{"id":1495612,"date":"2022-05-28T08:16:10","date_gmt":"2022-05-28T12:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1495612"},"modified":"2022-05-28T08:20:02","modified_gmt":"2022-05-28T12:20:02","slug":"kamloops-mass-grave-debunked-by-academics-as-the-biggest-fake-news-story-in-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kamloops-mass-grave-debunked-by-academics-as-the-biggest-fake-news-story-in-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"Kamloops Mass Grave Debunked by Academics as the \u201cBiggest Fake News Story in Canada\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fkamloops-mass-grave-debunked-by-academics-as-the-biggest-fake-news-story-in-canada%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1495612&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>One year ago today, the leaders of the British Columbia First Nation Band <a href=\"https:\/\/tkemlups.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tk\u2019eml\u00faps te Secw\u00e9pemc<\/a> announced the discovery of a mass grave of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/05\/28\/215-indigenous-kids-found-buried-on-former-school-grounds-in-canada\/\">more than 200 Indigenous children<\/a>\u00a0detected at a residential school in British Columbia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had a knowing in our community that we were able to verify. To our knowledge, these missing children are undocumented deaths,\u201d Rosanne Casimir, chief of the Tk\u2019eml\u00faps te Secw\u00e9pemc, said in a statement on May 27, 2021.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-10-2.jpg\"><\/a><figcaption>The \u201cdiscovery\u201d of more than 200 children\u2019s bodies on the grounds of an Indian residential school in British Columbia sent shockwaves around the globe. Now, some experts are questioning the validity of the claims.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The band called the discovery, \u201cLe Estcwicw\u00e9y\u0313\u201d \u2014 or \u201cthe missing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s still missing, however, according to a number of Canadian academics, is proof of the remains in the ground. <\/p>\n<p>Since last year\u2019s announcement, there have been no excavations at Kamloops nor any dates set for any such work to commence. Nothing has been taken out of the ground so far, according to a Tk\u2019eml\u00faps te Secw\u00e9pemc spokesman.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/former-kamloops-indian-residential-school-grounds-03.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"681\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/former-kamloops-indian-residential-school-grounds-03.jpg\" alt=\"After the Tk\u2019eml\u00faps te Secwe\u0313pemc band announced the discovery of 215 dead bodies at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, there was an outpouring of outrage and mourning.\" class=\"wp-image-22428769\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/former-kamloops-indian-residential-school-grounds-03.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/former-kamloops-indian-residential-school-grounds-03.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/former-kamloops-indian-residential-school-grounds-03.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>After the Tk\u2019eml\u00faps te Secwe\u0313pemc band announced the discovery of 215 dead bodies at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, there was an outpouring of outrage and mourning.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The alleged burial ground, which is said to include 215 bodies \u2014 some as young as 3 years old \u2014 was located <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/05\/29\/canadian-tribal-chief-survivors-devastated-by-mass-indigenous-kids-grave\/\">with the help of ground-penetrating radar<\/a> at the site of the former <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kamloops_Indian_Residential_School\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Kamloops Indian Residential School,<\/a> which was run by the Roman Catholic Church from 1890 to 1978. The number of bodies was based on irregularities in the ground ascertained by the radar waves, according to an anthropologist hired by the band to scan the site.<\/p>\n<p>Kamloops was one of a network of residential schools across Canada run by the government and operated by churches from the 1880s through the end of the 20th century. Experts say <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/canada-residential-schools-unmarked-graves-indigenous-children-60-minutes-2022-02-06\/#:~:text=More%20than%20150%2C000%20children%20were,Canadian%20government%20supported%20that%20mission.&#038;text=The%20idea%20for%20the%20schools%20came%20in%20part%20from%20the%20United%20States.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">an estimated 150,000 children <\/a>attended the schools.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-11.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-11.jpg\" alt=\"The band called the discovery, \u201cLe Estcwicw\u00e9y\u0313\u201d \u2014 or \u201cthe missing\u201d \u2013 but no bodies have been found, and there are no plans to excavate the site.\" class=\"wp-image-22428690\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-11.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-11.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-11.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>The band called the discovery, \u201cLe Estcwicw\u00e9y\u0313\u201d \u2014 or \u201cthe missing\u201d \u2014 but no bodies have been found, and there are no plans to excavate the site.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe system forcibly separated children from their families for extended periods of time and forbade them to acknowledge their Indigenous heritage and culture or to speak their own languages,\u201d according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca\/the_residential_school_system\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">website<\/a> of the First Nations and Indigenous Studies of the University of British Columbia.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/jacques-rouillard.JPEG.