June 24, 2021
(RNS) — Over the last few weeks, devastating news has come out of Canada: Residential schools, also known as boarding schools, often run by churches, have been under investigation, and the remains of hundreds of Indigenous children have been unearthed in the process. The most recent discovery, of 751 bodies in unmarked graves at a former residential school in Saskatchewan, reveals the ongoing legacy of settler colonialism.
While the Canadian government and churches in Canada attempt to respond to this, First Nations peoples are demanding Canada come to terms with its history of genocide and colonization. As we watch and grieve with our relatives, America itself continues to reckon with our own history.