Leaders of indigenous groups in Canada have said researchers have found more than 600 unmarked graves in a former residential school for indigenous children.
This news comes after the discovery of 215 bodies in another school, last month.
The discovery was made at the Marieval Residential School, which operated from 1899-1997, about 135 kilometers east of Regina, the capital of Saskatchewan province.
The radar that penetrated deep into the earth, recorded at least 600 buried bodies, said the head of the indigenous community, Cadmus Delorme, reports the Associated Press news agency.
The cemetery is believed to have bodies of children and adults, and even persons outside the community, who have been part of the church there.
Perry Bellegarde, head of the so-called Assembly of First Nations, has said that it is not uncommon to find such cemeteries in former residential schools, but they are always devastating discoveries, which open the wounds for the violent assimilation of indigenous children in these institutions, which have often been abusive.
Many non-indigenous Canadians were unaware of the scale of the problems in these schools, until 215 children were found last month in one of the largest schools of its kind.
What are residential schools?
From the 19th century to the 1970s, more than 150,000 indigenous children were forced to attend state-funded Christian schools in order to assimilate into Canadian society.
Thousands of children have died there as a result of illness or other causes, and most of them have never returned to their families.
Nearly three-quarters of the 130 residential schools were run by Roman Catholic missionary congregations, while others operated under the Anglican Church or the United Church of Canada, which today is known for the largest expansion of the Protestant religion in the state.
The Canadian government has acknowledged its role in isolating children from their homes, families and cultures, and has also acknowledged that physical and sexual abuse has been rampant in schools, where students have been beaten for speaking their mother tongue.
Indigenous leaders have called this whole story a form of cultural genocide.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday called the policy “extremely damaging, which has been a reality for Canada for many, many decades and Canadians today are horrified and ashamed of what their state has done.”
He said that this policy “forced the assimilation” of children.
What is behind the discovery of waste?
The Commission for National Truth and Reconciliation, which was set up as part of the government’s apology, published a report in 2015, through which about 3,200 confirmed deaths were identified in schools.
Although some people have died as a result of diseases such as tuberculosis, it has been observed that the cause of death for half of these victims is usually not recorded.
According to the Commission, the Government has wanted to keep school costs low, so adequate regulations have never been in place.
The report also said that school practices were to prevent troops from being sent to their communities.
Delorme said the cemetery at the school in Saskatchesan was marked once, but Catholic operators of the building removed the marks.
What apologies have been made?
Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper has apologized to Parliament in 2008 for the role of the Government.
Even the Anglican Church, and other united churches, have apologized for their roles in the abuses.
Among the 94 recommendations, the Reconciliation Commission also mentioned the papacy’s apology, but at the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2018 it was said that the Pope could not personally apologize to the residential schools.
Former Pope Benedict XVI met with some alumni and victims in 2009 and spoke to them about the “personal anxiety” he feels about their pain.
Following the revelation last month, Pope Francis expressed his sorrow and called on religious and political authorities to shed light on this “sad affair”, but did not apologize.
Truedeu said Friday that he had spoken to the Pope personally “to show him how important it is that he not only apologize, but apologize to the indigenous Canadians on Canadian soil.”
Bishop Don Bolen of the Archdiocese of Regina has published a letter on his website, in which he repeated the apology made two years ago.
What compensation is offered?
The Conciliation Commission was set up under a settlement agreement in 2015 worth $ 4 billion, the largest pact in Canadian history.
Under the agreement, students who have been to these schools are eligible to earn US $ 8,143 for attending the first school year and US $ 2,443 for each year thereafter.
Victims of physical and sexual violence have the opportunity to seek additional compensation.
Trudeau has said the government will help preserve cemetery sites and look for unmarked cemeteries in other schools, but he and his ministers have stressed the need for indigenous communities to decide for themselves how they want the process to proceed.
The government has previously announced that it has allocated $ 22 million for these efforts, which it considers a first step in this regard./REL.
