Two Catholic churches were burned in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The fires may be related to the bodies of children newly discovered on the church school grounds. More than 900 bodies have been found in unknown graves in recent weeks
All these children were forced to attend a boarding school, where they learned their native culture. Many people have been traumatized from that period.
In Canada, about 150,000 Aboriginal children were sent to one of 139 boarding schools until the end of the last century. There they had to adapt to the culture of the white population of Canada, while being cut off from their families, language and culture. Many of these boarding schools were controlled by the Catholic Church. A national commission of inquiry, speaking of “cultural genocide,” reported that more than 4,000 were killed in schools.
The churches stood in an area controlled by the First Nations tribe of the Lower Similkamen Indian Division. On Canadian radio CBC, the tribe’s leader, Keith Crowe, described the fires as a major disaster. According to him, many people value the church. “I’m angry. I don’t see anything positive coming out of this.” Earlier, two other churches in the same area were burnt down. It’s no coincidence, Crowe said.
