I believe this. I've had elders describe to me in detail their first-hand accounts of death in residential schools. One instance stands out where priests beat and submerged a child in icewater as a means of curing his bedwetting. The child died from this.
Dr. D, I think it may be that people are horrified to find that what has been said for years is proving to be true.
I don't want to believe it. It's ugly, it's horrifying, it takes my belief system and shakes it to the core. I'm having a difficult time processing it. That's not to say I don't believe it, it just means that I'm having a tough time coming to terms with what that means, and how on earth does the country as a whole get past this?
I cannot imagine living through that, seeing loved ones die in cruel and awful ways, and somehow EVER recovering. Nor do I see where compensation or an apology would be of much value, either.
Maybe the editors and reporters are feeling the same way?
It's not my Facebook group. I'm not sure who started it. I think I was member #5. Please join, though. We need to do everything we can to get the MSM on this at least like they'd be on it if we discovered 28 new mass graves in Afghanistan.
JB
Dawg, look at whose website it is: Kevin Annett, who is not a member of any First Nation, nor is he a spokesman for a First Nation (some Squamish people apparently support him, some do not).
Ask yourself if 'mass grave' is another phrase for cemetery. We know that many children died in residential schools in the 1800s and 1900s, from things like tuberculosis probably mixed with malnutrition, etc. Of course there are graves by some of these schools.
There certainly should be more research into these claims, but Annett is not the best source of information.
http://www.canada.com/vancouvers...94-
d031fe9fc974
http://www.united-church.ca/comm.../general/
070501
JimBobby:
I corrected that error immediately after it appeared on the PB blogroll. And I have joined the group.
Holly:
Your references are to statements by church spokespeople. What do you expect them to say?
At the very least, this series of claims should lead to an inquiry. There are too many elders who, in bits and pieces, have reported similar things. No one would believe them. It can't happen here.
Well, maybe it can, maybe it can't. Maybe Annett is raving, maybe he's on to something. At least he has now pinpointed where the mass graves are supposed to be. Don't you think someone should go take a look?
At the very least one would expect the media to respond. If there is debunking to be done, let them go about it. Or let them report the opposite, if that's what they find. But they would rather cover the Pope's visit to the US, and speculate about the fate of the Ottawa Senators.
The mixing of healthy and TB-infected children is well-documented. But that alone, as horrific as it is, shouldn't require the presence of graves beside (or under) all those schools. That's hardly the place for cemeteries, is it? Normally the deceased from an Indian community would be buried in that community, not thrown into unmarked mass graves.
Holly Stick,
I am not sure these are mass graves in the sense of a big hole full of remains, but more in tune with a cemetery, as you say. Further, given the nature of residential school abuse and what I've heard from elders about their experiences with residential schools, it would not surprise me to find out that deaths ascribed to TB or natural causes were not always so. I am not sure Annett's claims are as sensational as he makes out, but I definitely think there is more to the picture.
Well I believe we're talking about residential schools which would not be in the community; that was the point, to keep the children away from their families (I believe the majority of schools were day schools, not residential). I doubt that the schools could afford to transport dead children back to their families, since they could not afford to feed them properly in the first place.
Maybe the MSM are not reporting it because they don't consider Annett a credible spokesman. Look at all the blogs jumping on the bandwagon. How much research has any of them done on this apart from looking at Annett's website? Didn't they just jump to the conclusion that every accusation was absolutely true without any evidence?
I think any claims that children were murdered should be investigated.
But you look at the language of that list Stageleft has on his blog. "mass grave" "experimental hospital" Was the Charles Camsell hospital in Edmonton an 'experimental hospital' like an evil Nazi lab, or because it was a tuberculosis hospital started in the same year streptomycin began to be used to cure TB? Were some of those "mass graves" dug during the 1918-19 flu epidemic?
I say again, consider the source, who has been accused of misusing stories that were confided to him; and who does not speak for any First Nation.
I also questioned the use of the "mass graves' terminology. However, even though we're probably not talking about many bodies in one hole, the numbers and the covert nature of the burials is enough for me to use the phrase.