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/jacques-rouillard.JPEG.jpg\" alt=\"Jacques Rouillard, a professor at the Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al, said if cultural genocide happened at the school, \u201cthere should be excavations.\u201d But \u201ceverything is kept vague. Canadians feel guilty so they keep quiet.\u201d\" class=\"wp-image-22430866\" width=\"294\" height=\"435\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/jacques-rouillard.JPEG.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=582 588w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/jacques-rouillard.JPEG.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=436 441w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/jacques-rouillard.JPEG.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=291 294w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/jacques-rouillard.JPEG.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=145 147w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/jacques-rouillard.JPEG.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Jacques Rouillard, a professor at the Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al, said if cultural genocide happened at the school, \u201cthere should be excavations.\u201d But \u201ceverything is kept vague. Canadians feel guilty so they keep quiet.\u201d<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Last May\u2019s news sent shockwaves through Canada and across the globe. Within days, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau decreed, partly at the request of tribal leaders, that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/canadian-flags-to-remain-at-half-mast-residential-schools-1.6170504\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">all flags on federal buildings fly at half-mast<\/a>. The Canadian government and provincial authorities pledged\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/residential-schools-support-funding-1.6136352\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">about $320 million<\/a>\u00a0to fund more research and in December\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2021\/12\/14\/1064081667\/canada-pledges-40-billion-abuses-indigenous-children\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pledged another $40 billion<\/a>\u00a0involving First Nations child-welfare claim settlements that\u00a0partially compensate some residential school attendees. Pope Francis\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-us-canada-60954568\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">issued a formal apology\u00a0<\/a>on behalf of the Catholic church, which ran many of the residential school facilities and asked for God\u2019s forgiveness. He said he planned to visit Canada later this year to further assist in healing and reconciliation.<\/p>\n<p>But a group of about a dozen academics in Canada don\u2019t believe the whole story. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot one body has been found,\u201d Jacques Rouillard, who is a professor emeritus in the Department of History at the Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al, told The Post. \u201cAfter \u2026months of recrimination and denunciation, where are the remains of the children buried at the Kamloops Indian Residential School?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tk\u2019eml\u00faps te Secw\u00e9pemc spokesman Larry Read confirmed to The Post this week that no bodies have yet been exhumed from the Kamloops school and no dates have been set to start excavations. He added that the report showing the results of the ground-penetrating radar (GPR) has not been released by the band but may be at some point in the future.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-05.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"688\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-05.jpg\" alt=\"First Nations people pay tribute to the children whose remains were \" discovered \/><\/a><figcaption>First Nations people pay tribute to the children whose remains were \u201cdiscovered.\u201d Within days of the announcement, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau decreed that all flags on federal buildings fly at half-mast.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Rouillard, who first made his case for what he said was a total lack of evidence for the mass graves in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dorchesterreview.ca\/blogs\/news\/in-kamloops-not-one-body-has-been-found\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">January essay<\/a>, doesn\u2019t deny that serious abuses may have occurred at residential schools. <\/p>\n<p>But he and others question the highly-charged narrative about Kamloops school that includes children <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/newsinteractives\/features\/down-in-the-apple-orchard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">being murdered and buried in what some past school attendees say was an apple orchard<\/a>. <\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/sarah-beaulieu.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/sarah-beaulieu.jpg\" alt=\"Sarah Beaulieu, an anthropologist from the University of the Fraser Valley, was hired to scan and survey the site. She said that remote sensors picked up \u201canomalies\u201d and \u201creflections\u201d that indicate the remains of children.\" class=\"wp-image-22430908\" width=\"331\" height=\"493\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/sarah-beaulieu.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=657 662w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/sarah-beaulieu.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=493 496w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/sarah-beaulieu.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=329 331w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/sarah-beaulieu.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=164 165w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/sarah-beaulieu.