Wednesday, July 7, 2021

 July 7, 2021


I began to plan this week’s Wednesday’s Words the day after I’d penned and posted last week’s essay. You see, the day after June 30th was July 1st. Canada Day. Thinking of the day, and it’s meaning, my heart and mind were on the gruesome discoveries that had rocked our nation over the past month.

Adding to my sense of tragedy was the announcement on June 30th of the latest discovery of 182 unmarked graves found near Cranbrook, British Columbia; this number is added to the 215 found near Kamloops (also in British Columbia) and 751 that were found in Saskatchewan. All of these graves are located at or near the sites of former Residential schools.

What was the residential school system in Canada? First established in the 1860s, it was a horrible creation born out the same kind of arrogance that gave birth to the mission mindset of the 1600s. Believing their religion meant that their society, mores, and every other aspect of being to be superior to the lifestyle of Indigenous peoples, the government of Canada, beginning in the 1860s (Canada was created in 1867) decided to commission “schools” for Indigenous children. These schools were run by the churches. In the early years of this institution, children were forcefully taken from their families, and their communities and then placed into these schools where, quite bluntly the goal was to “erase their own race and make them white”. They would be beaten and abused for speaking their native languages, or attempting to live according to their own cultural traditions.

Survivors of this system have testified of horrendous abuse in every form—physical, emotional, psychological and sexual.

When I first heard of the existence this abhorrent system, it was in high school, and while there was no mention at that time in Canadian teaching about the “abuse” that in hindsight seems to be the true purpose of this system, abuse doled out by the people running these facilities, the entire concept in my teenage mind had been abusive and abhorrent. Even without knowing about the beatings and the rapes, to me, forcibly taking children from their families was an unthinkable evil.

How dare they believe they had the right to steal those children? How dare they have the right to steal mothers and fathers from those children?

I believe there’s a natural law in the universe that few people in those days knew existed—and judging from what I’ve witnessed in my life, even fewer do, today. I’ll express it like this: if you have to harm another to prove you’re superior, all you’re really proving is that in fact, you are not.

The Ktunaxa Nation within Canada is made up of four bands of Indigenous peoples, and it was one of these bands that made the latest discovery on June 30th of 182 unmarked graves. As one can understand, after news of this discovery became known, a furor erupted, and most people, me included, immediately assumed the worst. I assumed that here was yet another example of the egregious treatment handed out on behalf of our government, in our names, by those running the residential school system.

The band itself issued a news release cautioning this rush to judgement. Before the St. Eugene residential school came into being (1912-1970) there had been a hospital adjacent to the established cemetery, where these graves were discovered. In their release, the band asked for patience while an extensive investigation is conducted. Their release included this, which I have copied and pasted from their release: 

Graves were traditionally marked with wooden crosses and this practice continues to this day in many Indigenous communities across Canada. Wooden crosses can deteriorate over time due to erosion or fire which can result in an unmarked grave.

You can read the entire news release here: https://www.aqam.net/sites/default/files/20210630%20-%20aqam%20media%20Release%20-%20Statement%20on%20discovery%20of%20unmarked%20graves.pdf

I repent the existence of the Residential School system, as it was deployed, and mourn the damage done to the Indigenous nations and also the loss of any and all lives because of it. I am grateful for the stance taken by the ʔaq ̓ am band, and I agree completely with the sentiment of their news release.

It's easy and popular in this day and age to rush to judgement. I’ve seen that in the last five years far more than I ever believed I would. And I know that that action might serve to fill some with a sense of moral superiority which can be a very intoxicating emotion. But isn’t that the root of the situation to begin with? Wasn’t it a sense of superiority, of misguided belief in a sort of divine right, that caused self-righteous men to conceive of such a thing as the residential school system in the first place?

We need to know all the facts before we can truly know what happened and how those graves came to be. I pray that the coming weeks and months will bring knowledge, understanding, and with those two treasures, a desire for and implementation of healing change.

 

Love,

Morgan

http://www.morganashbury.com

http://www.bookstrand.com

 

 


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