The contrast between the top two photos, and what they represent, should slap you in the face. I know it did me.
The last photo depicts a foreground of mourning parents and grandparents hoping to get a glimpse of their abducted children as they were lead in and out of the torturous prison that was heinously called a "school." Sadly, this was far from the only one.
The last of these facilities closed in 1996.
The Government and the Catholic Church were co-conspirators.
Their intention was to force the noble, spiritual, indigenous people to assimilate, to conform to their colonizing ideals.
Kill the culture by stealing their children, their future.
I don't claim to be an expert on this subject, far from it. I know I'm speaking from a place of privilege. I know that I can never truly understand the damage generations of abuse have on a culture, and the families within it.
All I can do is learn the truth, and then share it in the best way I know how.
Before those 215 little souls were discovered on the grounds of one of these facilities in Kamloops, BC, I knew about the residential schools. I'd heard about the physical and sexual abuse thrust upon these babies at the hands of nuns and priests. I'd heard and read some of the stories from the survivors.
I didn't know about the mass, unmarked graves.
If it turns your stomach to learn about it, imagine the horror of living it.
215. For now.
Likely, the tip of the iceberg.
Little to no recording of names, deaths, reasons for their passing.
Why would they?
They starved these children. They abused and tortured these children. They beat these children bloody on a very regular basis. They murdered these children. Of course they didn't want a record kept.
Records can lead to accountability. The Catholic Church is allergic to accountability.
They never met a cover-up of despicable behavior they didn't like, and perpetuate with gusto.
They can't be allowed to slide out from under this.
They can't be allowed to use the 'bad apple' defense.
They can't be allowed to pretend that they were isolated incidences.
The Catholic Church should have to pay for all of it. The identification process of all of the children, both found and yet to be found. They should have to pay for everything deemed necessary by the aboriginal communities to heal. They should take ownership of what they did. All of it. No excuses, no justifications, no caveats, no passing of the buck, just accountability.
For a church that supposedly is "pro-life," what about the lives of these babies?
A church that encourages its members to picket clinics, while simultaneously covering up abuse of children at the hands of priests and nuns, and conveniently refuses to see the complete hypocrisy of it all, is utterly astounding.
Meaningful healing can only ever begin with sincere accountability and reconciliation.
Justice is impossible.
The abuse of our First Nation's people isn't history. We can't bury our heads in the sand and pretend it is. It's evident in every facet of our society's structure. From health care and foster care to career opportunities and treatment by law enforcement and the courts.
The only way this gets better is if we all make it happen.
Changes won't happen on their own. The entities perpetuating the worst of the injustices won't hold themselves accountable, history has taught us that over and over and over again.
It's going to take all of us. This burden is too heavy to be carried by First Nations people alone, besides, it's not theirs to bear. We thrust this burden upon their shoulders, it's up to us to put our backs into the heavy lifting.
It took generations to cause all of this damage, it will take generations to heal it. We need to start.
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May your souls finally be free to fly, at peace, free from the terror, free to reclaim what you know to be true.
May your names be said aloud, heard with reverence, memorialized, and honoured by those who loved you.
May every injustice be brought to light, every brutal act accounted for, every abuser forced to say what's true.
May you, the guilty, have your names said aloud, heard with disdain, demoralized, and dishonoured, just deserts for you.
May we find a path toward healing, guided by those hurt most, help to bring closure and peace, no one can do it alone.
May we all do everything we possibly can to comfort, to listen, to hear, to bring all the babies home.
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