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Pope Francis visiting Canada to apologize for Indigenous abuse in Catholic residential schools


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5 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

 

Whatever a court decides. That can be appealed and appealed again.

And the lawyers will get rich. This has been happening for 30 years in Canada. The commissions, discussions, working groups, effectively drain away huge amounts of money.  And native communities that actually need support don't get it.  There is an entire industry built on servicing this grievance mongering, and it is horrid. The so-called "Truth and Reconciliation Commission" was interested in neither. It was instead a cathartic process that encouraged emotion and drama at the expense of evidence and statistic.

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6 hours ago, Hanaguma said:

Yes there was abuse at the schools, which is despicable. Unfortunately, we now know that the priesthood as a profession attracts both the best and the worst of men. In those cases, the victims need to be compensated and the criminals punished/shamed.  The schools themselves were poorly funded, especially in the beginning, and the federal government contracted the Church to run them as the government didnt have the necessary capacity to do so. Churches already existed across the country (both Catholic and Anglican) so they were the natural choice for the program.

 

As an aside, both my wife and my son attended Catholic schools and the staff were exemplary. We aren't Catholic ourselves but the schools had well earned reputations for quality education. 

 

 

The "unmarked graves" have not yet been proven to exist. A few unmarked cemeteries have been found around some schools, but they were known in the communities for generations. Problem was they fell into disuse and disrepair. They were community cemeteries where all were buried, not secret places where evil school staff hid their victims.  Other places have had ground penetrating radar passed through, but no evidence of anything has been found. And curiously the local native communities don't seem to be in any hurry to conduct forensic investigations.

 

Your image of roving bands of priests ripping screaming children from wailing mothers is not accurate. Given the small number of priests and the vastness of the Canadian north, it just isn't realistic. It is a great image for publicity purposes, but that is all. Maybe a few cases but certainly not the norm. 

CNN are reporting that hundreds of unmarked graves were found using ground penetrating radar.

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28 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

CNN are reporting that hundreds of unmarked graves were found using ground penetrating radar.

CNN is wrong.

 

The radar found anomalies in the ground. They could be anything. The radar isnt sensitive enough to do anything other than that. If you read the story they cover their asses by saying "potential graves", then go on to say that many were actually discovered in a known community cemetery. Hardly surprising. You can find cemeteries all over Canada where the markers have deteriorated, fallen, were destroyed by wind and rain, etc. Again, a community cemetery. Not a secret burial site at a school. 

 

The story goes on to incorrectly say that they confirmed that the remains of  215 children were found at another site in Kamloops British Columbia. Utter horse hockey. No graves were found, no remains were exhumed, the story is being pushed to further the victimisation narrative of the native people. There has never been any serious investigation done. 

 

Here is an article on the subject;

https://nypost.com/2022/05/27/kamloops-mass-grave-debunked-biggest-fake-news-in-canada/

 

The insinuation is that the staff of the schools secretly murdered children, or abused them to death. Then the evil nuns and fathers secretly buried their victims just feet from their schools, in unmarked graves.  All pure fantasy.  Nobody denies that there were abuses, and that people 100 years ago didn't understand how psychologically damaging it could be to remove children from their communities and put them in schools like this. But all too often the message is one of deliberate harm, when it was actually ignorance and well intentioned negligence.

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11 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

CNN is wrong.

 

The radar found anomalies in the ground. They could be anything. The radar isnt sensitive enough to do anything other than that. If you read the story they cover their asses by saying "potential graves", then go on to say that many were actually discovered in a known community cemetery. Hardly surprising. You can find cemeteries all over Canada where the markers have deteriorated, fallen, were destroyed by wind and rain, etc. Again, a community cemetery. Not a secret burial site at a school. 

 

The story goes on to incorrectly say that they confirmed that the remains of  215 children were found at another site in Kamloops British Columbia. Utter horse hockey. No graves were found, no remains were exhumed, the story is being pushed to further the victimisation narrative of the native people. There has never been any serious investigation done. 

 

Here is an article on the subject;

https://nypost.com/2022/05/27/kamloops-mass-grave-debunked-biggest-fake-news-in-canada/

 

The insinuation is that the staff of the schools secretly murdered children, or abused them to death. Then the evil nuns and fathers secretly buried their victims just feet from their schools, in unmarked graves.  All pure fantasy.  Nobody denies that there were abuses, and that people 100 years ago didn't understand how psychologically damaging it could be to remove children from their communities and put them in schools like this. But all too often the message is one of deliberate harm, when it was actually ignorance and well intentioned negligence.

