Truth & Reconciliation

The Path to Truth & Reconciliation

~ Michelle Pimentel

Here at Kanata Village I have learned so much. I am in awe actually of these very inspiring people. These are people I will remember for the rest of my life, no matter where I go.

I've been warmly welcomed from the very first day I visited here. Today was not any different. I am warmly greeted by Bill Squires. My visit today holds purpose directly related to this article.

I grab my camera from my car as Bill goes to locate Kevin Annett. We learn he had just stepped out to run some errands. I assure Bill that it's all right. I have a wealth of information and statistics from Kevin that I will be using for this article. But my article holds a different purpose and perspective.

He smiled and seemed impressed by my resourcefulness.We begin 

We begin our walk to the pathway from the Kanata Village to the adjoining grounds of the former and formidable residential school grounds. I have walked this path before. I seem to develop sharp stabbing pains in my left temple the closer I get to the old residential school. And I wonder if today will be the same.

I try to push that thought out of my mind. I fill my senses, reveling in the sight, sounds and smells of the fall season. Bill and I make small talk along the way. I discover some wild blueberries and stop to take some pictures.

We hang around and take pictures of a huge fallen tree. It has to be close to five feet around as it lies horizontally on the ground. We take pictures of that too, before we continue on our journey to the old residential school grounds.

As we round a curve in the path the old school is visible...it holds an ominous presence even now.

As I am taking some more pictures. I share with Bill that although I am not generally prone to headaches, I acquire one on this pathway. I tell him the closer we get the worse it gets. So I will want to hurry past a certain spot that we will come across soon. Bill looks surprised.

I soon learn why. I realize we will not be hurrying past that area. For I observe a huge blue tarp covering an area of recently disturbed earth. Protection and preservation of an area of special interest. This one is new!

I learn about some of the new discoveries and that leaders are awaiting the results of forensic analysis. It has since been established the bone fragments are human. They belong to a child of approximately 3 feet in height. There were also several buttons reminiscent of school issued uniforms at the time the residential school was open, that were near or beside the bone fragments. They look as though they were dismembered.

Evidence of a child that lived and died an inmate of the Mohawk Residential School. I am still so very saddened.

I have learned of documents written by "staff" stating that there were so many deaths at one point, staff were burying them two to a single grave. Mass murderers, Church and State!

For whatever reason, my camera didn't want to take any clear good pictures of this spot in particular. Headaches and a non-working camera. Hmmmm. Perhaps it is the spirits of the children murdered and buried there. Maybe they are trying to tell us something! I had no way to know because the results of the forensic analysis hadn't been received yet.

We decide to move on. Walk back to the path and onto the grounds of the former school.

Bill shows me the approximate spot where a tunnel exists under the grounds. It leads from various places into the residential school itself. We walk to the back of the school and I notice an abundance of red marker flags and survey strings. I am informed those red flags will increase in number as more results are released from the ground penetrating radar machine has recorded information. It's a neat looking machine… it looks and is used just like a lawnmower. Except it records anomalies within the earth.

To save time and money and prevent duplication, as funds are limited, workers are mapping where they have x-rayed and flag areas of interest as results come in.

An area where pigs were kept and contained has so many flags within that area…I don't want to count. I know what those flags could eventually represent.

I inquire of Bill the vicinity of this "well" I've heard others mention and why I personally find it a relevant and practical place to investigate. As a child I was told the "well" was my designated final resting place. It was contended that it is "the perfect place to hide a body where it would never be found." They would drag me there kicking and screaming to reinforce their future intentions.

The sharing of my personal reasons to consider this possibility leads Bill to share that there are thoughts, beliefs and rumors of one little girl believed to have met her demise after being thrown in this well. Along with others.

I take some pictures of the well. I notice how close a door from the school is to this well. Mere steps. And despite it's openness, it is conspicuously hidden in a courtyard like area. I also observe many names, dates and initials scratched into the bricks that formed these formidable walls.

Dusk is setting in and we agree we should start heading back to Kanata Village. On our return journey Bill and I discuss a document he had shared with me several months ago. The Declaration and definitions of what constitutes "Acts of genocide" as per United Nations and International Law. And how since it's inception in 1946 in some way every aspect leads to the issues of Indigenous people. Right up to today!

I will share Article ii of the Declaration of the Crime of Genocide:

"In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic or religious group such as;

A) killing members of the group

B) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group

C) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about it's physical destruction in whole or in part; (NOTE ~ Pine Ridge S. Dakota and/or Attawapiskat N. Ontario excellent evidence here).

D) Imposing measures intended to prevent births (NOTE ~ forced sterilization of children in residential schools).

E) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group

Perhaps you recognize some aspects of these crimes directly related to your Tribes and people? 

I can't help but reflect on words stated by another. Perhaps we should heed his message. "We are the evidence and we are the message."  It will take a united effort to deliver it!

I perceive that 'Church & State" will not be satisfied until they have murdered every last Indian! For then and only then there will be no one to hold them accountable. Evil will prevail.

Religion is organized…just as is organized crime. It's utilized to gain control. And those that inflict it…hide behind it. Feign ignorance!

That said, "Ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it." Which leads me to ask WHY since they admit they are so IGNORANT, are they still in positions of power and authority?

Beneath our feet we feel the sanctuary from the grounds of Kanata. Bill shares some words to reflect upon, which I will also share as I end this part of my personal journey and pray and support the efforts of an Indigenous community that leads by example...and is the epitome of UNITY!

