After the discovery of more than 215 Indigenous children’s remains at a former residential school in Canada, a shoe exhibit urges people to pay homage to their memories.
An artist, Tamara Bell, told CTV News she grew up hearing about children who died in these schools, and the news made her think of her mother who attended a residential school.
This educational system is a dark and, until recently, hidden chapter in Canada’s history. From about 1883 to 1996, Canadian authorities separated around 15,000 Indigenous children from their families, The Washington Post reported. Students weren’t allowed to speak Indigenous languages nor practice their families’ traditions and were physically and sexually abused, according to Canada’s 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission final report.
This was all in an attempt to indoctrinate children into the Euro-Christian Canadian society, the report says. But it came at the cost of shattered Indigenous families and the erasure of children’s ties to their home cultures.
The commission provided a chance for former students and anyone “directly or indirectly affected by the legacy” of the schools to share their stories. Ultimately, more than 6,000 survivors spoke up.
The Canadian government apologized for the schools in 2008, ABC News reported. But Pope Francis hasn’t done the same when it comes to the Catholic Church, which ran about two-thirds of the schools, the Associated Press reported.
Despite long-awaited apologies that may never come into fruition, the shoe exhibit forces us to not only confront the horrific treatment of 215 children at Kamloops Indian Residential School but also to examine the legacy of how our governments have treated Native Americans — and how we can rectify that today.
A girl holds a pair of shoes at the memorial event for the 215 children whose remains have been found buried at a former Kamloops residential school outside Vancouver Art Gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
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People gather outside Vancouver Art Gallery to honor the victims of Kamloops Indian Residential school.
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Shoes illustrate the magnitude of the 215 Indigenous children whose remains were found at a former residential school in Canada.
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A woman cries as she surveys 215 pairs of kids shoes outside Vancouver Art Gallery, representing the Indigenous children who were killed at a former Canadian residential school.
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Dolls and shoes humanize the 215 Indigenous children who perished at a former residential school in Canada.
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A woman prays after placing flowers to honor the 215 children who died at a former residential school in Canada.
Image: Anadolu Agency / Getty Images