Current Problems: Missing Children and Burial Information (71-76)
Exploring Stakeholder: "Government of Canada"
Updates on this page: 34
(Filtered by Indigenous Group "Inuit")
February 29, 2024
Senate committee hears from information commissioner on residential schools records access
Guidance on information disclosure ‘comes from the top,’ says Caroline Maynard CBC Indigenous: A Senate committee examining barriers to the release of records of deaths at residential schools heard Tuesday that federal departments and agencies should make information disclosure processes more accessible and informal. “We heard that the privacy and information regimes cannot work if the government itself does not believe...
February 20, 2024
Canada needs legislation to protect historical Indigenous burial sites: Winnipeg conference
Absence of national laws ‘simply unacceptable,’ MKO grand chief says CBC Indigenous: A Manitoba First Nation and an advocacy group are hosting a conference in Winnipeg this week to discuss the need for national legislation that would protect Indigenous ancestral remains and belongings in Canada. The Protecting our Ancestors conference is hosted by Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak...
February 1, 2024
‘No one will ever take my grandchildren again, ever’: Gathering hears from residential school survivors
By Jeff Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Nunatsiaq News NationTalk: The Standard, Nunatsiaq News – On the second day of the National Gathering on Unmarked Burials in Iqaluit, survivors of residential schools and tuberculosis sanitoriums shared their stories and the pain and uncertainty of not knowing where their family members are buried. The conference, at the...
November 28, 2023
Educate or prosecute? Two Anishnaabe weigh in on how to deal with residential school deniers
Ottawa looking at different legal mechanisms it could deploy to address issue WARNING: This story contains details of experiences at residential schools. CBC Indigenous: “It wasn’t that bad, they got an education out of it.” Michael Eshkawkogan says he’s seen that exact comment and others like it when scrolling on social media. No one has...
October 14, 2023
After a century in an unnamed grave, an Inuk girl finally gets her name back
After Sara Abraha Uvloriak’s story was published, church held a ceremony for a new gravestone CBC News: More than a century after her death, a young Labrador Inuk girl buried in a cemetery in London’s Chelsea neighbourhood has received a ceremony and a new gravestone. And unlike her first gravestone, this one is engraved with her name: Sara Abraha Uvloriak....
October 2, 2023
Trudeau’s government tasked her with seeking justice for Indigenous children in unmarked graves. Now she says it’s stonewalling her
A federal government appointee says limits around how she conducts her work are hindering reconciliation — and feeding into a disturbing rise in misinformation about the legacy of residential schools. Toronto Star: OTTAWA—The federal government’s point person on seeking justice for Indigenous children buried in unmarked graves says Ottawa’s limits around how she conducts her...
September 30, 2023
Probing the past: residential school secrets and archival challenges
How do we balance privacy legislation with the public’s right to know? The red honour roll is based on the national student registry. Photo: Danielle Paradis/APTN. If you are feeling triggered by the events today, the Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line (1-866-925-4419) is available 24 hours a day for survivors experiencing pain or distress about...
September 30, 2023
Orange Shirt Day: Canada faces rise in residential school denialism
Hate speech and confrontations are growing over the truth about missing children, graves and genocide People attend the second annual Orange Shirt Day Survivors Walk and Pow Wow on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Sept. 30, 2022. With Orange Shirt Day approaching Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, a surge in residential...
September 28, 2023
Federal government needs to counter rise in residential school denialism says Kimberly Murray
APTN News: The rise in residential school denialism is directly related to how the federal and provincial governments have been handling reconciliation in Canada, according to the special interlocutor on missing children and unmarked burials. Kimberly Murray, speaking to APTN News ahead of the second annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, said the federal and provincial...
September 1, 2023
Honouring the missing children and the survivors, families and communities left behind: Senators Audette and Francis
NationTalk: When death occurs, people gather to pay respect, honour the deceased and support their loved ones. But when it comes to the thousands of children who went missing while being forced to attend Indian Residential Schools, some seem to think that Indigenous people should simply move on. Why is that? Indigenous families and...
August 28, 2023
Special interlocutor hopeful new Justice Minister will act to address residential school denialism
The Globe and Mail: The Canadian Press – Kimberly Murray, the independent special interlocutor on missing children, unmarked graves and burial sites associated with residential schools, says she has met with Canada’s new Justice Minister and hopes he will move to address “denialism.” Ms. Murray, who was given a two-year mandate last year to work...
