What Lies Beneath
CANADA
An Indigenous community in British Columbia found 93 potential burial sites near the premises of a former residential school, the latest in a series of discoveries since last year as Canada reckons with the historical treatment of its native population, the Hill reported.
Officials said that ground-penetrating radar showed the existence of potential human remains near the St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School, which operated near Williams Lake between 1891 and 1981.
The community added that the findings are preliminary and they would need to excavate the site, according to Canada’s CTV News.
Williams Lake First Nation Chief Willie Sellars said during a news conference that investigators had also uncovered reports of neglect and abuse at the residential school, including evidence of children’s bodies being disposed of in lakes and the institution’s incinerator.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that the discovery “brings a lot of distressing emotions to the surface.”
The St. Joseph’s institution was part of the controversial residential school system that operated across Canada from the late 1800s until 1996. During that period, nearly 150,000 Indigenous children were taken from their families in an attempt to assimilate them and prevent them from having any connection with their culture.
The schools have been found to have abused children, some of whom died, and hundreds of unmarked graves have been uncovered around the grounds of the former institutions since last year.
Earlier this month, Canada agreed to pay $31.5 billion in a settlement intended to make up, at least in part, for the country’s past treatment of Indigenous children.
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