{"id":48616,"date":"2021-06-02T14:20:17","date_gmt":"2021-06-02T18:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/?p=48616"},"modified":"2022-07-01T10:41:50","modified_gmt":"2022-07-01T14:41:50","slug":"215-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/story\/48616\/215-children\/","title":{"rendered":"215 Children"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Please note the story below contains difficult content regarding residential schools in Canada. Indigenous survivors and their family in need of support can contact the Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line at anytime 24\/7: 1-866-925-4419.<\/em><\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2021\/06\/f151af13-shoes-kahnawake.jpg\" title=\"Children\u2019s shoes were placed in front of a church in Kahnawake, in memory of the 215 children whose remains were found in a mass grave at a residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia. (Chloe Ranaldi\/CBC)<div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Chloe Ranaldi\/CBC<\/div>&#8221; alt=&#8221;Children\u2019s shoes were placed in front of a church in Kahnawake, in memory of the 215 children whose remains were found in a mass grave at a residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia. (Chloe Ranaldi\/CBC)<div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Chloe Ranaldi\/CBC<\/div>&#8221; class=&#8221;wp-image-48635&#8243;\/><figcaption>Children\u2019s shoes were placed in front of a church in Kahnawake, in memory of the 215 children whose remains were found in a mass grave at a residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia. (Chloe Ranaldi\/CBC)<div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Chloe Ranaldi\/CBC<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p><a href=\"#takeaction\" data-type=\"internal\" data-id=\"#takeaction\">Jump to the ways you can take action below.<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p>215 children. Buried in a mass grave. Unmarked on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. Tk&#8217;eml\u00faps te Secw\u00e9pemc First Nation made the discovery after a search of the property using ground-penetrating radar. The gravesite includes the bodies of children as young as three years old.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">On behalf of Indian Residential School Survivors and their descendants,<br>we join hearts with <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Tkemlups?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Tkemlups<\/a> to mourn the deaths of the 215 Indigenous children discovered this past week at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.<br><br>See our full statement below.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/honouring215children?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#honouring215children<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/M2zh2CuK8M\">pic.twitter.com\/M2zh2CuK8M<\/a><\/p>&mdash; S\u1e35wx\u0331w\u00fa7mesh \u00daxwumixw | Squamish Nation (@SquamishNation) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SquamishNation\/status\/1399493416304758789?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n<p>This finding has triggered an <a href=\"https:\/\/tkemlups.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/05-May-31-2021-TteS-MEDIA-RELEASE.pdf\">outpouring <\/a>of sorrow, shock and rage from across Canada and beyond. Finding 215 bodies of children on the grounds of a former residential school is horrific. But it is not a surprise.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>Residential school survivors have spoken out for decades about mass graveyards adjacent to residential schools. Six years ago today, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) released its final report. The TRC estimated that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/indigenous\/truth-and-reconciliation-commission-by-the-numbers-1.3096185\">up to 6000 children died in residential schools<\/a>, and many of these undocumented. That\u2019s 1 out of every 25 children who attended.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/TaniaCameron\/status\/1398634374065803264\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n<p>On the day the news broke, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that it is \u201ca painful reminder of that dark and shameful chapter of our country\u2019s history\u201d. But this is not history, and the chapter is not closed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/SuzeMorrison\/status\/1398811512056209409\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n<p>On this day six years ago, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) released a road map for Canada to begin to heal the scars of residential schools and address their continuing legacy of injustice. Yet the Federal government and other institutions have done painfully little to fulfill the TRC\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/trc.ca\/assets\/pdf\/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf\">Calls to Action<\/a>. As it stands today, only a handful of the TRC\u2019s 94 Calls to Action have been fully implemented (just <a href=\"https:\/\/newsinteractives.cbc.ca\/longform-single\/beyond-94?&amp;cta=1\">10 out of 94 according to the CBC<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">1996. That\u2019s when the last residential school closed<br><br>I graduated in 1995 from one of them. <br><br>Don\u2019t tell me or anyone else that this was a long time ago.<\/p>&mdash; waylon, usually (@BannockHammock) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BannockHammock\/status\/1398681715288285184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 29, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n<p>Residential schools are just one part of an ongoing genocide that spans well over a century. The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aptnnews.ca\/national-news\/mmiwg-inquiry-concludes-violence-against-women-and-girls-is-genocide\/\">concluded<\/a> that genocide is the appropriate term for the experience of Indigenous Peoples in Canada after consulting with international legal scholars and experts:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p><em><strong>\u201cThis genocide has been empowered by colonial structures, evidenced notably by the Indian Act, the Sixties Scoop, residential schools, and breaches of human and Inuit, M\u00e9tis and First Nations rights, leading directly to the current increased rates of violence, death, and suicide in Indigenous populations.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n<p>We see evidence of this continuing genocide today in the overrepresentation of Indigenous children in the child welfare system. In the continued disappearance of Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people. In the Federal government fighting residential school survivors in court. In decades-long boil water advisories. And in the many ongoing attempts to exclude Indigenous Peoples from their lands so as to extract resources via environmental destruction.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Boil water advisories.<br>MMIWG.<br>Overrepresentation in child welfare system &amp; prisons.<br>Continued exploitation of Indigenous lands.<br>Violent abuse in health care system.