This push of misinformation regarding residential schools will damage Canadian history. Sadly, too many people unwittingly believe and continue to spread the hateful narrative. Thank you for working so diligently to expose truths. One almost forgotten person who was seeking the truth was former Senator Lynn Beyak, also a casualty of the lies.
Was she ever. At one point I had all the letters from her website downloaded but in a computer switch they got lost. There were many letters of support from indigenous former students. Those are the ones that will never see the light of day again. It seems like those people don't say anything anymore.
I hope Lynn Beyak had those letters backed up, at least.
I spent a few hours today reading the out-of-print *Behind Closed Doors: Stories from the Kamloops Indian Residential School* (2006; stories compiled in the early 2000s by the Secwepemc Cultural Education Society). There are a few students who reported positive experiences (I haven't read all 35 yet), and I'll be interested to see when the book is reprinted later this year (due in December) whether any of those more positive reflections have disappeared. The original can be read online here: https://arcabc.ca/islandora/object/tru%3A1612/datastream/PDF/view
The quote from one of the board members " We have a Dominion to save" is so important & should be posted in every school/University across the country. Please keep up the good work, Canada's reputation around the World has been badly tarnished by the "Indian Industry".
Except Glavin's indigenous connections make him point the finger at government and media and never, hardly ever, at FN themselves as the source of any issues.
Yes, I’ve noticed that. At least, though, he’s open to dialogue. He did a podcast with Frances Widdowson, respectful and wide ranging, and this point of disagreement was acknowledged.
I noticed that in the podcast as well. It's a shame though, because if someone with Glavin's visibility and intelligence were to speak up perhaps those in the bands who see all this money but never see it come to help them build better housing, for example, might speak up as well. Or those whose experience in school don't fit the current narrative.
Winston Churchill speaks for all of us when expressing our gratitude to this amazing cabal of dedicated individuals when he said, "Never was so much owed by so many to so few"
The IRSRG is doing what feckless professors and researchers and journalists should have done long ago: stand against the frightening, chill, and constant winds of historical lies from government and media.
It will be a long campaign to find the truth, and I am not sure it will succeed, given the political dynamics today. Maybe in a decade we might know more for certain. Currently, a memorial to residential school survivors is being placed near Calgary. To quote from the CBC news article from Sept. 30th of this year "This permanent memorial will be a space to honour residential school survivors, their families and the thousands of children who never returned. It will be a reflective space to mourn individually and collectively, and ensure that our shared history, no matter how painful, is not forgotten." and "A temporary memorial was built by several local communities after 215 unmarked graves were found at the former site of Kamloops Indian Residential School in B.C. in 2021." As we know, nobody knows if the anomalies the ground penetrating radar found are unmarked graves, and 15 definitely are not, as SFU researchers (unknown at the time to the GPR techs) had already dug up one of the areas surveyed and found no bodies. However, it is repeated again and again and again that 215 unmarked graves were found. Saying "thousands of children never returned" is again implying an ethnic cleansing of some kind.
I wish you great success in your work. I don't know where Pierre P. stands on Indian issues ,however, I have tried to engage with him and have personally handed him a position paper on the impossibility of a "Nation To Nation' relationship with our First Nations people. One thing I believe he is obligated to do is, present a motion in parliament condemning the idea that Canada is a genocidal country. I will email my 'paper' to Woke Watch for your consideration.
From what I’ve seen, the members of the IRSRG have always acknowledged, and even stressed, that abuse and harsh discipline did occur at residential schools, that many children suffered from loneliness and separation from their families, and that the IRS experience caused lasting trauma for many who attended. I’ve never seen these things “denied” in writings from these researchers, so I’m constantly flummoxed when I see that any questioning of the “acceptable” narrative is equated to a “conspiracy theory.” Here’s an example from an opinion writer just yesterday:
<< I can’t imagine how it would feel to experience residential schools, being torn from your family and raised without parents, your language and culture. It must be so traumatizing for people to hear this dark part of Canadian history included in the same category as chemtrails, shapeshifting reptilian people living underground, government mind control, and flat Earth theories. This is not the only tragedy that gets lumped into conspiracy theories. Tragedies such as the Sandy Hook shooting, the Holocaust and JFK assassination have also become fodder for deniers. >>
What?!?
How do we counter this kind of straw man? As exasperating as this is, I think it’s critical to NOT sound exasperated, to not let frustration creep into the discourse; in other words, to continue to pay attention to tone, always – even in the comments (I’m guilty of getting pretty snarky in my own comments, but I’m gonna quit it : ) Somehow we have to start reaching people beyond the choir loft. People are just getting so darn “dug in” on their respective sides on this.
This push of misinformation regarding residential schools will damage Canadian history. Sadly, too many people unwittingly believe and continue to spread the hateful narrative. Thank you for working so diligently to expose truths. One almost forgotten person who was seeking the truth was former Senator Lynn Beyak, also a casualty of the lies.
Was she ever. At one point I had all the letters from her website downloaded but in a computer switch they got lost. There were many letters of support from indigenous former students. Those are the ones that will never see the light of day again. It seems like those people don't say anything anymore.
I hope Lynn Beyak had those letters backed up, at least.
