May 5, 2023 | Author: Ruonan Zhao Photographer: Daniel Yu
Walking into a gloom and unfamiliar building, surrounded by unfamiliar adults, speaking an unfamiliar language, and wearing unfamiliar clothes. You want to scream and cry and call for your family, but all that only ends with the crisp, sharp pain that leaves your hand throbbing.
Memorial of lost children at Vancouver Art Gallery | taken by: Daniel Yu
More than 130 residential schools housing over 150 thousand Indigenous children, leaves an everlasting scar on Canada’s history. Since the discovery of the bodies of an astonishing number of 215 children in a mass grave at a former residential school in Kamloops, awareness for the crimes and atrocities committed to the Indigenous peoples arose.
In memory of these children, a memorial is set up in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Filled with children’s shoes, toys, and stuffed animals, people warm heartedly left items to represent all those lost children, so we never forget about them.
Display to remember lost Indigenous children from residential schools | taken by: Daniel Yu
Decades after the tragedies, a group of residential school survivors have brought forward an appeal against the federal government over thousands of unreleased documents, that would be key evidence in determining the compensation for these victims. Survivors of St. Anne’s Indian residential school, from northern Ontario, had hoped that Canada’s top court, the Supreme Court, would finally hear their case. But without reason, the case was declined.
It is well-known that these residential schools are notorious for abuse and misconduct. But breaching under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, the withheld documents greatly impacted the compensation and justice that these survivors received.
“The Justice Department suppressed evidence of crimes at St Anne’s. Government lawyers attacked survivors in private hearings. Liberals spent millions to perpetuate this injustice.”
- Charlie Angus, The Guardian
Despite being a reasonable case with well backed evidence, the Supreme Court refused to open the case. Under pressure from the Liberal government, the court was urged to not intervene.
Following the decades of oppression upon Indigenous peoples of Canada, the only way we are able to reach reconciliation is if the government is able to be honest. Without a doubt, the government withholding key evidence and refusing to allow investigation is tearing apart trust that they promised to build. The case needs to be heard, and justice needs to be achieved.
Orange display art shown at Vancouver Art Gallery stating "Every Child Matters" | taken by: Daniel Yu