July 19, 2023
Senate committee to question groups that have not released residential school records
Governments and churches ‘standing between Indigenous Peoples and the truth,’ committee member says CBC News: A Senate committee is pledging to hold a hearing this fall to demand answers from organizations that have not released records tied to Canada’s residential school system. In a news release Wednesday, P.E.I. Sen. Brian Francis called it “disheartening” that so many governments and...
June 20, 2023
Residential School Denialism Is on the Rise. What to Know
And how to confront it. Because without the truth, there can be no reconciliation. The Tyee: May 27, 2023 marked the two-year anniversary of the Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc’s announcement about the location of 215 potential unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in the Interior of British Columbia. In recognition of the anniversary,...
June 16, 2023
Canada must combat residential school denialism, special interlocutor’s report says
The Globe and Mail: The Canadian Press: Ottawa – The independent special interlocutor on unmarked graves says “urgent consideration” should be given to legal mechanisms as a way for Canada to combat residential school denialism. Kimberly Murray makes the call in an interim report released today, just over a year after she was appointed to...
June 6, 2023
‘Have some respect’: International involvement in residential school burial work not wanted, needed
“I think what was really quite offensive to a lot of people across the country is this suggestion that we somehow needed international oversight to do the work…” — Dr. Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux Windspeaker.com: The National Advisory Committee on Missing Children and Unmarked Burials will not participate in an internationally-led engagement process for DNA collection, which...
May 30, 2023
Advisory committee on residential school graves says it won’t work with Netherlands-based NGO
Ottawa announced contract with International Commission on Missing Persons in February CBC News: A group dedicated to supporting Indigenous communities as they look for children who went missing at residential schools says it will not participate in an engagement process on DNA collection to identify unmarked graves at the former school sites. In a statement released...
April 21, 2023
‘Mohawk Mothers’ reach agreement with McGill to search hospital grounds for unmarked grave
APTN: A group of six women from Kahnawà:ke calling themselves the Mohawk Mothers, or Kanien’keha:ka Kahnistensera, reached an agreement with McGill University and Quebec’s infrastructure society (SQI) April 20 to find out if there are unmarked graves on the campus. Kwetiio, one of the Kahnistensera, said the agreement is “for the archeology. It’s not for either side. It’s not for people fighting amongst...
April 20, 2023
shíshálh Nation says 40 unmarked graves believed found at residential school site, more are expected
St. Augustine’s Residential School in Sechelt, B.C., operated from 1904 to 1975 CBC News: The shíshálh Nation says ground-penetrating radar has identified what are believed to be 40 unmarked graves of children on or near the site of the former St. Augustine’s Residential School. A statement from the nation on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast says it listened...
March 21, 2023
Adviser on unmarked graves says some landowners are refusing access for searches
NationTalk: CTV News: OTTAWA – As some private landowners restrict residential school survivors from performing ceremony or searching their properties for possible unmarked graves, a federal minister says Ottawa is open to legislating new protections for the possible burial sites. Kimberly Murray, who was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to provide it with advice...
March 15, 2023
International commission looks to ease fears over unmarked graves contract
UN Indigenous rights expert heard ‘numerous concerns’ about deal during official visit CBC News: The top official at the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) wants to ease concerns the organization’s contract with the federal government could compromise its independence as it works with Indigenous communities in Canada. “I don’t have those concerns,” said Kathryne Bomberger,...
March 5, 2023
‘You’re not alone’: Guatemalan anthropologist offers support for unmarked graves searches
Fredy Peccerelli says Indigenous communities can and should develop own forensic anthropology capacity Warning: This story contains distressing details. CBC News: The head of a Guatemalan forensic anthropology group is offering his support for Indigenous communities in Canada as they investigate unmarked burials linked to residential schools. When he was nine, Fredy Peccerelli’s family fled Guatemala’s...
February 23, 2023
Anishinabek Nation trusts Indigenous Survivors, communities, and experts to guide unmarked burial searches regardless of federal deal with international group
Trigger warning: readers may be triggered by the recount of Indian Residential Schools. To access a 24-hour National Crisis Line, call: 1-866-925-4419. Community Assistance Program (CAP) can be accessed for citizens of the Anishinabek Nation: 1-800-663-1142. NationTalk: ANISHINABEK NATION HEAD OFFICE (February 23, 2023) – Anishinabek Nation leadership is confounded by the recent announcement of a $2...
