Canada celebrated its National Day on Thursday, which falls on the country’s official founding date on July 1, 1867, with Fewer celebrations than usual and a darker spirit after more than 1,000 unidentified bodies of Aboriginal children were discovered in recent weeks. On the territory of the former state boarding schools.

This discovery unleashed Hundreds of protesters angered who destroyed the statue of Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Victoria.

Queen Elizabeth II remained Queen of Canada even though the country became an independent country in 1867. While pretending, people claimed that Elizabeth and Victoria “They are the faces of colonialism‘, those who blamed those deaths.

Statues were toppled, desecrated and destroyed by a violent mob. With no police in sight at the time, protesters tied ropes around the statues’ necks and tore them to the ground with chants of “No to genocide“Yeah”put it down‘, amid outrage over the deaths of 1,000 Aboriginal children who were found en masse buried.

Since the end of May tk’emlúps te secwépemc, an indigenous group from western Canada, has revealed the discovery of the remains of at least 215 Aboriginal children buried in the former school premises of Kamloops, A growing number of voices call for the cancellation of Canada Day celebrations.

Announcing two other indigenous groups in Discover more unidentified tombs In many school dormitories, government-run institutions of religious sects in which Aboriginal children were forcibly detained, led to Many question the validity of the celebration of the anniversary of the founding of Canada.

“I don’t feel like celebrating Canada Day with all that’s going on and the horrific events our people have experienced.He told the news agency EFE Heather Bear, one of the indigenous leaders of the Sovereign Indigenous Peoples Federation (FSIN), which includes 74 Aboriginal groups in the province of Saskatchewan in western Canada.

in early June, Coward Saskatchewan made a discovery 751 unidentified graves On the grounds of Maryville’s former school residence, a boarding school located about 2,500 kilometers northwest of Toronto that was in operation between 1899 and 1996.

“Rehabilitation” against the indigenous people

Thousands of Aboriginal children were sent to Maryville. There they suffered all kinds of physical, emotional and sexual abuse As part of a system of “rehabilitation” to eradicate indigenous culture.

Like Kamloops Boarding School, Marievel was run by the missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a Catholic order.

A growing group of municipalities across the country have decided to cancel July 1 celebrations in honor of Indigenous children killed in school homes.

s On Thursday, thousands of people participated in rallies in the country’s main cities in protestMany of them wear orange T-shirts representing the school’s dorm survivors.

Bear, who has the traditional title of Chief, revealed that she attended Maryville in the 1970s, though not at the boarding school but at the day school that was only for Aboriginal children.

She and her family decided that she could no longer stand the racism and harassment she experienced at the public school she attended with white children from neighboring communities.

“Every day I traveled for two hours by bus to go to Maryville. There, at least I was with my colleagues, there was more respect. In public schools there was discrimination and racism to the point that it was appalling. Teachers have really taught other kids to be racist and hate ussaid the bear.

Bear remembers how he saw the Maryville Residential School cemetery from his class and now wonders: “How many schools have a cemetery in their territory?“.

“I don’t feel like celebrating Canada Day when I was a part of it,” he emphasized.

DUEL . DAY

I think of those children who had names and their families who loved them. I think the most appropriate thing is for Canada Day to be a day of prayer, a day of mourning.And added the Aboriginal leader, who understands that despite everything, for many Canadians, July 1st is still a holiday.

One of them is the leader of the Canadian Conservative Party, the main opposition party, Erin O’Toole, who considers that the efforts of indigenous and non-indigenous peoples to cancel the festivities are a Attempt by “activists” to “attack” the country.

“I am concerned that the grievances of our past, or our present, are often exploited by a small group of activists who use them to attack the idea of ​​Canada,” O’Toole said during a press conference a few days ago. .

Canadian Prime Minister, Justin TrudeauAnd the Nor was he in favor of canceling the celebrations.But he ordered the flag to be raised over the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa Held on July 1 at Half Mast In memory of Aboriginal children.

This Thursday, Trudeau said in a statement that “the shocking discovery of the remains of hundreds of children in former school housing in British Columbia and Saskatchewan has forced us to reflect fairly on our country’s historical failures and the injustices that still exist. They are being committed against Aboriginal people and many others in Canada.”

(With information from EFE)

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