Everyone from Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister, to Pope Francis, began sharing stories about mass graves that were discovered in Canada two years ago. Ground-penetrating radar picked up the “anomalies” and was used to prove that the Catholic church had secretly murdered and buried indigenous children in residential schools.
In May 2021, for example, it was claimed that 200 indigenous children were murdered and buried. The missing were appropriately dubbed.
“We knew that there was a death in our community, and we could verify it.” Rosanne Casimir said, “To our knowledge, the missing children were undocumented death,” in a May 27, 2021 statement.
Canada’s government reacted angrily to the announcement and promised millions in compensation. The Catholic Church ran the residential schools during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Therefore, the Pope issued a statement claiming genocide.
The story was not out of bounds when it was first spread and Canada certainly did not treat its indigenous people well. The time frame and historical precedents make it impossible to deny that abuse occurred at some residential school.
It’s another thing entirely to accuse the secret murders of tens and thousands of children. This includes 215 of them being buried in one mass grave. The broader accusation is that thousands of unmarked burials are located beneath residential schools scattered across Canada. It’s this kind of thing that leads people to seek revenge, and that is exactly what happened.
Even political leaders and indigenous leaders speculated that the vandalism or burning of 68 churches in Canada occurred in the two months after the report about the mass grave. Christians continue to be harassed and branded as enablers if they question the story of the alleged genocide.
In an essay that was published last year, James C. McCrae wrote: “The evidence doesn’t support the overall gruesome story put forward in the media around the globe for several years. Verifiable evidence for this narrative has been rare, or nonexistent.”
McCrae quit his post on a government committee in May, after his views about residential schools angered Indigenous groups as well as other activists and politicians.
Years later, we learn that there is no real evidence of genocide. Over the summer, excavations were conducted at several sites where mass graves had been alleged to exist. These excavations did not yield any human remains.
A series of recent excavations on suspected sites have not revealed any human remains. This is after two years of horror tales about the alleged mass burials of Indigenous Children at residential schools in Canada.
Some academics and political figures say that it is further proof that the stories have not been proven.
Minegoziibe Anishinabe – a group of indigenous people, also known as Pine Creek First Nation – excavated fourteen sites in the basement of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Catholic Church, near the Pine Creek Residential School, in Manitoba, during four weeks this summer.
On Aug. 18, Chief Derek Nepinak, of Pine Creek Indian Reserve in remote Pine Creek, said that no remains had been found.
Some have responded by calling the events a blood libel on Christians and Catholics. The Canadian government and the indigenous tribes continue to insist that mass graves still exist, even though the results of the digs have been revealed. They also continue to slander anyone who challenges the story.
That’s not to say native peoples in Canada were well treated. There were clearly many injustices. These injustices must be acknowledged and accounted for. No one would argue that indigenous tribes in Canada were treated well during the centuries preceding the settlement of the vast land.
It is still not acceptable to spread unverified stories of genocide and mass graves that led to the burning down of Christian churches, or worse. Leaders of government, and even those from indigenous groups, shouldn’t make claims that are compared to the Holocaust, without any evidence. This is irresponsible and can be harmful.
