On a clear summer day in August, Rebecca Blake found herself standing outside in a cemetery Edmonton Searching for the graves of Inuviluit who died in the South during a tuberculosis epidemic.
In a corner of a cemetery in St. Albert, Alta., under some trees she found a section dedicated to indigenous peoples and a monument bearing the names of the 98 people buried there from northern Canada.
Naming the Unknown: How First Nations are identifying children buried in unmarked graves
read more
As Blake looked around the area, he discovered a grim reality.
“I realized there wasn’t enough room for 98 people. Then I realized they were on top of each other,” she said.
At a different cemetery, Blake learns that a woman who was taken from her community to a tuberculosis hospital was buried in the same grave as a local social services recipient.
Blake, who is an Inuvialuit and an ordained deacon, was part of a group that included family members and Inuvialuit regional corporations that traveled to the Edmonton area last summer to hold ceremonies at the burial sites of 12 individuals, which were located and identified through Nanilavut. Project.
The project, which translates as “let’s find them” in Inuktitut, began by exploring and honoring the lives of those who died in TB hospitals.
‘Tip of the iceberg’: 6 possible unmarked graves found near former Pine Creek residential school
Blake helped lead the funeral ceremonies. She shared her experience this week at the second National Gathering on Unmarked Burials, which was organized by the Office of the Independent Special Rapporteur on Missing Children and Unmarked Burials and the National Center for Truth and Reconciliation.
“The feeling of the reunion was indescribable. What I saw in those few days will stay with me for the rest of my life and it has changed me,” Blake told a crowd of survivors, health experts and family members at the residential school.
The event, which ended on Wednesday, focused on promoting community well-being and addressing trauma in the search and recovery of missing children.
Kimberly Murray, who was named by the federal government as special negotiator in June, identified common concerns when addressing trauma.
Murray said resources are urgently needed for communities to implement welfare programs. She said Indigenous elders and healers need to be recognized as mental health practitioners and changes are needed in federal funding agreements.
The federal government plans to spend $320 million to help Indigenous communities recover from the ongoing effects of residential schools through projects that involve exploring former school sites, holding ceremonies or commemorating sites Is.
Murray said communities have been told that the money cannot be used for legal aid.
“When I think about the history of the Indian Act and how indigenous people were not allowed to hire lawyers, it is almost as if they took that provision of the Indian Act and built it into the terms and conditions of their funding agreements. Brought life back. ,
Murray said some communities have expressed difficulty accessing land and negotiating with private landowners, which has forced them to seek legal assistance.
The Sioux Valley Dakota Nation in western Manitoba was recently dismayed to discover unmarked graves on part of the grounds of the former Brandon Residential School. This area is now a private campground.
Murray submitted a progress report to the federal government earlier this month that outlined other general concerns he heard.
They include the barriers that survivors and communities face when requesting access to records. Murray said in one case a survivor was told it would take six months before they could gain access.
They also found that there are questions about whether law reform and other measures are needed to support death investigations and, where appropriate, criminal prosecutions.
Murray called on governments to immediately waive their fees for communities to be able to access death, birth or any other certificates that the statistics office holds.
“We have heard in this gathering that there are family members buried in the cemetery in marked graves, but they do not know where they are,” she said. “Those death records can tell them where they’re buried, communities need access to that.”
Former senator and judge Murray Sinclair said during his keynote speech Monday evening that when families lose a child without answers about what happened or where they were buried, it leads to a different kind of unresolved grief. .
Sinclair said, “The trauma that we all collectively feel that children are still out there and have been treated so badly is a trauma that runs through all of us across the country.”
Murray said he also heard this week about the importance of community solidarity when it comes to recovery work.
“People are helping each other in healing, and there is power in that.”
© 2022 The Canadian Press