DW News published this video item, entitled “Remains of 215 children found at Indigenous school in Canada | DW News” – below is their description.
A devastating discovery has been made in Canada: the remains of 215 children have been found buried at the site of a former boarding school for indigenous students. The school in British Columbia was part of a nationwide scheme that took in First Nations children, in an effort to assimilate them into Canadian society. Investigations have shown there was widespread abuse. These latest findings are once again opening a wound that has yet to heal.
In Vancouver, people gathered to mourn the 215 children whose remains were found at a former Indigenous residential school, with ground-penetrating radar confirming the grim discovery.
Founded in 1890, the Kamloops school was one of Canada’s state-run Indigenous residential schools. After being forcibly separated from their parents, children were made to convert to Christianity and banned from speaking their native languages. Physical and sexual abuse by headmasters and teachers was common – a 2015 report found that over 3,200 children had died from maltreatment and neglect in what it called a “cultural genocide.”
The Kamloops school closed in 1978 – but rumors persisted that the deaths of many children had been covered up. Canada’s politicians — including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – said they were heartbroken by the news.
The Tk’emlups te Secwepemc tribe says it is working with the coroner and museums to try to shed light on the grim discovery – and find records of the children’s deaths.
DW News YouTube Channel
Got a comment? Leave your thoughts in the comments section, below. Please note comments are moderated before publication.
