of the grounds of residential schools to locate possible burial sites that may not be marked, if they choose to.

However, that is expensive technology and not high priority right now since the Commission is still 'out of commission' (so to speak) ... and it would likely take moving a mountain ... but that's never entirely out of the question. 

thx babble!

Leigh T,

Just checked the 'quote'. I just want to point out that I do not wait for permission or direction from government funded organizations such as the Working Group, AFN, survivor groups or Band Councils.

It's our governments that created the issue of children dying in the schools. It's our governments that created divisions within Indigenous communities, and continue to play those divisions to their advantage, especially to cover up the extent of death and dying in the schools. It's our governments that continue to ignore evidence being destroyed, because it's in their interests to do so. It's our governments that promote the conclusion that it was all 'accidental' and there was no 'intention' to destroy Indigenous Peoples.

The government would be very pleased if all of the communities decided to destroy whatever evidence is left. However, I see that as just playing into the governments' hands once again.

My hope is that the flurry of emails, news, and discussion will bring about an official or unofficial moratorium on demolition until proper independent investigations can be conducted.

The children who did not survive do not have an official 'voice', and they deserve one just as much as survivors. You have to ask yourself why, in all the discussions that went into the TRC mandate, no one included any mention of the children who died in the schools. The government works in devious ways.

If we've only created discussion and consideration in some Indigenous communities for the children who are still missing, then that's progress.

 My target is on the actions or inaction of my own governments, though I keep Indigenous communities informed of my actions as well.