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The mystery of Canada’s indigenous mass graves

13 points by Melchizedek 5y ago

vanusa 5y ago
The media began describing the site as a ‘mass grave’. A Manitoba politician who said the residential schools were founded with good intentions triggered a meltdown. Not only did he apologise, but two weeks later he said, with a straight face, that the residential school system was part of a genocidal plan devised by John A. MacDonald, Canada’s first prime minister, to kill off indigenous peoples. Nobody dared to object. Probably because it's almost quibbling to say GoC's policies at the time weren't genocidal because, strictly speaking, they didn't seek to literally kill off the entire population. The bugger point is that on the whole, these policies do come under the definition of genocide per the UN Genocide Convention (basically: "policies designed to bring about the destruction of a people - in whole or part"). And yes, the Residential Schools were a part of that system.
advisedwang 5y ago
Might be worth knowing that the author's interest here is in defending Catholicism. Not to say she's wrong, but knowing where media comes from is an important part of media literacy. Some examples of here catholic work (thanks to muck rack): * Will the Unvaccinated by saved? https://www.crisismagazine.com/2021/will-the-unvaccinated-be-saved https://www.crisismagazine.com/2021/will-the-unvaccinated-be... * What does the Pope think about Gays? https://spectatorworld.com/topic/pope-really-think-about-gays-catholic/ https://spectatorworld.com/topic/pope-really-think-about-gay... * Hopping through Holy Week? https://spectatorworld.com/life/hopping-through-holy-week/ https://spectatorworld.com/life/hopping-through-holy-week/ * subhead "Are Energy Drinks the work of the Devi?" https://spectatorworld.com/life/dark-side-energy-drinks-monster/ https://spectatorworld.com/life/dark-side-energy-drinks-mons... * What Catholic Integralists leave out? https://www.crisismagazine.com/2021/what-catholic-integralists-leave-out https://www.crisismagazine.com/2021/what-catholic-integralis...
bigbillheck 5y ago
A lot of people deny the Holocaust too.
- rurban 5y ago
  But for the holocaust we do have strong evidence. For the mass graves not.
908B64B197 5y ago
Canada recently had the 150th anniversary of it’s confederacy, an effort that was lead by John A. MacDonald, the architect of the genocide against native Americans. Are Canadians generally proud of their founding father?
gordian-mind 5y ago
Interesting that this obvious hoax had a lot of reactions and comments on HN at the time (~350 comments) [1], despite the flimsy evidence for it (a ground-radar picked up "disturbances", and an anthropologist declared they were graves by applying the principle of Wishful Thinking...). Amusingly, the bio of that anthropologist mentions that "she has developed a reputation for being able to interpret radar scans in a way that is both culturally sensitive and follows traditional cultural protocols"! [2] This is very convenient indeed. :) Anyway they have been searching ever since (in July they allegedly had already searched 160 acres), and not a single body has been found. Does it matter? Probably not, I guess. Not a tenth of those who got outraged over the initial story will hear the follow-up, and this will end up being another event that introduces a split in reality: between those that were abused by the mediatic grievance industry, and those that weren't. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27617693 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27617693 [2] https://www.ufv.ca/health-and-social-innovation/about/faculty-associates/beaulieu-sarah.htm https://www.ufv.ca/health-and-social-innovation/about/facult...
JoeAltmaier 5y ago
It's hard to say about old graves - after a few years a body is just dirt. Lots of strong claims being made about something that's pretty ambiguous.

13 points by Melchizedek 5y ago

The media began describing the site as a ‘mass grave’. A Manitoba politician who said the residential schools were founded with good intentions triggered a meltdown. Not only did he apologise, but two weeks later he said, with a straight face, that the residential school system was part of a genocidal plan devised by John A. MacDonald, Canada’s first prime minister, to kill off indigenous peoples. Nobody dared to object. Probably because it's almost quibbling to say GoC's policies at the time weren't genocidal because, strictly speaking, they didn't seek to literally kill off the entire population. The bugger point is that on the whole, these policies do come under the definition of genocide per the UN Genocide Convention (basically: "policies designed to bring about the destruction of a people - in whole or part"). And yes, the Residential Schools were a part of that system.

advisedwang 5y ago

Might be worth knowing that the author's interest here is in defending Catholicism. Not to say she's wrong, but knowing where media comes from is an important part of media literacy. Some examples of here catholic work (thanks to muck rack): * Will the Unvaccinated by saved? https://www.crisismagazine.com/2021/will-the-unvaccinated-be-saved https://www.crisismagazine.com/2021/will-the-unvaccinated-be... * What does the Pope think about Gays? https://spectatorworld.com/topic/pope-really-think-about-gays-catholic/ https://spectatorworld.com/topic/pope-really-think-about-gay... * Hopping through Holy Week? https://spectatorworld.com/life/hopping-through-holy-week/ https://spectatorworld.com/life/hopping-through-holy-week/ * subhead "Are Energy Drinks the work of the Devi?" https://spectatorworld.com/life/dark-side-energy-drinks-monster/ https://spectatorworld.com/life/dark-side-energy-drinks-mons... * What Catholic Integralists leave out? https://www.crisismagazine.com/2021/what-catholic-integralists-leave-out https://www.crisismagazine.com/2021/what-catholic-integralis...

bigbillheck 5y ago

A lot of people deny the Holocaust too.

rurban 5y ago
But for the holocaust we do have strong evidence. For the mass graves not.

908B64B197 5y ago

Canada recently had the 150th anniversary of it’s confederacy, an effort that was lead by John A. MacDonald, the architect of the genocide against native Americans. Are Canadians generally proud of their founding father?

gordian-mind 5y ago

Interesting that this obvious hoax had a lot of reactions and comments on HN at the time (~350 comments) [1], despite the flimsy evidence for it (a ground-radar picked up "disturbances", and an anthropologist declared they were graves by applying the principle of Wishful Thinking...). Amusingly, the bio of that anthropologist mentions that "she has developed a reputation for being able to interpret radar scans in a way that is both culturally sensitive and follows traditional cultural protocols"! [2] This is very convenient indeed. :) Anyway they have been searching ever since (in July they allegedly had already searched 160 acres), and not a single body has been found. Does it matter? Probably not, I guess. Not a tenth of those who got outraged over the initial story will hear the follow-up, and this will end up being another event that introduces a split in reality: between those that were abused by the mediatic grievance industry, and those that weren't. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27617693 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27617693 [2] https://www.ufv.ca/health-and-social-innovation/about/faculty-associates/beaulieu-sarah.htm https://www.ufv.ca/health-and-social-innovation/about/facult...

JoeAltmaier 5y ago

It's hard to say about old graves - after a few years a body is just dirt. Lots of strong claims being made about something that's pretty ambiguous.