February 20, 2023
Winnipeg-based group ‘deeply concerned’ by federal contract with international group to advise on graves
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation says decision seems to undermine Indigenous-led work in the area CBC News: The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation says there are many problems with a $2 million contract Ottawa signed with an international group to give advice on unmarked graves. The Winnipeg-based centre said it is “deeply concerned” with...
February 18, 2023
NDP MP calls for hate speech law to combat residential school ‘denialism’
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller interested in reviewing proposed bill WARNING: This story contains distressing details. CBC News: Some Indigenous academics and activists say they’ve become the targets of a growing backlash against reports of hundreds of unmarked graves at former residential school sites — and they want Parliament to do something about it. They...
February 18, 2023
First Nations discuss best practices in Thunder Bay as searches of residential school sites continue
Nishnawbe Aski Nation hosting gathering of 18 communities this week CBC News: As searches for potential unmarked graves at former residential school sites in Canada continue, representatives of First Nations from across Ontario gathered in Thunder Bay this week to discuss best practices. The Residential School Site Search Forum took place at the Best Western Plus...
February 17, 2023
Feds will manage group providing options on residential school unmarked burials
$2M deal with International Commission on Missing Persons comes with significant oversight CBC News: The Canadian government will heavily supervise an international group hired to provide Indigenous communities with options on unmarked burials at former residential school sites, a contract released Friday shows. Publication of Ottawa’s $2-million technical arrangement with The Hague-based International Commission on Missing...
February 9, 2023
Interlocutor on unmarked graves ‘very concerned’ by feds’ $2M deal with international organization
Kimberly Murray flags lack of transparency on agreement to UN Indigenous rights rapporteur CBC News: The special interlocutor for missing children and unmarked burials at residential schools is calling out the federal government over a deal with an international group tasked with locating missing people lost through armed conflict, human rights abuses and other causes. Kimberly...
January 18, 2023
Residential school records needed to answer ‘hard questions’: special interlocutor
The records are important because they represent ‘a path to the truth,’ says Kimberly Murray. The fight is not over to find records that could answer “hard questions” about unmarked graves at Canada’s residential schools, including who the missing children were and how they died, said the woman appointed to work with Indigenous communities in...
January 12, 2023
Ground search at Sask. First Nation gets 2,000 ‘hits,’ more work required to determine which are graves
Star Blanket Cree Nation will now begin core sampling and DNA tests Warning: This story contains distressing details. CBC News: Ground penetrating radar searches at the site of the former Lebret Indian Industrial School found more than 2,000 “hits” over the past year, the man leading the search for Star Blanket Cree Nation announced Thursday. The...
December 6, 2022
New details coming to light says special interlocutor on unmarked graves and missing children
APTN News: Kimberly Murray is a little more than six months into her new role, but it’s become clear that new truths are being spoken. In June of 2022, Murray was working with residential school survivors looking to search the grounds of the Mohawk Institute at Six Nations of the Grand River. That’s when the...
October 30, 2022
Seeking justice for missing children and unmarked graves has uncovered ‘larger’ concerns, special interlocutor says
Kimberly Murray says an impending bill making Indigenous policing an essential service could make the process of searching burial sites much safer for Indigenous communities. Toronto Star: OTTAWA—For Kimberly Murray, many challenges lie behind the difficult work of crafting a legal framework that would seek justice for children who faced abuse and lost their lives...
February 15, 2022
Fort Pelly IRS and St. Philip’s IRS
Toronto Star – The discovery of 54 potential graves of children forced to attend two residential schools on Keeseekoose First Nation land was announced to a silent gathering of community members and media… Meanwhile, Chief Bobby Cameron of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations said the Catholic Church, and others who ran the school, must...
July 22, 2021
Appeal to International Criminal Court
Nunantsiaq News: Nunavut MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq and her fellow NDP MP Charlie Angus held a press conference on Parliament Hill Thursday to ask federal Justice Minister and Attorney General David Lametti to reach out to the International Criminal Court to launch an investigation into a system they said “represents a crime against humanity.” “We need...
June 11, 2021
Misleading Update Information
The Official website of the Federal Government: “Delivering on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action” stated that the content had been “Modified” when in fact not a single work had changed from the previous update posted on Sept, 5, 2019. Those updates, beginning on June 7 began just 11 days after the discovery...
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