<br>Govt fighting residential school survivors in court.<br><br>Not just a &#39;dark chapter.&#39; Ongoing genocide. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/215children?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#215children<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Greenpeace Canada (@GreenpeaceCA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GreenpeaceCA\/status\/1399473267786883082?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n<p>Together we must push for the discovery of 215 children to be a tipping point for greater accountability and justice for Indigenous Peoples in Canada.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"takeaction\">Here are ways you can take action:<\/h2>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Support Indigenous-led calls to fully implement all of the TRC\u2019s Calls to Action<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">If the news from the Kamloops Indian Residential School hit you in any way, I call on you to fight like hell to ensure the 94 Calls-to-Action are all completed in our lifetime.<\/p>&mdash; Khelsilem (@Khelsilem) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Khelsilem\/status\/1399191133247344652?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n<p>Tweet at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to demand the Federal government fully implement the TRC\u2019s calls to action:<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\"><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tweet\">\n  .<span class=\"twitter-mention\">@JustinTrudeau<\/span> enough is enough. It wasn\u2019t just a \u2018dark chapter\u2019 and the chapter isn\u2019t closed. It\u2019s time for your government to fully implement the <span class=\"twitter-hashtag\">#TruthAndReconciliation<\/span> <span class=\"twitter-hashtag\">#215children<\/span> <span class=\"twitter-hashtag\">#KamloopsResidentialSchool<\/span> <span class=\"twitter-hashtag\">#EveryChildMatters<\/span> <span class=\"twitter-hashtag\">#IndigenousRights<\/span> <span class=\"twitter-hashtag\">#TRC<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"click-to-tweet-btn\">\n  <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=.%40JustinTrudeau%20enough%20is%20enough.%20It%20wasn%E2%80%99t%20just%20a%20%E2%80%98dark%20chapter%E2%80%99%20and%20the%20chapter%20isn%E2%80%99t%20closed.%20It%E2%80%99s%20time%20for%20your%20government%20to%20fully%20implement%20the%20%23TruthAndReconciliation%20%23215children%20%23KamloopsResidentialSchool%20%23EveryChildMatters%20%23IndigenousRights%20%23TRC\">Tweet<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Donate to Indigenous organizations<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<p>Donate to the Tk\u2019eml\u00faps te Secw\u00e9pemc First Nation: <a href=\"mailto:donations@kib.ca\">donations@kib.ca<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>Donate to support counselling and other services for residential school survivors and their families: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irsss.ca\/donate\">Indian Residential School Survivors Society<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p>Donate to support First Nations child and family service agencies: <a href=\"https:\/\/fncaringsociety.com\/donate\">First Nations Child &amp; Family Caring Society<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p>Donate to support advocacy for Indigenous women, girls and gender diverse people: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nwac.ca\/donate\/\">Native Women\u2019s Association of Canada<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p>Donate to support Indigenous communities fighting legal battles for their land and rights: <a href=\"https:\/\/raventrust.com\/donate\/\">Raven Trust<\/a><\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Deepen your knowledge of Canada\u2019s colonial past and present<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<p>Learn more about residential schools and the TRC\u2019s Calls to Action:<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nctr.ca\/records\/reports\/\">The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Final Report and Calls to Action<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/yellowheadinstitute.org\/trc\/\">Calls to Action Accountability: A 2020 Status Update on Reconciliation<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p>Reading list: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CPgBXWZNXBb\/\">https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CPgBXWZNXBb\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p>Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CPhGlZ6t_Z9\/\">https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CPhGlZ6t_Z9\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p>Films\/Documentaries: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CPghcIPtCYi\/\">https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CPghcIPtCYi\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">For my Tedx Talk I compared the reconciliation efforts of Canada, Germany, &amp; New Zealand. Two of those countries embed truth &amp; reconciliation into their national identity. Canadian Shame: A History of Residential Schools | Ginger Gosnell-Myers &#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/LOiYzoBNDI\">https:\/\/t.co\/LOiYzoBNDI<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/TedTalk?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#TedTalk<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Ginger Gosnell-Myers (@Skusgluums) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Skusgluums\/status\/1108126635176321024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 19, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n<p>Read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmiwg-ffada.ca\/final-report\/\">The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p>Join <a href=\"https:\/\/act.350.org\/go\/237439?t=20&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=actionkit&amp;akid=153051%2E2037878%2EWl3fk3\">Indigenous Canada<\/a>, a free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) that explores Indigenous histories and key issues facing Indigenous peoples today.<\/p>\n\n<p>Check out the variety of learning resources on the <a href=\"https:\/\/oncanadaproject.ca\/settlerstakeaction\">Settlers Take Action page of the On Canada Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On this day six years ago, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) released a road map for Canada to begin to heal the scars of residential schools and address their continuing legacy of injustice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":48635,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"not set","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[29,123],"p4-page-type":[16],"class_list":["post-48616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-equality","tag-indigenous","tag-racialjustice","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48616"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53456,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48616\/revisions\/53456"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48616"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=48616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}