This from last week, probably best to wait till the end of the investigation later this month:

 

Understanding the process and technology of detecting unmarked graves has become a focus following the shocking announcement by the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation last week. It said that preliminary findings from a survey of the grounds at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School indicate that the remains of 215 children could be buried at the site. On Friday, Kukpi7 (Chief) Rosanne Casimir  said they expect to have a final report at the end of the month about the survey findings at the former residential school.

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ground-radar-technology-residential-school-remains-1.6049776

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5 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

This from last week, probably best to wait till the end of the investigation later this month:

 

Understanding the process and technology of detecting unmarked graves has become a focus following the shocking announcement by the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation last week. It said that preliminary findings from a survey of the grounds at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School indicate that the remains of 215 children could be buried at the site. On Friday, Kukpi7 (Chief) Rosanne Casimir  said they expect to have a final report at the end of the month about the survey findings at the former residential school.

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ground-radar-technology-residential-school-remains-1.6049776

It has been more than a year since the 'discovery' and not one shovel full of earth has been moved.  Nobody knows if they are graves. Nobody knows who (if anyone) is buried there. Certainly nobody knows that children are buried there. 

 

If, God forbid, the story is true, then there needs to be a criminal investigation. No more faffing about with "knowledge keepers" and lurid tales. And certainly no waiting a year.  Just imagine if it was suspected that more than 200 people were secretly buried under the football field of a regular high school. Do you think the police would sit on their hands for a year and do nothing? 

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5 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

It has been more than a year since the 'discovery' and not one shovel full of earth has been moved.  Nobody knows if they are graves. Nobody knows who (if anyone) is buried there. Certainly nobody knows that children are buried there. 

 

If, God forbid, the story is true, then there needs to be a criminal investigation. No more faffing about with "knowledge keepers" and lurid tales. And certainly no waiting a year.  Just imagine if it was suspected that more than 200 people were secretly buried under the football field of a regular high school. Do you think the police would sit on their hands for a year and do nothing? 

Haven't the police been doing nothing for many years? Meanwhile justice is still not done although even the Pope goes there to apologize. As for the investigation:

geoscan.jpg

 

Don't dismiss it before its finished.

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1 hour ago, Bkk Brian said:

Haven't the police been doing nothing for many years? Meanwhile justice is still not done although even the Pope goes there to apologize. As for the investigation:

geoscan.jpg

 

Don't dismiss it before its finished.

Investigate what specifics? 

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2 hours ago, Scott said:

Posting false or misleading information will earn a suspension.  

image.png

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Indian_residential_school_gravesites

 

Some graves have been excavated and some remains have been verified by other means.  

I live in western Canada and there have not been  any news reports I have seen or read here of exhumations at residential schools. At least since this story broke about the hundreds of suspected unmarked graves starting at Kamloops, BC in May 2021. The single one on the chart is a marked grave a km from were the ground penetrating radar took place.

 

 I don't think anyone is saying historically there weren't  many deaths amongst the children who attended these religious boarding schools.  Catholic clergy have a terrible reputation when it comes to treatment of kids and there is no doubt that some died of malice from them at these schools. In our region there have been near daily over the top reporting about the extent of this  tragedy. I think a lot of us would like to see further investigations happen to get to the bottom of what took place. It needs to start with finding out what or who if anything are in the ground. Any link stating some of the suspected unmarked graves found in western Canada by ground penetrating radar since May 2021  have been dug up would be appreciated. 

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8 hours ago, Scott said:

Posting false or misleading information will earn a suspension.  

image.png

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Indian_residential_school_gravesites

 

Some graves have been excavated and some remains have been verified by other means.  

Yes they have, but those are not what is in the news today.  Those seem to be almost accidental incidents.

 

In the past year, there have been numerous discoveries. None of them, to my knowledge, have undergone any kind of forensic examination. All rely on radar data plus local anecdotes.  

 

Like Pegman, I am from the Great White North. I do watch the media from home and there haven't been any stories about actual evidence being collected.    

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8 hours ago, pegman said:

Investigate what specifics? 

Not sure what you mean by your question, what specifics did you think I was referring to? 

 

The survey report is due around the end of this month according to the link I posted earlier:

 

"Rosanne Casimir  said they expect to have a final report at the end of the month about the survey findings at the former residential school."

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On 7/27/2022 at 8:33 AM, Bkk Brian said:

Not sure what you mean by your question, what specifics did you think I was referring to? 

