After the announcement by the T’kemlups First Nation of the “discovery” of unmarked graves at Kamloops, many politicians, Indigenous leaders, and media have thrown aside balance, restraint, and caution, turning truth into a casualty.
The flight from truth makes true Reconciliation impossible. Why will Canadians want to extend the hand of friendship to Indigenous people who continue to call them criminals and murderers? Why will Indigenous people want to engage in mutual cooperation with people whom they have been led to regard as criminals and murderers?
Getting beyond the “Grave Error” and recovering a more balanced picture of residential schools is the only road to genuine Reconciliation.
This excellent collection of first rate articles is the place to start. Buy the book on Amazon.
Public discussion of Indian Residential Schools issues is now filled with the following assertions, all of which are either totally false or grossly exaggerated:
- Thousands of “missing children” went away to residential schools and were never heard from again.
- These missing children are buried in unmarked graves underneath or around mission churches and schools.
- Many of these missing children were murdered by school personnel after being subjected to physical and sexual abuse, even outright torture.
- The carnage is appropriately defined as genocide.
- Many human remains have already been located by ground-penetrating radar, and many more will be found as government-funded research progresses.
- Most Indian children attended residential schools.
- Those who attended residential schools did not go voluntarily but were compelled to attend by federal policy and enforcement.
- Attendance at residential school has traumatized Indigenous people, creating social pathologies that descend across generations.
- Residential schools destroyed Indigenous languages and culture.
RC: This is a serious study of claims made about deaths and burials (and conditions) at Indian Residential Schools. It challenges many of the stories currently in circulation, particularly after the Kamloops IRS “revelations”. Almost all the claims do not stand up to the scrutiny given here. What is difficult to absorb about this work, which is far ahead of the current popular view, is that it is so different from what most people have been led to believe. Is it accurate? Have we been had? It sure looks that way. While many authors here are on the “conservative” side of the political spectrum, and the publisher is obviously of that persuasion also, don’t let that deter you if you are a progressive. If you’ve been skeptical of some claims, or the cancelling of Canada Day, the lowering of flags, the hostility of debates, the political posturing, you will find this book confirming and shocking. I would have liked to have seen a couple articles in this collection supporting the “mass graves narrative”, assuming credible evidence was provided. But maybe it wouldn’t be convincing placed beside these essays. This is a very important book. Read it and spread it around. I hope many Indigenous people read this and consider pushing back against some leaders who may be misleading their bands.
R: I find it VERY interesting that someone (the authors of this book) have had the courage to challenge all of the unproven “facts” that media, government and a SMALL MINORITY of the native Indians of Canada have chosen to push upon our minds over the past two years. I believe that every CANADIAN, including media, government and our Indian brothers should sit down and read this book, word by word from cover to cover. Many of the things that have seemed almost impossible to believe, after reading the well documented and well researched explanations in this book, now become totally impossible to believe. I believe every Canadian, including the native Indians HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW THE TRUTH. Much tax money has been given, to put it bluntly, to dig up the evidence that will prove (RIGHT OR WRONG) the unproven, that has been pumped into our brains to do with the unimaginable atrocities supposedly carried out in these schools. It appears to me, and I am sure many others, that some, or perhaps all of the major players in these horrendous accusations do not want the truth to be found for fear it will prove them wrong in their accusations. If that should happen how would they ever backtrack from calling innocent people murderers, amongst other horrible things. These allegations depict all Canadians, including you and I, as being horrible people and have also led other countries around the world to look at Canada as a GENECIDLE NATION. THIS WEARS HEAVILEY ON MY MIND. HOW ABOUT YOU?? I URGE YOU TO READ THE BOOK “GRAVE ERROR”. It is available on Amazon and is not expensive.
M: Thank you C.P. Champion, Tom Flanagan and others for editing a collection of well researched and well written collection of articles aptly summarized by the title. One would think that the falsehoods described are a figment of a creative imagination, presented in a Shakespearean like drama. Not so. As the May 2021 Kamloops story unfolds and spawns a copycat chain of events and taxpayer claims, the accepted truths are the many mistruths. The culpable cast represent a broad society. The stubborn legacy media cling to content they refuse to admit as wrong. Politicians seek photo ops, lower all Canadian flags at home and abroad and take part in a campaign about Canadian denialism and genocide. The louder voices of the Aboriginal community support the existing narratives while demanding more and more taxpayer funding for compensation and assorted reparations. Even present day clergy are intimidated and muted in acknowledging and defending where appropriate the dedicated and good works of past Christian religious. Concerns are raised about the fairness of both the make up of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the biased nature of their 2015 TRC Report. Arguably, this book, Grave Error, exposes what is the greatest hoax in Canadian history. A must read.
D: I have been plagued by questions such as “Why did the RCMP suddenly stop their investigation of the alleged massive crime scene at the Kamloops Residential School two and a half years ago?” Why have no bodies been found at any of the alleged “mass graves” in other locations across Canada? Why were there no complaints of “missing children” between 1890s and 1990s from the parents of these children? How can we accept the word of second and third generation “truth keepers” rather than concrete evidence?
As far as I can tell there has not been objective proof of even a single unexplained or documented death in the Residential Schools – the records have all deaths documented as well as places of burial (at the schools or back in their home territories) accurately recorded (cf Nina Green). The death rates from TB, diphtheria, smallpox and polio were higher than non Indian children but still lower than the 60% of Indian children who were unable to get into the schools and remained at home.
This book should be compulsory reading for every Canadian to help change how we have been hoodwinked into feeling about ourselves.
