Hey there, Ottawa. So glad that you were able to join us this morning, or get some extra sleep this morning, or skip the workout and tune in for coffee this morning. Either way, we’re just glad to be included in any part of your morning. Thank you to Dean for another fun and creative playlist to make beach day more enjoyable! In case you’re wondering, those lovely faces up there are actually the faces of people who are either enjoying a sunny beach day… or getting chased by a shark. Beaches can be so unpredictable.
Now, the intention of this weekly blog post is typically to give you a fun read, a way to connect with members of the community, maybe learn a few things, and most of all, a way to sneak in as much wordplay and dog-related content as possible. While today’s blog may fall into the “learn new things” category, a word of caution that it is not a fun read. In fact, it may be an uncomfortable read. Truth be told, it was uncomfortable to write.
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Last week, the bodies of 215 Indigenous children were discovered in a mass grave near a residential school in Kamloops, B.C.
The residential school in Kamloops was just one of many schools set up by the Canadian government and carried out by Christian churches between the 1880s and 1990s. The last residential school did not close until 1996.
These schools were designed to educate Indigenous children. These schools were designed to erase Indigenous heritage and culture. They were designed to assimilate Indigenous children into mainstream society. Into white, Christian, Canadian society.
Indigenous children were forcibly separated from their families. They were punished if they spoke of or engaged in any component of their culture, including speaking their own languages.
These images are hard to fathom. The statistics are uncomfortable to read. Which typically means that we should read them.
24: Number of Indigenous children’s graves discovered near the Muskowekwan Residential School in Regina in 2019.
34: Number of coffins of Indigenous children found near Dunbow Residential School in Alberta in 2001.
72: Number of Indigenous children’s graves uncovered at the Battleford Industrial School in Saskatchewan in the 1970s.
94: Number of calls to action named by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC), including efforts to uncover missing children, work with landowners to locate gravesites, develop registries of children who attended residential schools and work with families of those who died there.
139: Number of residential schools that existed across Canada.
142: Number of years that The Mohawk Institute Residential School existed, one of the longest running in Canada (1828-1970).
215: Number of Indigenous children found buried in a mass grave near a residential school in Kamloops, B.C. in 2021.
4000: Approximate number of pages in a report released by the TRC describing details of the mistreatment inflicted upon Indigenous children at residential schools.
4,100 to 6,000: Estimated number of Indigenous children who died due to neglect, disease and abuse at residentials schools. The true number is undoubtedly much higher.
150,000: Approximate number of Indigenous children taken from their families and forced into residential schools that aimed to erase their culture and subjected them to physical, emotional, and sexual abuse.
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Some tragedies are well known and highly recognized; some are invisible to everyone except for those who lived them. This page and this community is a space for connection, for terrible (wonderful) puns, for information, and for honesty. So, if there is a topic, a cause, an event, a memory, or anything that you want to share (or that you’d like us to share), please know that you are 100% welcome and encouraged to reach out to us at any time and to share it right here. This page is yours. If you are open to teaching, we would be grateful to learn. We recognize that we have a lot of learning to do, and arguably even more unlearning to do.
One last number.
2: Number of NP Ottawa co-leaders that want this space to be as safe and inclusive and enjoyable as possible. Number of NP Ottawa co-leaders who are very glad that you’re here.
Sole-fully,
Rebecca & Becca
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
- Consider joining the initiative by Native Women Running and honouring the memory of the 215 Indigenous children found in a mass grave last week in Kamloops. From May 31st to June 6th, walk, jog, run, or move in any way for 2.15 miles (3.44 km).