WRT to whether or not the deaths from TB are "excusable", there are allegations that infected children were intentionally housed with uninfected ones. Additionally, child deaths from untreated disease or illness cannot really be considered as natural causes. How many of these kids would have been exposed to TB if they hadn't been herded into the residential schools in the first place?
From what I've read, Kevin Annett is the main driving force behind getting this news out. There's a catalog of the attacks he's suffered since 1993 as a result of trying expose this situation.
http://
canadiangenocide.nativewe...ks.html#attacks
Boris, yes, of course some children may have been murdered, as we know that many were physically abused and some were sexually abused. The whole system of schools underfunded by government was toxic.
JimBobby, I believe the schools received funding on a per-child basis, so they had an incentive not to send children home unless the children were at death's door.
And I don't think they were necessarily untreated, but the quality of care was probably poor; and there was no real cure for TB until 1946.
Here's a website on the residential schools:
http://www.wherearethechildren.c...ca/en/
home.html
Thanks for the link, Holly. Here's a quote from that site:
"Controversy has been a part of the residential school system since the early 20th century because of the number of Aboriginal children who died while attending the schools. "Throughout the industrial school era, children in the schools had been dying in unbelievable numbers. In that conjunction of the condition of the schools and the health of the children lay, as Dr. P.H. Bryce termed it in 1922, the 'national crime.' The main consequence of inadequate government funding, poorly constructed schools, sanitary and ventilation problems, inadequate diet, clothing and medical care was an epidemic of tuberculosis for Indian Schools." (A National Crime: The Canadian Government and the Residential School System, 1879 to 1986, p. 75)"
Even back in 1922, they were talking about "unbelievable numbers" of deaths. Today, it appears we still find them unbelievable.
I don't think too many of us are accepting the accusations as fact without evidence. Bloggers don't have the resources or credibility to do adequate investigating and exposing of facts. The MSM does have those resources and it is their job to follow up on these types of reports. All most of us are asking is that the matter be looked into on a much wider scope by a much more diverse and credible group of news professionals than what we've got now.
As I recall, the Pickton prostitute murders in Vancouver were downplayed and covered up for years before the press and police finally took years of accusations and missing persons reports seriously. It is certainly not out of the realm of possibility that these school disappearances have also been covered up and downplayed on a near systemic level.
The questions have been asked and the locations have been identified. Now, let's see some rigorous investigation, either from the RCMP or the MSM or both.
JB
JimBobby, et al.:
I read that catalogue of attacks. Something doesn't feel right to me about it. It has more than a whiff of paranoia about it.
That being said, it doesn't matter if Annett is a raving lunatic--if he has the appalling information that he claims, it would be quite enough to drive one insane, I would guess, particularly if no one is interested in taking him seriously.
But I don't carry a torch for the man. It's just that there have been accounts from elders, and very solidly credible information from all over, that back up the claim that many residential schools were places of barbaric brutality and depravity, not to mention a carelessness about human life that beggars description. The account that Annett gives doesn't depart strikingly from this narrative.
Remember the "butter-box babies" and the "Duplessis orphans?" Such mass crimes against children are not unknown in this great country of ours. At the very least, the media should be covering the story and forcing Annett to put up or shut up.
A few more websites:
http://www.irsss.ca/
And about the residential schools settlement:
http://www.residentialschoolsett...lsettlement.ca/
http://www.afn.ca/residentialsch...ools/
index.html
One more link; the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples report, chapter on residential schools:
http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rc...sg/
sgm10_e.html
I'm sorry, mass graves = murder?
I read the linked materials, and didn't see the expected forensic details of skull fractures, bullet holes, etc. that one would expect from such an inflammatory post. People, especially the young and weak died from many causes back then, quite often.
Over the top again dawg?
I have known Kevin Annett since he was 18 years old. He is one of the most honest and decent individuals I have ever encountered. Of course, the first method of any group that has had its evil past exposed is to attack the messenger. Even for an old rad like me the level of viciousness spewed at Annett has surprised me. Rather than swallowing the cover up go to his web site and see the movie UNREPENTANT.
http://www.hiddenfromhistory.org/
Over the top? No. And as for this "again" stuff, anonymouse, why not take a hike?