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Sarah Beaulieu, an anthropologist from the University of the Fraser Valley, was hired to scan and survey the site. She said that remote sensors picked up \u201canomalies\u201d and \u201creflections\u201d that indicate the remains of children.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">University of the Fraser Valley<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThey use a lot of words like \u2018cultural genocide,\u2019\u201d Rouillard told The Post. \u201cIf that\u2019s true, there should be excavations. Everything is kept vague. You can\u2019t criticize them. Canadians feel guilty so they keep quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>First Nation members had long believed that the area held the remains of Kamloops students, according to both Casimir and Read. When they decided to use federal funds  they got during Covid to contract with an expert to look for the remains, the results were lightning quick, Read told The Post.<\/p>\n<p>On May 17, 2021, the band hired Sarah Beaulieu, a young anthropologist from the University of the Fraser Valley, to scan and survey the site. Beaulieu scanned the site between May 21 and May 23 and the band announced her shocking findings on May 27.<\/p>\n<p>Beaulieu said that remote sensors picked up \u201canomalies\u201d and what are called \u201creflections\u201d that indicate the remains of children may be buried at the site. Beaulieu did not respond to emails sent by The Post.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy findings confirmed what Elders had shared,\u201d Beaulieu said after <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/chasi\/2021\/07\/15\/ufv-researcher-confirmed-presumed-unmarked-graves-at-kamloops-residential-school\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">she presented a report about her work<\/a> in July 2021 that did not include specific evidence. \u201cIt\u2019s an example of science playing an affirming role of what the Knowledge Keepers already recognized.\u201d <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-02.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-02.jpg\" alt=\"A four-year-old girl places a pair of her own shoes in front of the St. Francis Xavier Church in Kahnawake, Quebec, as a memorial to the children at the residential school in Kamloops.\" class=\"wp-image-22430919\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-02.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-02.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-02.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>A four-year-old girl places a pair of her own shoes in front of the St. Francis Xavier Church in Kahnawake, Quebec, as a memorial to the children at the residential school in Kamloops.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-06.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-06.jpg\" alt=\"After the announcement of a mass grave at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia, the Pope issued a formal apology on behalf of the Catholic church, which ran many of the facilities.\" class=\"wp-image-22428672\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-06.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-06.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-06.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>After the announcement of a mass grave at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia, the Pope issued a formal apology on behalf of the Catholic church, which ran many of the facilities.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The \u201cKnowledge Keepers\u201d are living guardians of the cultural traditions of regional, local and indigenous communities.<\/p>\n<p>Since the Kamloops discovery, investigators using ground-penetrating radar say they\u2019ve located what may be the unmarked graves of another 800 or so children at residential schools in British Columbia and Saskatchewan, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.livescience.com\/childrens-graves-residential-schools-canada.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according to reports.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But, like Rouillard, Tom Flanagan, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Calgary, isn\u2019t buying any of it.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/tom-flanagan.jpeg.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/tom-flanagan.jpeg.jpg\" alt=\"Tom Flanagan (above), a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Calgary, doubts the findings, calling it \u201cthe biggest fake news story in Canadian history.\u201d\" class=\"wp-image-22430960\" width=\"313\" height=\"463\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/tom-flanagan.jpeg.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=619 626w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/tom-flanagan.jpeg.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=465 469w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/tom-flanagan.jpeg.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=310 313w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/tom-flanagan.jpeg.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=155 156w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/tom-flanagan.jpeg.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Tom Flanagan (above), a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Calgary, doubts the findings, calling it \u201cthe biggest fake news story in Canadian history.\u201d <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Fraser Institute<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThis is the biggest fake news story in Canadian history,\u201d Flanagan told The Post. \u201cAll this about unmarked graves and missing children triggered a moral panic. They have come to believe things for which there is no evidence and it\u2019s taken on a life of its own.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Strangely, Rouillard, Flanagan and their associates have an ally of sorts in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfu.ca\/indg\/about\/people\/eldon-yellowhorn.