"How can we move forward and forget when we've been given so much to remember?"

Chi miigwetch

(Aan-se Oniji Maanidoosh Memengwa Ikwe)

Author’s Note:

I believe this is one of the more difficult articles I've ever written.

It's rife with emotions, for myself and many others. When the past follows you into the present.

This fact is readily apparent during the meetings and the mingling that occur at Kanata Village, Mohawk Territory at Six Nations Reservation in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.

As I witnessed, the decision to conduct a private and independent investigation for the missing and presumed murdered children of the former Mohawk Residential School was not an easy decision to make. It's been a bumpy road. Emotions are very strong. But determination has proven even stronger.

I also believe that what is transpiring at Kanata is setting a precedent. Not to mention the potential for historical change. But mostly what I see is the "hope" that could be gained by all Indigenous people.

The Mohawks hope that they might lead as an example for other communities of Indigenous people; that they too will commence their own private and independent investigations. There is also hope that those who knew and know of children that were incarcerated there, that have never been seen nor heard from since, might contact someone at Kanata.

This investigation is not solely about the heinous criminal acts against our children of residential schools. It's about the "BIG" picture. Because, despite this being the year 2011, despite that we are in the 21st century, our children are still apprehended and forcibly removed just as much today as ever. Thanks to programs and agencies like Child Protective Services, Children's Aid Societies, etc.

Our children are still murdered and die in their custody. Yet no one is ever held accountable! 

To protect our children today we need the help of our children from yesterday. The "Mush Hole," as the former school is referred to by those that survived it's brutality and barbaric assaults, sits side by side to Kanata Village. It's logical that the Mohawks begin their investigation there. We have to start somewhere.

I don't know of any other ethnic group that was mandated by law to relinquish guardianship of their children to the Federal government, a government who in turn transferred legal guardianship to principals and various church clergy.

The law was clear. To refuse meant fines and / or imprisonment for their parents. And forced removal of their children. A "lose-lose" situation.

I don't know of any other ethnic group where children were made "INMATES" instead of "STUDENTS" as the word school implies. Abundant documentation of the residential schools refers to the children as "inmates."  Which defined means "prisoners" and the children suffered the same indignities and experienced psychological warfare against them as Jewish children did under Dr. Josef Mengele's reign of terror in the  Auschwitz concentration camp(s) prior to WW2.

We ALL want to know where our children are!

I hope to dispel the myth that my people are "stuck" in the past. And give just cause for truth in consideration that the past 500 years has closely followed us into the present day. That's the issue.

There are those that think "money and materialism" resolves everything. But no amount of money and compensation is going to heal the broken hearts and wounded spirits. The perpetrators are those that hold the purse strings and paid out "compensations." To me an acknowledgement in itself of "guilt." Those were paid to the living!

Estimates range 50,000 to 100,000 children unaccounted for in Canada alone. These are the children that CHURCH & STATE had and held Legal Guardianship over. Therefore they are legally responsible for the care and welfare of these children, every bit as much if not more so than their parents. 

From the years 1889 to 1950, the average yearly death rate of children confined in residential schools ranged between 30 to 65 percent! Ages three to nineteen years.

Consider that Brantford's Mohawk Residential School operated from 1831 to 1970, with a 46 percent fatality/death rate between 1830 and 1930.  That is 100 years of being hunted like prey. To be tortured, terrorized, traumatized, maimed and murdered! That's the residential schools’ personal and systemic agenda. That the last one didn't close until 1996 adds a lot more years to the systemic genocide of our people!

The Mohawk Residential School was one of 130 in Canada; one of the first and one of the very worst. This residential school as all others had inter-generational long and lingering detrimental effects upon our people, the results of systemic psychological  & physical warfare that exists against our people.

It's been one reign of terror after another. Senseless and needless crises created. The outside world is mostly ignorant and oblivious to all of this. These were and are our children. This is our history. This is our story. We have the right to TELL it. We also have the sovereign right to seek justice under international law.

Our goal is to succeed in not only bringing charges of Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide against "church & state" but also to secure conviction. We need as much evidence as possible. Therefore the onus of responsibility is now upon us to conduct investigations and collect the evidence for ourselves.

It's not good thinking to rely, place trust and / or faith in a "regime" that with holds and hides under lock and key pertinent documents. A "regime" that is famous for burning and burying evidence that establishes their guilt. A “regime” known to misconstrue the ugly, evil truth.

It is not in THEIR best interests to tell the truth. The people around the world will recognize our "leaders and politicians" are the ROBERT PICTON'S, CLIFFORD OLSEN'S and HITLER'S of present day society.

Which really makes the "TRUTH & RECONCILIATION" commission a totally redundant action, a waste of resources, money, time and energy. It is  hollow and devoid of substance, every bit the same as the lame apology that was delivered on repugnant breath.

For if they were sincere in their apologies greater efforts would be put forth to learn from previous mistakes. Refusal and failure to do so leaves it open to opinion and beliefs that these acts are INTENTIONAL and SYSTEMIC. Which supports the allegations of genocide. These actions also greatly correspond with the definition of genocide with intent, as declared in the declaration of United Nations Crimes of Genocide.

I'm not Mohawk. I am not from Six Nations Reservation. I am an Anishnabe woman of Turtle Island. My interest in the history of all the Indigenous people and my own personal journey has brought me here to Kanata. I try to be an "advocating activist.” My seemingly passive role is not by choice. It's circumstances beyond my control at this time.

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