 

The survey report is due around the end of this month according to the link I posted earlier:

 

"Rosanne Casimir  said they expect to have a final report at the end of the month about the survey findings at the former residential school."

True, but the report will only be based on the radar survey. Nothing will be actually done in the suspected burieal sites other than that. And the article clearly states that the survey cannot detect organic matter, so (sorry to be graphic) unless a body was buried recently, it is almost impossible to detect. At least without doing some excavation of the site, which the local native community has resisted up to now. 

 

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On 7/27/2022 at 9:03 AM, Hanaguma said:

True, but the report will only be based on the radar survey. Nothing will be actually done in the suspected burieal sites other than that. And the article clearly states that the survey cannot detect organic matter, so (sorry to be graphic) unless a body was buried recently, it is almost impossible to detect. At least without doing some excavation of the site, which the local native community has resisted up to now. 

 

 

How do you know nothing will be done at the burial sites after the final report is submitted? Surely that depends on the outcome of the report. 

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1 minute ago, Bkk Brian said:

How do you know nothing will be done at the burial sites after the final report is submitted? Surely that depends on the outcome of the report. 

Because nothing has been done yet. And the native band in question has been very coy and secretive about the whole situation for more than a year. THere has been nothing stopping them from starting to investigate except their own reluctance. The cynic in me says that they have made the political decision that the legend of 200 plus missing children is far more profitable than taking a chance on learning the truth. What if nothing is found? That is a risk they are very unwilling to take. 

 

Imagine the same situation but not involving native people. Someone suspects that a local park is the site of more than 200 possible murder victims. A radar survey suggests that there just might be something there. What would happen next?  Certainly not a one year delay.

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Just now, Hanaguma said:

Because nothing has been done yet. And the native band in question has been very coy and secretive about the whole situation for more than a year. THere has been nothing stopping them from starting to investigate except their own reluctance. The cynic in me says that they have made the political decision that the legend of 200 plus missing children is far more profitable than taking a chance on learning the truth. What if nothing is found? That is a risk they are very unwilling to take. 

 

Imagine the same situation but not involving native people. Someone suspects that a local park is the site of more than 200 possible murder victims. A radar survey suggests that there just might be something there. What would happen next?  Certainly not a one year delay.

Yes the cynic in you, I prefer to wait for the facts of the report to come out and then see what is done. 

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40 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Canada says Pope's apology for abuses at Catholic residential schools not enough

 

The government's criticisms echo those of some survivors and concern Francis' omission of any reference to the sexual abuse suffered by Indigenous children in the schools, as well as his original reluctance to name the Catholic Church as an institution bearing responsibility.

 

https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20220728-canada-says-pope-s-apology-for-abuses-at-catholic-residential-schools-not-enough?ref=tw_i

So the Pope goes to Canada to apologise!

 

To apologise for the fact that the Catholic Church has been a haven for paedophiles/sex offenders and whatever else fits that category for centuries, and nothing has been done about it.

 

But to apologise for what has been found out as regards the treatment of children in schools in Canada, so I find it hypocritical that someone who by his very position, defends the fact that the Catholic Church is riddled with corruption of all sorts, when it goes to great lengths to hide and cover up the evil practices which have gone on in that place for centuries – – evil in itself.

 

Even as far back as the 16th century, the Catholic Church was known for its paedophilia and similar practices, and yet now many centuries later it still prevails.

 

Fast forward to the turn of this century when the Boston Globe investigated the very same thing in its local catholic churches and found a history of cover-up and denial, whereby offenders were moved to other areas so that they could be hidden and start their evil ways again.

 

Rotten to the core, and an apology from an overfed/corpulent Pope will do nothing to change the ways of this evil institution.

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1 hour ago, xylophone said:

So the Pope goes to Canada to apologise!

 

To apologise for the fact that the Catholic Church has been a haven for paedophiles/sex offenders and whatever else fits that category for centuries, and nothing has been done about it.

 

But to apologise for what has been found out as regards the treatment of children in schools in Canada, so I find it hypocritical that someone who by his very position, defends the fact that the Catholic Church is riddled with corruption of all sorts, when it goes to great lengths to hide and cover up the evil practices which have gone on in that place for centuries – – evil in itself.

 

Even as far back as the 16th century, the Catholic Church was known for its paedophilia and similar practices, and yet now many centuries later it still prevails.