Much of what is alleged is from the reports of elders who actually attended the schools. I think that, whatever Annett's personal issues, an investigation--not to mention some serious media digging--should take place.
Never mind. People didn't believe the butter-box baby stories until Betty Cahill wrote her book. There will always be deniers around, until their noses are rubbed in the truth.
OK, so are you saying it's murder or not?
Quit dancing. Do you retract your original post to the effect that Christian churches murdered Aboriginal children and dumped their bodies into these mass graves, or not?
Your allegation, not mine, sir. Prove it now or acknowledge the hyperbole.
I retract nothing. I will take the words of Native elders over those of an anonymous commenter anytime.
By the way, I ban trolls here. Buh-bye.
"OK, so are you saying it's murder or not?"
Yes. The movie "Unrepentant" has at least half a dozen eyewitness accounts of murder by school officials.
Not to mention the allegations of purposely exposing children to small pox ans TB while at the schools (with photographic evidence provided).
Reports of being flogged to death and dying in an electric chair don't sound like the sick and weak merely passing away.
The fact that such allegations are being made, are consistent and have been made for years should warrant at least look from the MSM. At least a "hey what is this"...easy enough to prove. Go to one of the sites and exhume the bodies - investigate.
Right now, its being ignored.
So yeah, the Christian churches who ran those schools did murder those kids and dump them into mass graves.
Dawg, that anonymouse sure sounds like Richard Evans to me...
So according to Mike, allegations are made and are being ignored so obviously "yeah, the Christian churches who ran those schools did murder those kids and dump them into mass graves." Well, that's good enough for me. It's no wonder that the news media isn't investigating, there's no digging left to do. Thanks Mike.
I think the point that some are missing?
If there is an investigation, and nothing is found to support it? Its done.
But.....odds are? Ya.Too many accounts that should be an alarm.
I was on the same track as you today Dr Dawg.
And there is an investigation in Jersey, UK right now. Residential care home for children. Cellars, torture. Sexual abuse. Skeletal remains.
Former caregivers and police threatening former residents, IF THEY tell....The evidence that is turning up supports the victims stories. BTW.
Residential Schools-Mass graves list. Where is the media?
Its the link I put in the facebook group we started.
Do you retract your original post to the effect that Christian churches murdered Aboriginal children and dumped their bodies into these mass graves, or not?
Explain yourself!
Your allegation, not mine, sir. Prove it now or acknowledge the hyperbole.
Und macht schnell!
Heh. Where do these people come from?
What is it they say? The only creatures that will survive a nuclear holocaust are cockroaches and Internet trolls.
*tsk*..."macht" was ungrammatical in that sentence.
My apologies to the troll.
Ti-Guy:
Every so often I edit for spelling, when I'm in the mood. "Macht schnell" is correct. Now. : )
Did you change that? It's supposed to be mach schnell!; it's addressing one person only and in the familiar.
Don't make me look unlettered. I couldn't handle that.
Dammit, Ti-Guy, now I'm the one looking unlettered. You are right and I apologize for mis-editing your screed. Mach schnell it is, which is precisely what I shall do, covered in confusion.
A blog I found today with two relevent posts, including the comments:
http://
liberatedyet.blogspot.com...leadership.html
http://liberatedyet.blogspot.com...black-
robe.html
Where's the torture, flogging, and electrocution in your link?
Once again the stories about Kevin Annett being in it for fame or whatever are TOTAL BULL SHIT. I have known this man for 33 years and he is an honest person. If it wasn't for Annett these atrocities would have been swept back under the rug. I don't know what the agenda of the people who try to smear him is, but I can guess. Holly Stick what is your game? Covering up for the Churches? Or the government? Or the government-appointed Indian leaders?
Sir Lancealot:
12. Lytton: St. George’s Anglican school (1901-1979). Graves of students flogged to death, and others, reported under floorboards and next to playground.
