This is heartbreaking

EllenVanin

Residential schools have been in existence since the early to mid-1800s. It is entirely possible that those responsible for the deaths of these children have passed.

agnurse they're still hunting, and finding those monsters who were involved in Auschwitz who are in their 90's so it's not impossible to find out those who were responsible in this crime.

Something similar happened at the Haute la Garenne children's home in Jersey.

I'd like to know what happened to the two boys I mentioned but I'm not even sure if their surname.
They would be in their 80s now if still alive and I'm sure would like to know that their grandmother never forgot them.

And that is Christian!

My great uncle was sent to Canada luckily it worked out well for him but his crime was .....
His mum died his Dad remarried and moved away to Wales He didn’t get on very well with a new mum and a couple of times he ran away to be with his beloved Gran his father was incensed and he was sent out to Canada he was about 12/13 had to work on a farm he only saw his gran one more time and that was in WW2 when he was sent to U.K. to fight and he managed one visit
He married out there got a career and children and all worked out well but that poor little boy on a boat on his own going he didn’t know where and never seeing the Nan he loved until he was an adult

EllenVanin

It won't realistically be possible possible identify and prosecute those responsible. Let me explain.

Indigenous residential schools were set up by various organizations at the behest of the Canadian government. The government's stated purpose was to "kill the Indian in the child". Eventually it became a requirement for Indigenous parents to send their children to residential schools, with authorities literally coming to reservations and rounding up children to be taken to school. While some children did have positive experiences, many suffered horrific abuses. Residential schools were in place for many, many years, with the last one closing in the early 1990s. Quite possibly, the children in this case died so long ago that those responsible are no longer alive.

Sadly, the impact of historical trauma on Indigenous people has been significant. Many survivors of residential schools went on to develop substance use disorders and other problems as a result of trauma. Often this led to their children being taken from them and raised by non-Indigenous foster families (e.g. the Sixties Scoop). This created further issues.

Thankfully, today the Canadian government has been taking steps towards redressing the harms done to Indigenous peoples. An example is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. There is also a call to address cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIW). Statistically Indigenous women are more likely to disappear or to be murdered than other women, often due to higher risk lifestyles resulting from historical trauma.

I'm Canadian and have some familiarity with the effects of colonialism on Indigenous peoples.

The waifs and orphans who were sent abroad from the UK to Australia, Canada etc. in the 1800s were not really followowed up on
This was still happening until the late 1960s.
My mother knew of two boys who were sent, although they were not orphans, much to their grandmother's distress. She never heard any more about them.
I also know Australians who were sent to those dreadful orphanages run by so-called Christians.

I've just read about this BlueBelle horrific. So many of these stories coming to light now.

Children were so cruelly treated, almost as if they were not human. The adults never seemed to think they would one day grow up and remember their childhood, or show any concern about how it might affect them.
The waifs and orphans who were sent abroad from the UK to Australia, Canada etc. in the 1800s were not really followed up on. These Victorian children were often sent to outlying farms to work, with no-one concerned for their welfare. If the farmer and his family were cruel then god help them. They were stranded. Then we had the children's homes of the 1900s, the Catholic ones being especially dreadful.
In the past children suffered grossly at the hands of adults and its only been in the last 40 years we have begun to realise the extent.

I can`t believe how those poor souls suffered.
And EllenVannin,you are spot on yet again.
Sadly,we know we will here of this again at some point in the future in another country.

I knew what had happened in Australia and have read a lot about the Stolen Generations. This went on until the 1970s but I hadn't known about Canadian indigenous children being removed from their families until I watched Anne with an E recently, which featured a story about this.

I was shocked when I read about this earlier today. Those poor frightened children. And such heart rending anxiety for their parents to endure. Man’s inhumanity on display again.

It's no use telling us these horror stories, they want to be doing something about it. Actions speak louder than words.

Just too awful to think how such children suffered.

Is anyone ever brought to justice for such crimes?

I know it's a result of what systems/attitudes were in place at the time but Germany still prosecutes and jails 99 year old camp guards!

Similar things have happened, and are happening, all over the world sadly. It was the same in the UK and Ireland, Philomena is a heartbreaking film based on a true story about unmarried mothers in Ireland.

So sad and awful

Exactly the same was going on in Australia where they took the indigenous children away from their parents to try and wipe out the people of the land
There is a film Rabbit Proof Fence which tells the story (long time since I saw it) but I think it was two sisters removed from their family and put in a home and they were trying to find their way home hundreds of miles by following the fence that was built to keep the rabbits out it’s a powerful and eye opening film

Absolutely horrendous ! They should root out the cold callous individuals who were responsible and keep searching until they find the perpetrators of this horrible crime.
I wouldn't let it rest !
Poor little souls.

How awful.