 

Fast forward to the turn of this century when the Boston Globe investigated the very same thing in its local catholic churches and found a history of cover-up and denial, whereby offenders were moved to other areas so that they could be hidden and start their evil ways again.

 

Rotten to the core, and an apology from an overfed/corpulent Pope will do nothing to change the ways of this evil institution.

Typical Trudeau, can't miss an opportunity to pander and virture signal.   This has been going on for 30 years now, getting more and more hysterical as time goes on.  It never fails. "There is much more that needs to be done" or "this is only the first step towards..." are the catchphrases of the perpetually victimized.  

 

But it was easily predictable. The rent seekers in the indigenous industry are reluctant to let their cash cow get away. There are hundreds of millions of dollars in play for the lawyers and consultants and media people.  The Canadian government has already pledged $40 Billion (with a "B")- what more do they want?

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1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Having read your posts in this thread I can only come to one conclusion.

 

It really does bother you that the children of an ethnic minority subjected to abuse might be given Justice.

 

 

Have you really read my posts though? If so, you would have read;

 

"There was criminal behavior by a minority of those entrusted with caring for the children. Those people need to be named, shamed, and prosecuted. "

 

or

 

"Yes there was abuse at the schools, which is despicable. Unfortunately, we now know that the priesthood as a profession attracts both the best and the worst of men. In those cases, the victims need to be compensated and the criminals punished/shamed.  "

 

or

 

"Nobody denies that there were abuses, and that people 100 years ago didn't understand how psychologically damaging it could be to remove children from their communities and put them in schools like this."

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12 hours ago, Credo said:

I'd say that pretty much nails it.  There were grave injustices done.  It goes far beyond the deaths that occurred in the schools.  It goes to the heart of a cultural genocide.  

 

We can't right all the wrongs of the past, but we can do what we can to stop future abuses and we can acknowledge when we are wrong.   

 

Apparently, some people don't really understand that 'those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.'  

 

The typical approach to denialists in general when faced with stark facts is to start minimizing them.  They will say things like 'yes, it was bad, but not as bad as they say.'   Then they will blame the press. If they don't report it, it didn't really happy.  After that is whole arsenal of denials, excuses and hair splitting.  My personal favorite is how we don't really know if there are actually bodies buried.

 

There is no such thing as "cultural genocide". By definition, a genocide means trying to eliminate a group of people from the human gene pool- gene+homicide = genocide.  The term is just a sneaky way to get the word "genocide" into the conversation. Many Canadians for their part play along in ecstatic self-flagellation. It feels good for morally insecure people to feel bad about something.

 

There WAS a policy of assimilation, which today we know is wrong and horrid. At the time, not so much. It is all too easy to look at the past from a position of smug moral superiority and sneer.  

 

I am glad that your "personal favorite" is the lack of evidence of any human remains. One would think that evidence was crucial to determinine such serious crimes. There is no denialism. Just a simple request for evidence and an honest accounting of what happened. These are deep and complex issues that deserve to be treated as such. "Church bad, Indians good" doesn't do justice to the situation.

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2 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

 

The concept of cultural genocide is legally accepted in international law:

 

https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/43864

Or you could read another paper, which says;

 

"Cultural genocide cannot, at least directly, be considered an established or accepted legal concept, either under treaty law or customary international law."

 

https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1353009/FULLTEXT01.pdf

 

 You are failing to see the role of the grievance industry, as has existed in Canada for 30 years, in muddying the waters of what actually happened. And also in trying to create a feeling of guilt amongst the Canadian public that they need not feel.

Edited by onthedarkside
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Canada aboriginal schools were 'cultural genocide': report

June 3, 2015

 

OTTAWA (Reuters) - A Canadian policy of forcibly separating aboriginal children from their families and sending them to residential schools amounted to “cultural genocide,” a six-year investigation into the now-defunct system found on Tuesday.

 

The residential school system attempted to eradicate the aboriginal culture and assimilate children into mainstream Canada, said the long-awaited report by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

...

The report documented horrific physical abuse, rape, malnutrition and other atrocities suffered by many of the 150,000 children who attended the schools, typically run by Christian churches on behalf of Ottawa from the 1840s to the 1990s.

 

(more)

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0OI1Z420150603

 

 

The report also found, btw:

 

"Sinclair said between 5 percent and 7 percent of students who went to the schools died there, although the commission was only able to document about 3,200 of those deaths. Most were buried in unmarked graves on school property."