4. Fort Albany : St. Anne’s Catholic school (1936-1964). Children killed in electric chair buried next to school.
An electric chair? I'm trying to suspend all cynicism and disbelief. I'm trying to conjure up the blackest scenarios I can imagine with the most appalling cast of characters. I'm trying to reflect on the complete powerlessness of these kids in the hands of warped, unsupervised adults. But I'm still having all sorts of trouble reading in that electric chair.
Also, the authors of that statement seem to think that mass grave is synonymous with cemetary.
If you watch the film (Unrepentant), you see a former student describing how he was strapped to a chair and electrodes were attached to various places on his head. Whether or not you find these descriptions of personal experience to be credible is up to you.
JimBobby, I had an electroencephalogram, EEG, (I think that's what it was) when I was a kid in the 1960s and they attached pins all over my head; they were trying to find out why I had fainting spells. I don't remember if I was in a chair or on a bed. It was unpleasant and the pins were fairly painful; I don't think the test lasted a long time, half an hour maybe. I didn't receive a shock or anything, it was the pins that bothered me.
I don't know if what you describe was a medical procedure like that or deliberate torture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Ele...ography#History
Larry Gambone, I have done research on specific land claims and other aspects of First Nations history, for the government and for various First Nations in the prairie provinces. I'm not employed by any of them at present. I have done some limited research on First Nation schools.
What concerns me is the inflammatory language used by Annett, and his actions which make him look like a self-appointed messiah; and doubts about his objectivity and accuracy.
Annett has been accused of using the stories told by survivors of residential schools without their permission and also accused of twisting the stories. I know members of First Nations who are very sensitive and angry about their voices and their stories being appropriated by other people for academic or monetary gain. It would be far worse for someone who relates a terrible personal experience and then hears some white guy repeating their story on the radio and getting it wrong. Read my links.
Annett has not been appointed spokesman for a First Nation; he's appointed himself. Not a good sign. And frankly, he's an amateur researcher; they make mistakes.
I would go with the opinion of John S. Milloy, an experienced historian who wrote the chapter on residential schools for the Royal Commission, and who probably knows the Indian Affairs school records better than anyone else.
One of the short articles Dawg linked to above says:
"...RCMP spokesman Staff Sgt. John Ward said "We have done extensive investigations over the years into the allegations of mass graves and to this day we've never been able to substantiate any of that..."
"...There is solid evidence, however, to back a claim by Annett that a huge number of native children died of TB during the residential school years - a claim supported by John Milloy, a professor of Canadian Studies at Trent University in Peterborough, Ont.
"Milloy has written a book on the residential school experience and was a senior researcher for the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. The book recounts the experience of Peter Bryce, the Indian Affairs chief medical officer in the early 1900s..."
"...But the precise number of deaths from TB? "Nobody knows,'' said Milloy, who quickly discounts Annett's claim that 50,000 children died..."
I'm reading the naysayers here, and I'm reading those who believe, and those who aren't sure. I have one thing to say to everyone:
Let's go prove it.
If there are graves, dig them up and see what's in them. If there are children under floorboards, let's go find them.
I said this on my blog and I'll say it here: I don't know enough about this to say what is true and what isn't, but the easiest way to find out what the truth is would be to go look. We know where the bodies are supposed to be. Let's go find them.
The truth may be ugly, but it's better to open it to the light than to hide it.
Holly, why are you trying to explain this all away? It's quite possible for even a person with "issues" to make discoveries and to issue true statements. All of this emphasis on Annett's personality is unseemly. Why aren't we asking (as I have) why the media is being so silent, and why the gravesites, their locations now public, aren't being checked out? Obviously such checking will prove the man right or wrong--why aren't you calling aloud for it?
Holly, per your quote ""...RCMP spokesman Staff Sgt. John Ward said "We have done extensive investigations over the years into the allegations of mass graves and to this day we've never been able to substantiate any of that..."
Would that be the same RCMP that helped botch the Air India investigation? Their credibility has taken a bit too big of a beating for me to swallow that without a pound or two of salt.
