CW: wrongful death and abuse suffered under residential schools
if you’re not from canada you most likely haven’t heard about the mass grave found at kamloops residential school in british columbia. it contained the bodies of 215 indigenous children, some as young as 3, and the deaths went undocumented by the school administrators. this is an appalling discovery, and unfortunately, kamloops is not the only residential school in the country. there were about 139 schools, the last one only closing in 1996.
from 1863 to 1996, over 150,000 native children were forcibly removed from their homes and sent to these schools. many never returned home, and the intergenerational trauma is still felt to this day. the intent of these schools was to separate the children from their culture and, to quote: “kill the indian in the child”.
as an indigenous person, it hurts to see so much pain still being inflicted on my people. but, as the chief of my rez said: “that our people and the indigenous people across canada survived to slowly and gradually use the same rule of law to show the world what this sad chapter in canadian history entails is a testament to continued indigenous strength and resilience”.
i got these specific statistics from @oncanadaproject on instagram, check them out for more information if you want. and if you read this far, here’s a kiss x