B.C. First Nation says dozens of children died at residential school in Port Alberni
CTV
A Vancouver Island First Nation now believes dozens more children died at a residential school in Port Alberni than originally thought.
A Vancouver Island First Nation now believes dozens more children died at a residential school in Port Alberni than originally thought.
On Tuesday, the Tseshaht First Nation announced the findings of the first phase of its investigation into deaths and missing children at the former Alberni Indian Residential School.
The ceremony began with traditional singing, drumming and dancing to honour ancestors, children who didn’t make it home after being taken to residential schools, and the survivors who protected Tseshaht culture in the face of horrific abuse.
“Even when they weren't allowed to speak their language or they weren't allowed to sing or dance, they carried it on and that's why we can get up in front of all of you and do what we did here today,” said elected Chief Councillor Wahmeesh.
Between the 1890s and 1960ss, thousands of Indigenous children from 70 different First Nations communities around British Columbia were forced to attend the institution.
Comparing historical records with first-hand survivor accounts, the Tseshaht First Nation said it has confirmed at least 67 children died.
"Different accounts of ‘accidents’. I say that with quotations because the historical record maybe referred to something as an accident but the account that survivors gave was intentional harm by staff,” said Sheri Meding who works with an organization called the Missing Children and Unmarked Graves Project.