I spent a few hours today reading the out-of-print *Behind Closed Doors: Stories from the Kamloops Indian Residential School* (2006; stories compiled in the early 2000s by the Secwepemc Cultural Education Society). There are a few students who reported positive experiences (I haven't read all 35 yet), and I'll be interested to see when the book is reprinted later this year (due in December) whether any of those more positive reflections have disappeared. The original can be read online here: https://arcabc.ca/islandora/object/tru%3A1612/datastream/PDF/view
As I always say, ya can't have reconciliation without truth.
The quote from one of the board members " We have a Dominion to save" is so important & should be posted in every school/University across the country. Please keep up the good work, Canada's reputation around the World has been badly tarnished by the "Indian Industry".
Don
Terry Glavin deserves a mention, I think, for being one of the few in the legacy media to report honestly on this.
Except Glavin's indigenous connections make him point the finger at government and media and never, hardly ever, at FN themselves as the source of any issues.
Yes, I’ve noticed that. At least, though, he’s open to dialogue. He did a podcast with Frances Widdowson, respectful and wide ranging, and this point of disagreement was acknowledged.
I noticed that in the podcast as well. It's a shame though, because if someone with Glavin's visibility and intelligence were to speak up perhaps those in the bands who see all this money but never see it come to help them build better housing, for example, might speak up as well. Or those whose experience in school don't fit the current narrative.
Winston Churchill speaks for all of us when expressing our gratitude to this amazing cabal of dedicated individuals when he said, "Never was so much owed by so many to so few"
Miigwech !!!!!
"Viva la Resistance"
The IRSRG is doing what feckless professors and researchers and journalists should have done long ago: stand against the frightening, chill, and constant winds of historical lies from government and media.
Hello Jim, lovely to catch up here. A heads up, I was unexpectedly permanently suspended from twitter.
I am shocked and hope problem is resolved, Simone.
It will be a long campaign to find the truth, and I am not sure it will succeed, given the political dynamics today. Maybe in a decade we might know more for certain. Currently, a memorial to residential school survivors is being placed near Calgary. To quote from the CBC news article from Sept. 30th of this year "This permanent memorial will be a space to honour residential school survivors, their families and the thousands of children who never returned. It will be a reflective space to mourn individually and collectively, and ensure that our shared history, no matter how painful, is not forgotten." and "A temporary memorial was built by several local communities after 215 unmarked graves were found at the former site of Kamloops Indian Residential School in B.C. in 2021." As we know, nobody knows if the anomalies the ground penetrating radar found are unmarked graves, and 15 definitely are not, as SFU researchers (unknown at the time to the GPR techs) had already dug up one of the areas surveyed and found no bodies. However, it is repeated again and again and again that 215 unmarked graves were found. Saying "thousands of children never returned" is again implying an ethnic cleansing of some kind.
There isn't anything so grotesque or so incredible that the average human being can't believe it.
Mark Twain
Shame on the CBC for allowing " . . . after 215 unmarked graves were found . . . "
That "215" number just will not fade away. In one of the ceremonies in Victoria on Saturday, part of the program was "215 seconds of silence."
I wish you great success in your work. I don't know where Pierre P. stands on Indian issues ,however, I have tried to engage with him and have personally handed him a position paper on the impossibility of a "Nation To Nation' relationship with our First Nations people. One thing I believe he is obligated to do is, present a motion in parliament condemning the idea that Canada is a genocidal country. I will email my 'paper' to Woke Watch for your consideration.
I don't think P.P. is standing anywhere. I think he is sitting, sitting on the fence.
I think you guys will end up winning the information war. In the end the truth will come out.
All the best - cheers!
An excellent analysis of what is happening with the aboriginal grievance industry in Australia, parallels to Canada https://open.substack.com/pub/modernenquirer/p/uncovering-the-truth-behind-the-stolen?r=57aaq&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
From what I’ve seen, the members of the IRSRG have always acknowledged, and even stressed, that abuse and harsh discipline did occur at residential schools, that many children suffered from loneliness and separation from their families, and that the IRS experience caused lasting trauma for many who attended. I’ve never seen these things “denied” in writings from these researchers, so I’m constantly flummoxed when I see that any questioning of the “acceptable” narrative is equated to a “conspiracy theory.” Here’s an example from an opinion writer just yesterday:
<< I can’t imagine how it would feel to experience residential schools, being torn from your family and raised without parents, your language and culture. It must be so traumatizing for people to hear this dark part of Canadian history included in the same category as chemtrails, shapeshifting reptilian people living underground, government mind control, and flat Earth theories. This is not the only tragedy that gets lumped into conspiracy theories. Tragedies such as the Sandy Hook shooting, the Holocaust and JFK assassination have also become fodder for deniers. >>
What?!?
How do we counter this kind of straw man? As exasperating as this is, I think it’s critical to NOT sound exasperated, to not let frustration creep into the discourse; in other words, to continue to pay attention to tone, always – even in the comments (I’m guilty of getting pretty snarky in my own comments, but I’m gonna quit it : ) Somehow we have to start reaching people beyond the choir loft. People are just getting so darn “dug in” on their respective sides on this.
That opinion piece I cited is here: https://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/charla-huber-residential-schools-are-not-a-conspiracy-theory-7624837