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What really happened to the children of Indian Residential Schools?

Hymie Rubenstein

Troy Media

December 16, 2024

Are Canadians being misled about the fate of residential school children?

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) estimated in its 2015 final report that at least 3,200 children died while attending Canada’s Indian Residential Schools (IRS), with the fate of many still unknown. Later, the late Murray Sinclair, who chaired the TRC, suggested the number could be as high as 6,000. Some commentators have gone even further, claiming up to 25,000 children never made it home from these schools.

The latest interpretation of these deaths comes from Kimberly Murray, appointed in June 2022 as the Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with IRSs. Her October 2024 final report echoes many assertions from the 2015 TRC report, including claims that:

• The Indian Residential School System was responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, and widespread human rights violations.

• Many of the children who died at these schools were buried in unmarked and untended graves.

These statements, however, lack sufficient evidence. For example, no verified case has been found of an IRS staff member murdering a student during the system’s 113-year history. The notion of a “genocide without murder victims” raises serious logical and empirical questions.

Government records, such as Quarterly Returns, provide a clearer picture of the fate of IRS students. These documents meticulously tracked attendance, deaths, and even burial locations for each student because funding allocations required schools to report this data to the Department of Indian Affairs (DIA). These records, along with others, were essential for ensuring accountability in government-supported schools.

The TRC’s successor, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR), maintains a Student Memorial Register with over 4,000 names of children who died or “went missing” while attending an IRS. However, there appears to be little effort to inform families and communities about the burial sites of these children, even when evidence is available. This failure – whether due to bureaucratic inefficiency, lack of prioritization, or political bias – undermines the stated goals of reconciliation and closure for Indigenous families and communities.

For example, independent researcher Nina Green has made significant progress using British Columbia’s death records, school Quarterly Returns, and DIA inquiries into student deaths. Of the 416 children listed on the NCTR Memorial Register for British Columbia, Green has identified death records for 265 of them – 64 percent of the total. These records often include the cause of death, location, and burial site. Contrary to widespread claims, Green’s research suggests most children were buried on their home reserves rather than in unnamed or mass graves at school sites.

Green also investigated the Kamloops IRS, where she accounted for all but two of the 51 “missing” children on its Memorial Register saw as. Her work highlights a crucial question: Why haven’t well-funded organizations like the TRC, NCTR, and Murray’s office undertaken similar efforts? These groups have had access to substantial public funding – $72 million for the TRC alone – but have failed to verify or clarify many of their claims about missing children. (For more information and access to the documents compiled by Nina Green, you can visit the Indian Residential School Records website.)

This lack of transparency and thoroughness does a disservice to Indigenous families, communities, and Canadians at large. It also contradicts Indigenous spiritual values, which emphasize the importance of truth for reconciliation.

Canadians must ask why more effort hasn’t been made to carefully examine available archival records and share this information with affected families. If a lone, unfunded researcher like Green can accomplish so much, why can’t institutions with significant resources do the same? Failing to address these gaps perpetuates misconceptions and undermines public trust in the reconciliation process.

The fate of Indigenous children who attended IRS should be treated with the utmost care, accuracy, and transparency. Only through rigorous investigation and a commitment to truth can we foster genuine reconciliation and healing for all Canadians.

Hymie Rubenstein, editor of REAL Indigenous Report, is a retired professor of anthropology, University of Manitoba. He is co-author of Positive Stories About Indian Residential Schools Must Also Be Heard for the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, where he is a senior fellow.

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