Dr. Scott Hamilton, author of "Where are the Children buried?" is surprised attempts weren't made sooner to find residential school graves.
Author of the article:Heather Polischuk
Publishing date:Jun 24, 2021 •
A group of girls in a cooking class at the Marieval residential school. (Photo courtesy General collection of the Societe historique de Saint-Boniface)
When Dr. Scott Hamilton with Thunder Bay’s Lakehead University heard the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action in 2015, he anticipated a rush to use his and his colleagues’ findings to locate graves of Indigenous children who died while at Canadian residential schools.
That didn’t happen.
“I’m a little surprised,” said Hamilton, professor and author of “Where are the Children buried?”, submitted in 2015 for use by the TRC. “I was kind of anticipating this kind of national reaction in 2015 but it didn’t really come. And I kind of thought, OK, well, it will eventually. The years go by and then spring of 2021 and the Kamloops story broke and captured international attention, and that kind of forced a mobilization on the part of provincial and federal and territorial governments. And it’s now this mad scramble of, ‘OK, we have information about one of at least 130 or more schools. What about the remainder?’ Today, we had the other shoe fall.”
That shoe — the finding of 751 unmarked graves at the former Marieval Residential School — occurred on Cowessess First Nation, with details provided to the public on Thursday.
When Dr. Scott Hamilton with Thunder Bay’s Lakehead University heard the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action in 2015, he anticipated a rush to use his and his colleagues’ findings to locate graves of Indigenous children who died while at Canadian residential schools.
That didn’t happen.
“I’m a little surprised,” said Hamilton, professor and author of “Where are the Children buried?”, submitted in 2015 for use by the TRC. “I was kind of anticipating this kind of national reaction in 2015 but it didn’t really come. And I kind of thought, OK, well, it will eventually. The years go by and then spring of 2021 and the Kamloops story broke and captured international attention, and that kind of forced a mobilization on the part of provincial and federal and territorial governments. And it’s now this mad scramble of, ‘OK, we have information about one of at least 130 or more schools. What about the remainder?’ Today, we had the other shoe fall.”
That shoe — the finding of 751 unmarked graves at the former Marieval Residential School — occurred on Cowessess First Nation, with details provided to the public on Thursday.
Cowessess First Nation, Sask.: Using ground-penetrating radar, evidence of 751 unmarked graves have been located to date at the site of the former Marieval Residential School on what is now Cowessess First Nation land. Photo provided by the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations on June 24, 2021.
While there is some question as to exactly how many bodies lie on the site, most are believed to be children who attended the school.
The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) has called the find “the most significantly substantial to date in Canada.”
It’s been six years since Hamilton submitted his final report — one which used existing records and research by others combined with satellite technology to try to figure out precisely where the nation’s residential school cemeteries are located. Using freely accessible satellite imagery like Google Earth, Hamilton was able to pinpoint numerous locations he believes are cemeteries.
His 43-page report also delved into the history of the schools in a bid to understand the high mortality rates connected with them — not a simple task given sporadic record-keeping by those connected with the schools.
While there is some question as to exactly how many bodies lie on the site, most are believed to be children who attended the school.
The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) has called the find “the most significantly substantial to date in Canada.”
It’s been six years since Hamilton submitted his final report — one which used existing records and research by others combined with satellite technology to try to figure out precisely where the nation’s residential school cemeteries are located. Using freely accessible satellite imagery like Google Earth, Hamilton was able to pinpoint numerous locations he believes are cemeteries.
His 43-page report also delved into the history of the schools in a bid to understand the high mortality rates connected with them — not a simple task given sporadic record-keeping by those connected with the schools.
VIDEO Lakehead University professor Scott Hamilton says residential schools maintained minimal documentation of burial sites and conducted burials on an 'ad-hoc' basis.
A 1909 report by the then-chief medical officer with Indian Affairs calculated an annual death rate between 1892 and 1908 among select residential schools of 8,000 per 100,000 — far above the 430 per 100,000 noted for Canadian children in the 1901 census.
While all Canadians experienced high mortality rates during Spanish flu and tuberculosis epidemics, Hamilton found such situations were exacerbated by the the crowded, unsanitary and overall poor conditions of residential schools.
“On one level, it’s kind of a perfect storm,” he said. “So we have a very, very poorly developed public health infrastructure throughout much of the mid-1800s through to the mid-1900s. We have Indigenous communities that are epidemiologically vulnerable to all of these communicable diseases. We have a pretty clear indication that a number of these diseases were impacting the communities from which these kids came. And we pluck up kids from a number of different communities and cram them into a single school — poorly ventilated, poorly heated, poor diet — and of course these diseases are going to just explode like wildfire within those places.”
A 1909 report by the then-chief medical officer with Indian Affairs calculated an annual death rate between 1892 and 1908 among select residential schools of 8,000 per 100,000 — far above the 430 per 100,000 noted for Canadian children in the 1901 census.
While all Canadians experienced high mortality rates during Spanish flu and tuberculosis epidemics, Hamilton found such situations were exacerbated by the the crowded, unsanitary and overall poor conditions of residential schools.
“On one level, it’s kind of a perfect storm,” he said. “So we have a very, very poorly developed public health infrastructure throughout much of the mid-1800s through to the mid-1900s. We have Indigenous communities that are epidemiologically vulnerable to all of these communicable diseases. We have a pretty clear indication that a number of these diseases were impacting the communities from which these kids came. And we pluck up kids from a number of different communities and cram them into a single school — poorly ventilated, poorly heated, poor diet — and of course these diseases are going to just explode like wildfire within those places.”
A photograph of some religious and pupils of the Marieval school during a ceremony. (Photo courtesy General collection of the Societe historique de Saint-Boniface) PHOTO BY GILMOUR, KIER
He said an element of systemic racism factors into a failure to notify many families of children’s deaths. Equally troubling was the fact the federal government often refused to pay to have children’s bodies returned to their home communities due to cost, calling on parents — most of whom were impoverished — to pay the costs if they wished the bodies returned home.
Hamilton said there remain important lessons to be learned from the tragic legacy of residential schools — as reinforced by the TRC’s calls to action — including “the absolute necessity for education about this aspect of Canadian history.”
“There is a key component of the calls (to action) that talks about the need for education, and that is still not appropriately addressed,” he said.
In a social media post, the FSIN provided phone numbers for those grappling with emotional distress as a result of the discoveries. Those in need of support can call the Indian Residential School Survivors Society at 1-800-721-0066, toll free, or the 24-hour Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419.
He said an element of systemic racism factors into a failure to notify many families of children’s deaths. Equally troubling was the fact the federal government often refused to pay to have children’s bodies returned to their home communities due to cost, calling on parents — most of whom were impoverished — to pay the costs if they wished the bodies returned home.
Hamilton said there remain important lessons to be learned from the tragic legacy of residential schools — as reinforced by the TRC’s calls to action — including “the absolute necessity for education about this aspect of Canadian history.”
“There is a key component of the calls (to action) that talks about the need for education, and that is still not appropriately addressed,” he said.
In a social media post, the FSIN provided phone numbers for those grappling with emotional distress as a result of the discoveries. Those in need of support can call the Indian Residential School Survivors Society at 1-800-721-0066, toll free, or the 24-hour Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419.
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