 

 

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And another interesting read on the subject, from Scientific American:

 

Canada’s Residential Schools Were a Horror

Founded to carry out the genocide of Indigenous people, they created conditions that killed thousands of children

 

August 1, 2021

...

Residential school survivor testimony has long been filled with stories of students digging graves for their classmates, of unmarked burials on school grounds, and of children who disappeared in suspicious circumstances.

...

Given that more than 1,300 graves have been identified using ground-penetrating radar at only four of the 139 federally run residential schools, the current official number of 4,120 students known to have died in the schools will end up being only a fraction of the actual total. 

...

(more)

 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/canadas-residential-schools-were-a-horror/

 

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47 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

And another interesting read on the subject, from Scientific American:

 

Canada’s Residential Schools Were a Horror

Founded to carry out the genocide of Indigenous people, they created conditions that killed thousands of children

 

August 1, 2021

...

Residential school survivor testimony has long been filled with stories of students digging graves for their classmates, of unmarked burials on school grounds, and of children who disappeared in suspicious circumstances.

...

Given that more than 1,300 graves have been identified using ground-penetrating radar at only four of the 139 federally run residential schools, the current official number of 4,120 students known to have died in the schools will end up being only a fraction of the actual total. 

...

(more)

 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/canadas-residential-schools-were-a-horror/

 

Again with the whole "graves" nonsense. The only places graves have been discovered are at cemeteries. These were community cemeteries, not secret burial grounds run by satanic priests. People in those communities have known about them for decades- they were for the entire community, not just the schools. The "ground zero" case of secret graves, in Kamloops BC, is still under investigation. The local native group has yet to allow any actual scientific work to be undertaken. 

 

Also again, nobody is denying that crimes and abuse happened in the schools. But there is no evidence of a genocidal conspiracy between the Catholic Church and the Canadian government to systematically kill all the aboriginal people.  It was policy that was thought to be effective in civilizing the children (as people said at the time) and also fulfill Canada's treaty obligations with various native groups. Today we know better about the deep problems such a policy brings. That is why it was stopped.

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6 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

 

 

Also again, nobody is denying that crimes and abuse happened in the schools. But there is no evidence of a genocidal conspiracy between the Catholic Church and the Canadian government to systematically kill all the aboriginal people.

 If you actually read the above cited reports, you'd see that they largely focus on rampant tuberculosis as the cause of many of the deaths.... due to poor living conditions and malnutrition and substandard medical care.

 

The above reports make it very clear that authorities at the time were advised and warned what was occurring, and chose to take no meaningful actions to prevent it.

 

Also, the above cited reference from the Scientific American report doesn't hardly sound like regular community cemeteries:

 

"Residential school survivor testimony has long been filled with stories of students digging graves for their classmates, of unmarked burials on school grounds..."

 

And likewise from the Reuters report:

 

"Sinclair said between 5 percent and 7 percent of students who went to the schools died there, although the commission was only able to document about 3,200 of those deaths. Most were buried in unmarked graves on school property."

 

 

Edited by TallGuyJohninBKK
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1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 If you actually read the above cited reports, you'd see that they largely focus on rampant tuberculosis as the cause of many of the deaths.... due to poor living conditions and malnutrition and substandard medical care.

 

The above reports make it very clear that authorities at the time were advised and warned what was occurring, and chose to take no meaningful actions to prevent it.

 

Also, the above cited reference from the Scientific American report doesn't hardly sound like regular community cemeteries:

 

"Residential school survivor testimony has long been filled with stories of students digging graves for their classmates, of unmarked burials on school grounds..."

 

And likewise from the Reuters report:

 

"Sinclair said between 5 percent and 7 percent of students who went to the schools died there, although the commission was only able to document about 3,200 of those deaths. Most were buried in unmarked graves on school property."

 

 

First of all, the article neglected to mention exactly WHICH sites contained the graves. Assuming they are the ones from the summer of 2021, there were 4 in total. The Kamloops one I already wrote about. No evidence of graves or human remains has yet been discovered. The other three? They were community cemeteries which had fallen into neglect over the years. Local people knew about them- nothing to do with any secret burials or the like. They were Catholic cemeteries used by everyone. 

 

Here is what Lloyd Lerat, who actually attended the school in the town, had to say about the largest such site:

 

"We've always known these were there," said Lerat of the unmarked graves.

He said the idea that the graves were primarily of children who attended the school took on a life of its own.

"It's just the fact that the media picked up on unmarked graves, and the story actually created itself from there because that's how it happens," Lerat said.

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/marieval-cemetery-graves-1.6106563

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