No Justice for Native communities causes more destruction
Two more Catholic churches have been engulfed in flames after Indigenous Nations have confirmed more unmarked graves at residential school sites. They would likely contain the remains of Indigenous children.
North of Edmonton, at around 3am, fire and rescue were called to a Catholic church that had been set alight. St. Jean Baptiste Parish in Morinville was dust come morning.
In less than two weeks, at least seven churches have been set on fire across Canada, with all but one Catholic. Where the fire is not involved, graffiti is still prevalent. But the carcasses of animals have also been left on church doors, as have bloody handprints and footprints, along with “We were children” scrawled across the doors in paint.
https://twitter.com/frogustaugust/status/1410446078927945733
These acts are said to be a result of unmarked graves being discovered around residential school sites in Canada. Residential schools were run by the Canadian government to forcibly assimilate 150,000 First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children. This started in the 1830s, but the last one did not close until the late 1990s. With over half of them run by Catholics, sexual abuse and violence were regular occurrences. Vice reports that around 15,000 children died in attendance.
Last month, k’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation were the first to discover the graves, which urged other tribes to go searching as well. Countless tribes have since discovered unmarked graves, with Cowessess First Nation finding the remains of 715 people.
Love these transformations of Catholic Churches 😙❤️ as they should! #CancelCanadaDay pic.twitter.com/dldtTRSVTJ
— b (@nothxbrit) July 1, 2021
Anti-indigenous rhetoric and beliefs are often thought of as something contained to the 1500s, though the issues and trauma created from colonisation are still felt today. But with governments refusing to address the centuries of torture, murder, the forced repression, there is little outlet for indigenous rage.
Today I’ll be heeding the call of my colleague, @solmamakwa. Learning, listening, recommitting to action
Our country is facing a reckoning as the ongoing recovery of children torn from their families and buried at former residential schools, continues. https://t.co/IHokOePBqa
— Marit Stiles (@MaritStiles) July 1, 2021
People from native communities and wider are calling for Canada and the Catholic Church to face criminal charges for human rights violations.