Dawg, the RCMP say they have investigated. Who else do you want to investigate? Who would you trust to do it? Archaeologists? Who pays for it? Who oversees it? Maybe Louise Arbour, who should be able to distinguish between a mass grave and a cemetery?
Why doesn't Annett go dig up a "mass grave" himself if he knows where they are?
Like Candace, I wouldn't trust the RCMP if they "investigated" and told me the sky was blue. They have no credibility on any subject whatsoever.
Incidentally, I think the differences between a "mass grave" and a cemetery are three: 1) the former tends to be unmarked, 2) the bodies are unnamed [thanks to Robert Jago for that piece of information] and 3) the number of bodies in a regular grave is usually one.
I don't know who should investigate. If Annett did it, he'd probably be accused of planting the remains in the first place.
I am not trying to explain it all away, but you have to look at the context. I don't know what the chair with the electrodes was about, but we now have two possible explanations. I know one explanation is possible from my own personal experience; the other is possible because people exist who do commit torture on children. Why are you jumping to conclusions that one is true and not the other? Because somebody talked about mass graves and experimental hospitals?
And yes, maybe some people did experiment on aboriginal children, as they definitely sterilized aboriginal girls without their knowledge. If one is documented, shouldn't the other be documented as well?
Graves may be unmarked because they had wooden crosses which have rotted away. Or they may be hidden because they contain murder victims. How do we determine which is true of any particular grave?
Graves may be mass graves because of an epidemic like the flu of 1918-19, or smallpox. Or they may be mass graves because of a massacre. But do serial killers use mass graves or individual ones?
Has Annett consulted an archaeologist, or a foresnic anthropologist, or dug up any graves, whether mass or not?
I am all in favour of more research to establish the facts, partly because I think the truth does need to be established, and partly because maybe I could get some paid work. But we don't hjave the complete truth yet.
And I talk about Annett because he is interpreting the facts through his own viewpoint, which is what you and others have picked up, Dawg. I do not trust his interpretation to be objective, I question whether he understands the context, and I find it believable that he has twisted stories, whether through dishonesty or because he only hears what he expects to hear.
No, Dr Dawg, that isn't the difference between a mass grave and a cemetary in the sense that the statement authors are trying to convey. I really don't think one complains to the UN just because bodies are buried together unnamed. Or even just because boarding schools disciplined with excessive force. These folks are clearly alleging something systematic and consciously undertaken, not by sick and secretive individual renegades, but with some sort of institutional approval or at least condonation. As with all conspiracy or cover-up allegations, that in itself raises the fair question of how plausible it is that so many people would have kept quite about such widespread horrors. Let's not forget that, minority or not, there were lots of individuals in residential schools and Indian Affairs motivated by vocation and sincere altruism.
But why are you so impatient with Holly's evident knowledge and thoughtful analysis? She is making a very good case that we're not exactly in uncharted waters on this one. By all means, let's investigate further if the research already done isn't sufficient, but you seem to be hinting/hoping that the accusation is some kind of positive evidence itself? And why would you not trust the RCMP to investigate? What interest would they have in a cover-up and besides, who the heck else would do it?
And maybe the press isn't reporting because they have serious credibility concerns.
Peter:
We'll have to agree to disagree.
A mass grave is a mass grave. Since these allegations, due to their detailed nature, are relatively easy to prove or disprove, and since, as I noted before, they don't really depart from the accepted narrative of systematic child abuse at residential schools, it seems to me that the story is eminently newsworthy. Annett has bet the firm on this, and that alone makes me want an investigation.
I'm not discounting Holly's concerns, but I am frankly curious why she would engage in attacks on Annett's character rather than joining the calls for an investigation. And who should do it? I repeat: not the RCMP, with their sordid history of racism against First Nations people. An independent commission of forensic anthropologists and archaeologists would be my suggestion.
I have said several times that more research should be done. It should be done by objective experts.
OK, everyone, we all meet with our shovels at six a.m. behind City Hall.