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Eldon Yellowhorn<\/a>, a professor and founding chair of the Indigenous Studies department at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.<\/p>\n<p>Yellowhorn, who grew up on a farm on the Peigan Indian reservation with many family members who attended residential schools, is both an archaeologist and anthropologist. He is part of the Blackfoot nation. He\u2019s been searching for and identifying the grave sites of indigenous children at residential schools in Canada since 2009 after being hired by Canada\u2019s powerful <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca\/eng\/1450124405592\/1529106060525\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Truth and Reconciliation Commission<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Many of the graves he\u2019s identified at residential schools in other parts of the country, though, come from actual cemeteries and it\u2019s not always clear how they died. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-school-canada.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"736\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/kamloops-school-canada.jpg\" alt=\"Students at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in 1937.\" class=\"wp-image-22428795\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-school-canada.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-school-canada.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-school-canada.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Students at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in 1937.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">irshdc.ubc.ca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Some of those found had succumbed to disease, Yellowhorn said, citing one cemetery where it became apparent many children perished from the Spanish flu a little over a century ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can understand why some people are skeptical about the Kamloops case,\u201d Yellowhorn told The Post. \u201cThis is all very new. There\u2019s a lot of misinformation floating out there. People are speaking from their emotions.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-07.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-07.jpg\" alt=\"People visit a makeshift memorial on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.\" class=\"wp-image-22431014\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-07.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-07.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/kamloops-indian-school-victims-memorial-07.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>People visit a makeshift memorial on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As Yellowhorn sees it, the actual evidence for the mass grave at the Kamloops site is thin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll the radar shows you is that there are anomalies or reflections,\u201d he said. \u201cThe only way to be certain is to peel back the earth and ascertain what lies beneath. We have not gotten to the point where we can do that.\u00a0It\u2019s a huge job.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite his own skepticism, Yellowhorn says it\u2019s entirely possible that if excavations are ever carried out at Kamloops \u2014 actual human remains could be found, much as they were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/news\/social-affairs\/q-a-the-tuam-babies-and-children-who-died-1.2998787\">in 2014 in Ireland<\/a> after ground-penetrating radar showed anomalies at one of the country\u2019s notorious mother and baby homes.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/eldon-yellowhorn.jpeg.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/eldon-yellowhorn.jpeg.jpg\" alt=\"Eldon Yellowhorn, a professor and founding chair of the Indigenous Studies department at the University of Fraser Valley, said the only way to know for certain is to excavate the ground.\" class=\"wp-image-22431035\" width=\"292\" height=\"434\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/eldon-yellowhorn.jpeg.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=579 584w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/eldon-yellowhorn.jpeg.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=434 438w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/eldon-yellowhorn.jpeg.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=289 292w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/eldon-yellowhorn.jpeg.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=145 146w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/eldon-yellowhorn.jpeg.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Eldon Yellowhorn, a professor and founding chair of the Indigenous Studies department at the University of Fraser Valley, said the only way to know for certain is to excavate the ground.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Simon Fraser University<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Canadian professor Frances Widdowson said that no one dares question indigenous leaders in Canada these days, which makes it difficult to check their claims about buried remains of children.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKnowledge Keepers, after all, cannot be questioned, because to do so would be perceived as \u2018disrespectful,\u2019\u201d wrote Widdowson in \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericanconservative.com\/articles\/billy-remembers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The American Conservative<\/a>\u201d  in February. Widdowson is a former tenured professor at Mt. Royal University in Calgary.<\/p>\n<p>Widdowson wrote that \u201clurid\u201d talk of buried indigenous children has circulated for more than 25 years and is \u201cnow firmly ensconced within the Canadian consciousness.\u201d But she said there\u2019s still no hard evidence.<\/p>\n<p>The Canadian professors also take issue with reports that at least 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools, which is now accepted as gospel in Canada.