Content warning: The content on this page deals with residential and boarding schools, the death and disappearance of children, child abuse, genocide, and intergenerational trauma. The National Residential School Crisis Line is available at all times, free of charge: 1-866-925-4419. Free support is also available through the Hope for Wellness chatline at 1-800-721-0066 or using the chat box at https://www.hopeforwellness.ca/.
September 17, 2024
THE CANADIAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION PROVIDES a web page of “Resources for Indigenous Communities Considering Investigating Unmarked Graves”, including downloadable videos and documents titled Searching for Missing Children: A Guide to Unmarked Graves Investigations and Searching for Missing Children: A Guide to Remote Sensing Techniques.
A “Joint Statement on Indian Residential School Denialism by the CAA, the Society for American Archaeology (SAA), the Canadian Association for Biological Anthropology (CABA-ACAB), and the Canadian Permafrost Association (CPA)” issued on June 10, 2022 reads, in part:
Disturbingly, some of the denialist arguments point out that to date none of the missing children investigations have located human remains, implying that such discoveries are the only way to “prove” that graves are present. This is profoundly disrespectful to Indigenous communities experiencing the intergenerational trauma inflicted by these schools. While it is true that we can never be 100% certain about the cause of an anomaly without excavation, it is also true that the nature of individual anomalies, and patterns of multiple similar anomalies within a given area can in some cases reduce the uncertainty to almost zero. In other words, in some cases GPR can demonstrate the presence of graves beyond a reasonable doubt, especially when coupled with additional evidence from archives or oral testimony. No one has the right to demand that Indigenous communities excavate potential graves to “prove” the demonstrated fact that there are missing children who died at residential schools. Only Indigenous communities can decide their path forward to healing.
Residential school denialism undermines the tragic loss of innocent Indigenous children. It attempts to mask the horrors that took place at these schools and derail the growing movement by governments and the broader public to redress these harms and their ongoing impact on Indigenous peoples in Canada today. It denies the truth and works against reconciliation.
The CAA, SAA, CABA-ACAB and CPA call out the misrepresentations and false claims of denialists and strongly supports Indigenous communities’ rights to decide whether and how to search for their missing children, and how to commemorate and memorialize them. We support Indigenous leaders’ calls for access to all remaining residential school records and call upon all levels of government to continue to support communities as they walk this difficult path. The CAA will continue to develop resources to help Indigenous communities make informed decisions and training materials to help them build capacity to conduct their own investigations.
Additional videos including a webinar entitled Best Practices in Remote Sensing for Grave Detection are accessible from the CAA’s “Resources for Indigenous Communities” page.
See also slides from a presentation called “Ground-Penetrating Radar Best Practices” by Sarah Beaulieu, who carried out the preliminary survey at Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, and in particular the statements that “Remote sensing such as GPR is not necessary to know that children went missing in Indian Residential School contexts. This fact has been recognized by Indigenous communities for generations”:
Cultural protocols, and oral tellings are as equally important as the science behind remote sensing.
-
-
-
- This fact – the knowing – has been recognized by Indigenous communities for generations
- Given the nature and sensitivity of this work, one cannot and should not be done without the other
-
-
Approaching the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30, readers might turn their minds to the following announcement that the CAA issued issued on June 5, 2021:
The CAA calls on all levels of government to implement the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC), and in particular Calls 71-76 that relate to missing children and burial information. In 2015, the TRC called for the prompt identification and inventory of all former Residential School burial grounds across the country. They also called on governments to provide adequate funding for such efforts. The TRC directed that the work of documenting, maintaining, protecting and commemorating residential school cemeteries should be led by the affected communities and families, with guidance from residential school survivors and other Knowledge Keepers, and must respect Indigenous protocols (http://trc.ca/assets/pdf/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf). This work must be undertaken with the utmost care and with the appropriate mental health supports because of the huge potential to re-traumatize Indigenous communities.
* * *
We acknowledge that the land on which we work is the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.