“I’m here to defend my people,” she said, weeping Stephanie Gutierrez. Yesterday, a symbolic 215 pairs of children’s shoes were placed in front of the court of Kamloops, a week after the remains of the same number of boarding school children were found. natives in this city in the west Canada, reports the RES.
The young woman, her member Indigenous Community of Canada Fleet, She hugged the photo of her grandmother, who has died today, and who had been forcibly confined to this boarding school for three years. Behind her, the red bricks of this institution stood like a shadow in the sky. Every day since the remains of 215 children were found, some as young as three, Residents visit a monument erected to commemorate messages of support, toys and baby shoes.
“I am here today to defend my people, my grandmother and those who can not speak, because it is a huge tragedy, it is unthinkable. “Unimaginable things happened here, at this school,” he told AFP. «It was lost, the continuation of 215 families was stolen. These kids stole them, “They abducted them from their families, were tortured and then killed,” he complains. “I want Canada to understand and I want people to know where this pain is coming from. This pain comes from this school, from the people who abused these children. They did so many tragic things to them. “215 children died here and there are probably more.”
They wanted to “civilize” the children of the natives
Located in the indigenous community of Thamlups-de-Squapham, a few hundred miles from the Pacific coast of Vancouver, this boarding school was the largest boarding school for Indigenous children in Canada. That had up to 500 students in the 1950s. Founded in 1890 and managed by the Catholic Church and then by the federal government, it closed its doors in 1977. However other boarding schools, almost 140 in total, lasted until the end of the 20th century throughout Canada.
The church and the Canadian government, stating that they want to “civilize” indigenous children by instilling Western values in them, removed them from their community and placed them in these boarding schools, where a number of children were physically and sexually abused. Thousands died or went missing, according to a report by a commission of inquiry. The location of the remains of so many children a week ago rekindled the anger of indigenous communities, despite attempts by successive Canadian governments to reconcile with them.
Awareness and training
The discovery of the remains of the 215 children, whose existence was suspected by local communities but came to be confirmed by experts with the help of a geo-radar, “aroused many emotions,” Stephanie explains. It was so shocking that many mourning natives do not want to talk about it, he adds. “I feel strong enough to be here for those who can’t talk, that’s why I’m here, for people to know what happened. “We will go to the courthouse with 215 pairs of children’s shoes to show that we want justice for these children.”
In front of the court, the flags are waving at half-mast. Wearing an orange t-shirt that reads “every child matters”, Stephanie puts the dozens of pairs of children’s shoes in a row. Bernadette Mack, a member of the Nuxalk indigenous community, had come to her aid. “I believe it is important to raise awareness and educate people about these indigenous boarding schools,” he said.
More than 150,000 children were forcibly removed from their families
She says she is very excited to see all these pairs of shoes, each representing a child lost in this boarding school system for indigenous children, but that she still hopes that this will lead to a greater awareness of reality. “While sad, it’s good that people will understand that this really happened.”
Η ΜArta Urtado, Representative of the UN Office on Human Rights, She said she was shocked by the discovery of the children’s remains and called on the Canadian government to “redouble its efforts to locate missing children by searching for unknown graves”. He also called on a legal entity to protect and manage landfills.
Between 1831 and 1996, some 150,000 children were forcibly removed from their families to join the boarding school system in Canada, with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission reporting 2015 as a “cultural genocide.”
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