By Adam Berls

quesnel

To deny residential school truths is a ‘slap in the face’: BCAFN Regional Chief Teegee

Mar 25, 2024 | 3:42 PM

QUESNEL — It was just under a week ago that Quesnel City Council found out that the wife of Quesnel’s mayor was distributing the book Grave Error: How the Media Misled Us (And the Truth About Residential Schools), a book which downplays the history of residential schools in Canada.

“Residential school denialism needs to be called out when we see it. This is not a matter of opinion or free speech; it is hateful, harmful, and cannot be tolerated by Canadian society,” said Regional Chief Teegee. “It is incumbent on our allies among non-Indigenous Canadians to speak up when they are confronted by this poison. The BCAFN applauds the work of the Lhtako Dene Nation and the city of Quesnel in stamping out denialism when confronted by it.”

Denialism often focus on errors in reporting or claim that students benefited from residential schools in an attempt to sow doubt about the reality of the extreme harms committed against Indigenous peoples by the residential school system. What took place in Quesnel, Teegee says that stories of those of those who experienced harm need to be protected.

“The survivors brought forward these truths. And so to deny these truths is certainly a slap in the face of many First Nations peoples across this country … because really what we’re trying to do here is reconcile a broken relationship with many First Nations people in this country.” – Regional Chief Terry Teegee, BC Assembly of First Nations

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Since 2021, First Nations across Canada have found evidence of approximately 1,900 unmarked graves at 16 other former residential schools, not including the 215 found at the former Kamloops residential school site.

The Indian Residential Schools Survivor Society provides support for survivors and intergenerational survivors of residential schools. If you need support, please contact their 24-hour hotline at 1-800-721-0066.

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X: @AdamBerls

Email: Adam.Berls@pattisonmedia.com