Latest news with #LouisBalsillie
CBC
23-05-2025
- CBC
'Colonial mindset' preventing return of child's remains to her community, says N.W.T. MLA
WARNING: This story contains details that may be distressing. Some N.W.T. MLAs pressed the territory's culture minister on Thursday to waive legislation that they say is holding up efforts to return a deceased child's remains to her home community. The child from Fort Smith, N.W.T. — identified only as Alma by the Deninu Kųę́ First Nation — died while at residential school in the 1940s, according to the First Nation. Under the territory's Archaeological Sites Act, Alma's remains are considered artifacts since it's evidence of human activity from over 50 years ago and that means a permit would be required to move them. "Insisting that the remains of Indigenous children are subject to Archaeological Sites Act reveals the same colonial mindset that led to the creation of the residential school to begin with," Richard Edjericon said, MLA for Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh. Chief Louis Balsillie of Deninu Kųę́ First Nation has said that his community has been searching for unmarked graves of students of the former St. Joseph's residential school in Fort Resolution. It's a possibility people have talked about for years in the community. Balsillie said earlier this year that they've figured out where Alma was buried, and that the community wanted to help Alma's sister fulfil a promise of returning Alma to Fort Smith to be buried alongside her mother. Edjericon, along with Yellowknife MLA Robert Hawkins, pressed the minister to issue a directive to override the Archaeological Sites Act and instead invoke the Coroners Act to allow the territory's coroner to exhume the remains for the purposes of an investigation — something Edjericon says is warranted since he believes "there are serious reasons to doubt" that Alma died of tuberculosis, as indicated on her official death certificate. The Deninu Kųę́ First Nation said in a news release this week that the cause of death for residential school students was often said to be tuberculosis, a "catch-all category." "However, these deaths are questionable according to elders (survivors) and archival records," the release states. Indigenous people not 'property of the state,' MLA says Hawkins says that under the Archaeological Sites Act, Alma is considered a "thing." "And if she is a thing, she becomes a property of the state. And if she becomes a property of the state, what symbolism does that represent, that Indigenous people are a property of the state?" Hawkins said. Caitlin Cleveland, the minister of Education, Culture and Employment, emphasized that neither she nor her department wants to stand in the way of Alma's remains, or those of anyone else, being returned to their community. But she said she needs to follow the law and she doesn't have the authority to issue a directive as suggested by Edjericon and Hawkins. The Archaeological Sites Act came into force in 2014 and Cleveland said the territory is in the process of updating the legislation. She said it wasn't drafted to addresses cases like these but the territory is working to make improvements. "This act does use the term 'artifact,' but in no way, shape or form is the respect or dignity of this process, or the importance of this process, diminished because of that," she said. "There is a desire to ensure that respect is being afforded to all Indigenous people of this territory and Nunavut who may have family who are buried at the sites of our residential schools in this territory." Cleveland also said that if the community knows the identity of the individual and it is clearly marked, the Archaeological Sites Act does not apply. It's not clear how the community would prove that individual's identity. Edjericon said that he was "saddened" by Cleveland's response and said that government policies were overriding treaties and Indigenous values. Caroline Wawzonek, acting as premier in R.J. Simpson's absence, called a point of order on those comments. She said Edjericon had overstepped and made inferences about the minister's intentions and the process, imputing negative motives when the issue is important to all of the assembly's members. "It's not a characterization of work that's happened on this file, that's been described in this House today," Wawzonek said. "It's not fair and it's not proper." Speaker Shane Thompson agreed with Wawzonek in his ruling and Edjericon retracted his comments. A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for survivors and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.
CBC
28-02-2025
- General
- CBC
'Our children are not artifacts': N.W.T. First Nation says efforts to find gravesites hampered by permit
WARNING: This story contains distressing details. The chief of Deninu Kųę́ First Nation in the N.W.T. says a territorial permit holding up his community's effort to unearth unmarked graves erroneously calls children who died at residential school "archaeological artifacts." Chief Louis Balsillie wrote a letter to the N.W.T. premier about the issue earlier this month. In that letter, he says the territory has asked that a forensic anthropologist the community is working with apply for a permit to exhume the remains of students who died at the former St. Joseph's residential school in Fort Resolution. The community began looking for unmarked graves outside of the hamlet's cemetery a few years ago, said Balsillie. Over time, he said, they realized there were burials within the cemetery that were unidentified – and that's what they're concentrating on now. Balsillie believes there may be more than 60 unmarked burial sites there, and that they belong to children from outside of the community who died at residential school. He said the First Nation wants to return those remains to surviving loved ones. He says the permit requirement stems from the territory's Archaeological Sites Act. The act, he said, defines the remains as archaeological artifacts because they are evidence of human activity that's more than 50 years old. "Our children are not artifacts," Balsillie wrote in the letter. "The Indigenous communities, whose children attended St. Joseph's residential school, have a right to have their loved ones repatriated and buried alongside their family members in their home communities and to follow cultural protocols." Balsillie said the permit is a "continuation of colonial practices and policies that have caused immeasurable harm to our people," and he's asked the territory to waive the permit requirement for their work. Balsillie said last Friday that he hadn't received a response to his letter yet. In an emailed statement to CBC News that same day, a spokesperson for the N.W.T.'s Department of Education, Culture and Employment said the territory was taking time to review Balsillie's concerns. Deninu Kųę́ First Nation is undertaking the crucial task of locating unmarked graves of children who attended St. Joseph's residential school in Ft. Resolution, which operated from 1903 to 1957. The community estimates there may be up to sixty unidentified burials. However, the search is facing significant challenges as they move forward with their efforts. Louise Balsillie, Chief of Deninu Kųę́ First Nation, and Linda Vanden Berg, an anthropologist and ethnohistorian, share their insights into the ongoing search and the roadblocks they have encountered. Please be advised, this story includes sensitive topics related to residential schools. According to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, St. Joseph's opened in 1903 and experienced periodic fires, illness outbreaks, an explosion and food shortages before it eventually shut down in 1957. In an interview with host of CBC's The Trailbreaker, Hilary Bird, Balsillie told the story of Alma – a little girl from Fort Smith, N.W.T., who he says died at the school in the '40s when she was just five years old. Alma's sister, now 88, promised her mother that she'd find Alma's remains and bring them back home to Fort Smith to be buried beside her, said Balsillie. They have since figured out where Alma was buried, Balsillie said, and the surviving sister is waiting for the bones to be exhumed. "She's just worried that she'll die before that happens," he said. Speaking at the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh MLA Richard Edjericon said the coroner's office had offered to help because it has provisions for the exhumation of human remains. Edjericon said the coroner's office and the archaeology department are "clearly at odds" about how to move forward. "There are currently investigations into the cause of the death of these children and why they were buried. But in the meantime, Alma's remains must be returned home," he said. Education, Culture and Employment Minister Caitlin Cleveland told Edjericon that the territory's justice department is of the legal opinion that the Archaeological Sites Act does apply to the ancestral remains of northerners. However, she said, the territory is in the process of updating that legislation with the help of Indigenous communities. She told Edjericon he had an "absolute commitment" from the department that it would work through the remaining decisions related to it as quickly as possible. "The children who are buried there may also be from other traditional territories as well, and we need to ensure that we're respectful of that," she said. Support is available for anyone affected by their experience at residential schools or by the latest reports. A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for survivors and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.
