Indigenous children forced to pray to god in a residential school ran by the Canadian government and Catholic Church between 1930 and 1970, unknown location [1000 x 783]

Brah thanks I was just thinking of this movie for the first time in like a decade trying to remember the name hadn't bothered it to Google it yet

Why are we still here? Just to suffer? The comrades I've lost, the bodies I've lost. It won't stop hurting.

I remember lining up before lunch in 3 rows of 3 and waiting to be dismissed into the lunch room by a worker. I also remember being scared shitless by some workers, one who would just walk around and stare at you silently. He'd wear cowboy boots and walk heavy and I remember he'd wear a belt, other kids talked about being whipped by his belt. If you were fooling around too much you and your group would be taken to another room and were "talked to" depending on the worker. I can't remember what grade I first went to the resource room, probably grade 2 but she was a demon. Small white haired white lady who always had a toothy smile and big eyes, man I used to have dreams about her.. I was in the kitchen part of the room with another kid getting water because no AC and it was hot. She appeared out of nowhere behind us pulls us up by our ears and takes us back to our desks, she was almost carrying us and I remember just sitting there holding my ear not knowing what to do. Another time same resource room with the same kid we were being let listen to music on a small tape recorder. Hard days night by the beetles was playing and the other kid had his feet up on the desk and his hands behind his head being a cool kid .. whatever.. She got up, still smiling kicked his legs up so he'd fall back and he hit his head on the wall or the radiator. I got yelled to "get the hell out" so I ran into the piano part of the room and the door slammed behind me. I can only imagine if those were kicks or punches but it sounded real, I heard 3 good smacks and a slam and he started howling bad. That kind of cry you can't breathe. After a while the door opened and I got sent back to class early but I saw the kid and he looked bad, his face was red from crying and his mouth was big like fat lips. He was just sobbing in his chair... fuck man.. I just hope he is doing better but his older brother is a mess. I'm not going to name him for obvious reasons but what happened is unique enough as to if you're reading this man, I think of you and wish you well. I'm typing this on my mobile at 2:30 am and got kinda emotional so sorry for poor structure and grammar. So many of the elder generation have stories that I have no business telling but I will say girls had it worse. Both my grandmothers (Kookums) are the strongest people I will ever know.

I went to school there in the 90s right up until it was taken down in 96. It was still used as a boarding school at that time, I guess if a kid was taken and couldn't find a foster home they'd end up living at the dorms. I have some yearbooks somewhere that show pictures of what it was like. Dorms were sorted out by junior and senior and boys and girls. I can't fathom the fact they stayed open due to protesting it's closure? I don't remember a protest at the school or on the reserve. Who protested? As for the community perception aspect I'm not too sure, I was a kid and didn't pay close enough attention to it. Saying that, we've always had our ghost stories so I guess those are bad memories of the place. Many of the workers at that time were also former child residents of the school.

I hope you guys are at a better place now. Know the whole world is thinking about you, this has been a hot topic here in Belgium and with our neighbours in the Netherlands and Germany. I've heard people talking about it on the trams, seen people read about it on their phones and it makes regular national news on the radio. Your pain is not forgotten and we are thinking about you. I hope you and your family are able to process this sudden media attention well. I have PTSD, and I know how hard it can be if things suddenly get way more media coverage than usual, even though it is necessary. Take your time to talk with each other and reach out for help if you need it. You are loved and you deserve help and justice for what has done to you.

This one was Anglican. Of the 139 schools, the Catholic Church ran about half.

Also, unmarked individual graves, not a mass grave. Clearly still awful.

It’s connected in that the recent discovery of unmarked (not technically mass) graves were at a school that was part of the same system as the one in this photo. It has been known for years from eyewitness testimony that many children died at these schools and many of their deaths and their graves were not documented. From what is known the biggest cause of death was disease; primarily tuberculosis, which was exacerbated horrible living conditions, malnutrition and poor health care. So I don’t think it would fit the definition of a true genocide but there were many cases of murder that went unpunished.

Lying? You don't have to make stuff up. They taught this stuff in schools already 10 years ago. The government hasn't denied it.

What do you mean the Canadian Government is lying? About what?

what part are they lying about?

the government isnt lying about them, we are taught about them in elementary and highschool

Fuck the Catholic church

Yeah, I only recently learned about the Stolen Generation. That only ended fairly recently, like in the 70s, iirc.

Unfortunately, unlike Canada, the Australian government chooses not to atone or face their past with the natives. Edit: Apparently many Australian people also take offense to having to face their country's past. You need to face these things to do things better.

Yes, many of the students died of infectious diseases such as measles and tuberculosis exacerbated by overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions and overwork. Epidemics were common.

The Indian boarding school near me has a cemetery with marked graves. No telling how many are unmarked, as of right now anyway. The California Missions have a similar history of cultural genocide and death. People here were not happy about the canonization of Junipero Serra.

Oh I’d be shocked if many didn’t :(

With the Uighurs, yes.

Yea, kids don’t usually like bitter things

She looks like a character from American Horror Story. The way the light reflects off her eyes/glasses makes her look film-like evil.

How dare you bring up the fact these children were stolen from their families and tortured instead of laughing at this reddit guy parroting a tired joke from an old cartoon?

Apparently they just found another 600 at a location in Vancouver.. might not actually be as much of an outlier as you would think.

The photo was taken in 1950 at the Bishop Horden Memorial School on Moose Factory Island, ON. It was also run by the Anglicans vs the Catholics. This article has more info: https://www.toronto.com/news-story/5655905-photo-opens-window-on-life-in-residential-school/

It would be more acurate to label it "undated" if you are unsure. It's better to err on the side of accuracy these days.

Technically if you're christened and confirmed as a Catholic as a child you never stop being one. Even if you lose your faith and never go to church you're just a *bad* Catholic.

I thought that was why there was a “up arrow” button instead of a “like” like facebook. Because making a like-dislike dichotomy is less useful than a “I want this to get more views”-“I don’t” button

I'm already familiar with the U.S. Indian boarding schools, Magdalene laundries/asylums, Mother and baby homes, Mother Theresa's scam, etc. People here aren't happy Junipero Serra was canonized, either. Another one with blood on his hands.