<\/p>\n<p>Flanagan and others say\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dorchesterreview.ca\/blogs\/news\/they-were-not-forced\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the number is misleading at best<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 because a large percentage of Indian parents willingly opted for residential schools as they were the only way for their children to get an education.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/former-kamloops-indian-residential-school-building-01.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"681\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/former-kamloops-indian-residential-school-building-01.jpg\" alt=\"Talk of buried indigenous children has circulated for more than 25 years and is \u201cnow firmly ensconced within the Canadian consciousness,\u201d wrote one professor, who said there&#039;s still no hard evidence.\" class=\"wp-image-22428713\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/former-kamloops-indian-residential-school-building-01.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/former-kamloops-indian-residential-school-building-01.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/former-kamloops-indian-residential-school-building-01.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Talk of buried indigenous children has circulated for more than 25 years and is \u201cnow firmly ensconced within the Canadian consciousness,\u201d wrote one professor, who said there\u2019s still no hard evidence.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/former-kamloops-indian-residential-school-grounds-01.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/former-kamloops-indian-residential-school-grounds-01.jpg\" alt=\"The grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.\" class=\"wp-image-22431130\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/former-kamloops-indian-residential-school-grounds-01.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/former-kamloops-indian-residential-school-grounds-01.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/former-kamloops-indian-residential-school-grounds-01.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>The grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/tomsonhighway.com\/\">Tomson Highway<\/a>, a full-blood Cree, is a well-known Canadian composer, author and pianist. Now 70, he was born the youngest of 12 in a tent pitched on a snowbank on an island in a lake in remote northwestern Manitoba.<\/p>\n<p>The nearest school to where his family roamed as nomads was 300 miles south, Highway told The Post.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/tomson-highway.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/tomson-highway.jpg\" alt=\"Tomson Highway, a full-blood Cree and well-known Canadian composer, author and pianist, said he was grateful to attend an Indian residential school as a child.\" class=\"wp-image-22431123\" width=\"315\" height=\"468\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/tomson-highway.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=624 630w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/tomson-highway.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=468 472w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/tomson-highway.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=312 315w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/tomson-highway.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=156 157w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/tomson-highway.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Tomson Highway, a full-blood Cree and well-known Canadian composer, author and pianist, said he was grateful to attend an Indian residential school as a child.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Toronto Star via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe idea that we could walk a few blocks to school or take the bus to high school was an unimaginable luxury, we couldn\u2019t conceive of it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>So in order to receive an education, Highway said he entered the Guy Hill Indian Residential School in Manitoba on September 1, 1958.<\/p>\n<p>Highway, who wrote about his sub-Arctic childhood in last year\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/smile.amazon.com\/Permanent-Astonishment-Memoir-Tomson-Highway\/dp\/0385696205\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=17W7B3DTQBEHD&#038;keywords=tomson+highway+memoir&#038;qid=1652334727&#038;sprefix=tomson+highway+memoir%2Caps%2C128&#038;sr=8-1\">\u201cPermanent Astonishment,<\/a>\u201d told The Post that he credits his years spent at Guy Hill for his success in life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI went because my father wanted me to,\u201d Highway said about his dad, a caribou hunter and champion dog sledder who was illiterate. \u201cMy oldest brother was illiterate, too. He didn\u2019t want the same thing to happen to the rest of us kids. So we went.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Highway said the Guy Hill school wasn\u2019t perfect and that he witnessed and experienced some abuse.<\/p>\n<p>But \u201cI didn\u2019t see any strange deaths,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of the white people there were kind. The education I got there\u2026set me up for life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One year ago today, the leaders of the British Columbia First Nation Band Tk\u2019eml\u00faps te Secw\u00e9pemc announced the discovery of a mass grave of\u00a0more than 200 Indigenous children\u00a0detected at a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":489,"featured_media":1495701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1495612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1495612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/489"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1495612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1495612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1495701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1495612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1495612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1495612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}