China News Agency, Toronto, May 29 (Reporter Yu Ruidong) An aboriginal tribe in British Columbia, Canada (also translated as British Columbia) recently discovered the remains of 215 children at the site of an Indian boarding school, which is a darker past for Canada. The colonial history adds further evidence.
The Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc (abbreviated TteS, whose family name means “people at confluence”) from Kamloops, British Columbia’s Native Indian tribe announced on May 27. Recently, with the help of ground detection radar experts, They found and confirmed the remains of 215 students who were students at the Indian boarding school in Kamloops.
The school was once the largest school in the Indian Affairs boarding school system.
The tribal chief Rosanne Casimir stated that the disappearance of these children was known to the tribe but has never been officially recorded.
Some of them were only 3 years old in childhood.
The tribe will continue to investigate in cooperation with experts and relevant departments.
The investigation is expected to be initially completed in mid-June.
The Governor of British Columbia, John Horgan, issued a statement on the 28th, expressing shock and heartbreak about the incident.
He said that this is an unimaginable tragedy, and it is also an example of the atrocities perpetrated by the Canadian boarding school system against aboriginals and their consequences to this day.
The chief coroner of the province said that the autopsy department is conducting preliminary collection of relevant information and will continue to collaborate with tribes and other parties to advance this sensitive work.
The Canadian Federal Government, the Minister of Indigenous Relations and the Minister of Indigenous Services issued a statement on the evening of the 28th, stating that the discovery of the remains reflects a dark and painful chapter in Canadian history.
The abuse of indigenous children is a tragic and humiliating part of Canadian history.
The Canadian government stated that it will continue to support the survivors, their families and communities on the road to healing.
The Canadian government has historically adopted a policy of forced assimilation and colonization of the Aborigines, including Indians (also known as First Nations), Inuit and Metis.
Aboriginal children’s boarding schools are part of this policy.
Canada began setting up boarding schools in the 1870s.
According to incomplete statistics, more than 150,000 aboriginal children were taken out of the community, sent to boarding schools, and could not return home.
Their families often do not know the final whereabouts of their children.
Children are prohibited from using their native language or following their tribal culture in the boarding school.
Tens of thousands of children have been sexually assaulted, abused, corporal punishment, and severe discrimination in boarding schools, and a large number of children have died.
It was not until 1996 that Canada closed its last boarding school for Aboriginal children.
In June 2008, Canadian Prime Minister Harper formally apologized to the Aboriginal boarding school students and their families on behalf of the government, and admitted that the purpose of setting up the boarding school was to assimilate the Aboriginal people and “integrate” into the mainstream white culture.
In the same year, the Canadian government established an independent truth and reconciliation committee.
A report released by the committee in December 2015 classified the boarding school system for indigenous children as "cultural genocide."
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