Far North Friday: Residential Schools
One week ago, the discovery of a residential school grave site with the reported remains of 215 people - children - rocked mainstream Canada. While not exclusively a far north reality, the residential school system impacted indigenous families across all of Canada (Photo 1).
Photo 1: This memorial is located in Fort Providence, Northwest Territories. The site overlooks the Mackenzie River. There are no individual grave markers. This memorial marks the approximate location of about 300 people, mostly children. Some people buried at this site died as a result of the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918-1920, others died while attending the residential school. The exact location of the original cemetery has been lost. A fence that surrounded the cemetery was removed in the spring or summer of 1948 and the area was then ploughed and used by the Mission to grow potatoes. Prior to ploughing, the remains of 8 missionaries were removed and re-interred at the new cemetery, located elsewhere. Photo composed by Andy Fyon, at Fort Providence, Northwest Territories, Canada, July 1/13.
Inscribed Text
The text of the inscription on the centre panel of the memorial at Fort Providence, Northwest Territories (Photo 1) provides additional context:
“This memorial is dedicated to the memory of the Dene and Metis decendants of the Fort Providence area and also to the orphans and children of the Mackenzie River valley that attended the Sacred Heart Residential School who are buried at the approximate site in these mission fields 1869 - 1929.”
Under the caption History of Cemetery, additional text inscribed reads:
"Today this passive area is an open field designated for community use. It has not been developed for residential or commercial purpose due to its historical and sacred significance to the community. The names engraved on this monument are those of individuals whose final resting place is at this site. The majority are young children and orphans from up and down the Mackenzie Valley, who were at the residential school. There are also many adults and children from the settlement of Fort Providence and the Fort Providence area. It should be noted that the church records obtained from the Mackenzie diocese were difficult to read or did not contain complete information. It can be assumed that when these early records were being documented, the missionaries were not able to fully gather and record complete information as it may not have been available due to the circumstances at that time."
My Action
While no one individual can change the past, there are important steps that we all can undertake as part of our individual and collective reconciliation journeys. I encourage you to learn about this dark time in Canadian history. Consider if you should inform your political leaders about your views and your expectations about what was, at the least, a crime against humanity, and possibly what some suggest may have been an intended genocide of indigenous people. The following is my letter sent to Prime Minister Trudeau.
“Dear Prime Minister
I am a settler. I am also a Treaty person.
There is mounting evidence that what happened at many residential schools is nothing short of crimes against humanity - perhaps worse.
As a Treaty person, I exhort the Government of Canada, and all its citizens, to uphold the honour of the Crown by immediately implementing, in full and equal partnership with Indigenous people, the following four actions:
memorialize, in perpetuity, all records related to the residential school system, including church-held documents;
fund a meaningful, independent investigation, to criminal standards, by systematic surveying all residential school sites and related documents, to determine: a) if grave sites exist at other residential school sites; b) if children rest in those burial sites; b) the number of children who died in the residential school system; c) the cause of death; d) the names of those who rest in those burial sites; and e) the names of the families to whom the buried children belong;
fund a program, modelled on the TRC, to help survivors gather and share their memories and stories related to residential school history; and
fund survivor and inter-generational survivor healing programs.
Implementing these actions will:
document the impact of the Canadian Government-sponsored and sanctioned residential school system;
help residential school survivors and inter-generational survivors see that that all residential school information is important to Canada;
begin to address the healing of indigenous people who suffered under the residential school system;
help Canadians understand this chapter of Canadian history;
be a critical part of Canada’s learning, healing, and reconciliation with indigenous people;
be a pillar of reconciliation.
I am a Treaty person. We are all Treaty people. Let us continue our journey as Treaty people by immediately implementing these actions. It is the right thing to do.
Respectfully
Andy Fyon
C: Minister Chrystia Freeland (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance); Minister Carolyn Bennett (Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations); Marc Miller (Minister of Indigenous Services)”
Page link: https://www.ontariobeneathourfeet.com/far-north-friday-reflections#/far-north-friday-65-residential-schools
June 4/21 (Facebook June 4/21)