The editor:
In the last three weeks I have submitted articles to the Carlyle Observer, our local community newspaper, regarding items of interest to the Royal Canadian Legion and the military history of Canada.
I am doing this in my position with the Legion in Carlyle and in an effort to help people remember and honour those who served this land and who sacrificed so much. This is something that even the nation at large supports.
To this day, when the remains of a member of the military are located in an old battlefield, they are exhumed, repatriated and buried with full military honours. This is as it should be. We must never forget the men and women who served, fought and, in some cases, gave their lives for their country. We must also honour their brothers and sisters in arms who came home damaged physically, mentally, or emotionally, and aid them in any way we can.
In the same three weeks that I have been submitting articles about the military, approximately 1,000 unmarked graves have been identified in our country. All indications are that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Had these been the mass graves of a Canadian Military Regiment near a European or Asian battlefield, the Canadian government would be moving Heaven and Earth to honour those interred there. But these unmarked graves are those of children, whose lives were sacrificed not for freedom, not for our land, but because of who they were.
They were Indigenous children, whose lives were forfeit because of who and what they were. I have to repeat that because I am having so much trouble with processing it. These were children of First Nations parents whose lives were lost because of that parentage.
Unlike some of our parents or grandparents who received telegrams or letters from the military informing them that their son or daughter had been killed or was presumed dead in a battle, most of the parents of the children who are buried in these unmarked graves, received no official notice of the fate of their children.
The people to whom those children were entrusted, regarded them with so little respect that they felt no need to mark their final resting place or let their parents know what happened. This is in addition to the various kinds of abuse those children suffered at their hands while alive.
Their brothers and sisters who survived the residential schools have suffered and are suffering trauma in no way lesser than those who survived war. For the military personnel who are damaged mentally and emotionally there is recognition of post-traumatic stress disorder and aid available, although probably not enough. For those who suffered mental and emotional damage due to their experiences in residential schools, while at very vulnerable, impressionable age, there has been virtually none. Those who went to war did so, mostly voluntarily, knowing full well the risk of death and injury that they were facing. The same cannot be said for the children lying in unmarked graves near residential schools or the survivors of that system.
Our nation proudly respects and honours those who served in the military. The residential school system is nothing to be proud of, in fact it is a black mark of shame for Canada, however the children who were victims of that system should not, must not, be relegated to becoming a footnote in history. Their loss and the injuries of all other children, and their families, who were victimized should be respected and honoured as well, while recognising the complicity of our country in this horrific system. It is very hard to recognize that your land has committed an atrocity, and to make amends for it, however it must be done.
I am using this letter to ask you and your government to work tirelessly with the First Nations in this country to document and honour those whose lives were lost or destroyed at residential schools and to do what is necessary to make the necessary amends to the people impacted by those residential schools.
This is no less than would be done for military personnel and there is no rational justification for doing less for the victims and survivors of residential schools.
“We are all treaty people.”
“Lest we forget.”
Doug Waldner
CarlyleThe editor:
In the last three weeks I have submitted articles to the Carlyle Observer, our local community newspaper, regarding items of interest to the Royal Canadian Legion and the military history of Canada.
I am doing this in my position with the Legion in Carlyle and in an effort to help people remember and honour those who served this land and who sacrificed so much. This is something that even the nation at large supports.
To this day, when the remains of a member of the military are located in an old battlefield, they are exhumed, repatriated and buried with full military honours. This is as it should be. We must never forget the men and women who served, fought and, in some cases, gave their lives for their country. We must also honour their brothers and sisters in arms who came home damaged physically, mentally, or emotionally, and aid them in any way we can.
In the same three weeks that I have been submitting articles about the military, approximately 1,000 unmarked graves have been identified in our country. All indications are that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Had these been the mass graves of a Canadian Military Regiment near a European or Asian battlefield, the Canadian government would be moving Heaven and Earth to honour those interred there. But these unmarked graves are those of children, whose lives were sacrificed not for freedom, not for our land, but because of who they were.
They were Indigenous children, whose lives were forfeit because of who and what they were. I have to repeat that because I am having so much trouble with processing it. These were children of First Nations parents whose lives were lost because of that parentage.
Unlike some of our parents or grandparents who received telegrams or letters from the military informing them that their son or daughter had been killed or was presumed dead in a battle, most of the parents of the children who are buried in these unmarked graves, received no official notice of the fate of their children.
The people to whom those children were entrusted, regarded them with so little respect that they felt no need to mark their final resting place or let their parents know what happened. This is in addition to the various kinds of abuse those children suffered at their hands while alive.
Their brothers and sisters who survived the residential schools have suffered and are suffering trauma in no way lesser than those who survived war. For the military personnel who are damaged mentally and emotionally there is recognition of post-traumatic stress disorder and aid available, although probably not enough. For those who suffered mental and emotional damage due to their experiences in residential schools, while at very vulnerable, impressionable age, there has been virtually none. Those who went to war did so, mostly voluntarily, knowing full well the risk of death and injury that they were facing. The same cannot be said for the children lying in unmarked graves near residential schools or the survivors of that system.
Our nation proudly respects and honours those who served in the military. The residential school system is nothing to be proud of, in fact it is a black mark of shame for Canada, however the children who were victims of that system should not, must not, be relegated to becoming a footnote in history. Their loss and the injuries of all other children, and their families, who were victimized should be respected and honoured as well, while recognising the complicity of our country in this horrific system. It is very hard to recognize that your land has committed an atrocity, and to make amends for it, however it must be done.
I am using this letter to ask you and your government to work tirelessly with the First Nations in this country to document and honour those whose lives were lost or destroyed at residential schools and to do what is necessary to make the necessary amends to the people impacted by those residential schools.
This is no less than would be done for military personnel and there is no rational justification for doing less for the victims and survivors of residential schools.
“We are all treaty people.”
“Lest we forget.”
Doug Waldner
Carlyle