What happened to respect for aboriginal sensitivities about burial grounds? C'mon, there are very good reasons why we don't dig up graves--any graves--without some serious grounds to do so. Are you satisfied these have been met by this fellow alone, despite all that many dissenters from the community are apparently saying?
Dawg, it's not alright for me to question Annett's behaviour or judgment, but it's alright for you to decide every RCMP investigator in the country is a lying racist?
That said, I'd like to see their investigative reports, because I would guess some might be more diligent and thorough about it than others.
Heck, Holly, trust those guys if you must. I'd prefer that independent commission I suggested. What do you think of it?
Peter: are these graves all on Indian land?
Dunno, I'll refer you to their land claims negotiators for the definitive answer to that. 
Holly, your position has three fatal errors;
1.Attacking a person rather than the arguments that that person is making is a logical fallacy.
2. You already have evidence from someone who has known this person for the last 33 years and who states that this person is honorable. Do you know Annett?, Well, I do.
3. Slandering people who are whistle blowers or who expose the immorality of the system is one of the oldest dirty tricks there is.
More Holly Stickisms
"What concerns me is the inflammatory language used by Annett,"
What a wimpy attempt at critique that is. Where have you been all your life? Don't you know that is one of the oldest means of attempting to discredit a movement for social change? We are talking about the deaths of children OK. Put it in a different context, as in "What concerns me is the inflammatory language of those Abolitionists." Or try "What concerns me is the inflammatory language of those Jews against Mr. Hitler."
We need more inflammatory attacks on the crimes committed by this system, not wimpy, liberal attempts to white wash everything.
Larry Gambone, the thing is that I don't know you. I'm sorry you don't like what I have said about your friend, but I still think that he has harmed survivors of residential schools by appropriating their stories, even if he meant no harm.
He reminds me of Bruce Clark, a lawyer who is said to be a brilliant man; but I've read about a case where he went into court representing some aboriginal clients on a specific matter, spent his time telling the judge he was a traitor and the whole system of Canadian justice was treasonous, racist, etc., etc., and he did nothing useful for his clients, who eventually had to get a different lawyer to represent their interests. No doubt he found it real satisfying to tell off the judge and present his whole theory of justice, but he betrayed the interests of his clients and wasted their time and disappointed them.
It's that idealistic obsessive white guy do-gooder I-must-lead-these-people-to-freedom messiah complex; and it does the people he's presuming to lead more harm than good.
Dawg, I would be happy to see an independent inquiry, but it must have First Nations involvement in the whole process.
Listen to Holly, people. I don't know anything about Annett, but there are a couple of very fair questions to ask before taking a firm position. I worked as an advisor to national first nations' organizations for several years in the 80's. There were lots of white advisors then, and there were always a handful who went what I call the Grey Owl route, trying to personally reflect some kind of cultural purity more pure than the leaders who paid them. They took to aboriginal dress, were often coy about their own heritage, knew all the legends, etc. They never seemed to write press releases or draft position papers because they were too busy working on their exhaustive treatise proving a slam-dunk land claim to Parliament Hill (never finished). While the rest of us were out in the bars at night (we were young), they'd be smoking sweetgrass with the elders.
These guys could cause a lot of trouble because the organizations were politically unstable and always subject to attack for selling out. They fed the radical cultural dissidents and often created a surreal stasis about the issues being negotiated with Government. Eventally they would be marginalized or thrown out, but not before a lot of conspiracies, accusations of treason, etc.
The other thing that makes me wonder about this is the support of the "hereditary chiefs" against the elected council. The communities are too varied for dependably accurate generalizations, but there seem to be quite a few where there is a split in leadersip between the hereditary chiefs (culturally pure and authentic, etc.) and the putatively tainted governments chosen in elections "imposed" by the Department. Sometimes they do indeed emerge in response to corruption, but is there any more reactionary concept than a hereditary chief?
Peter:
I know the type you mean, and I have no truck or trade with 'em. This isn't about navel-gazing New Ageism; it's about real people with real histories, and real tragedies. Allying oneself shouldn't turn into a therapeutic exercise.
The point is that the leadership of Native organizations should not have to give way to white guys who think they know better. In my younger days, I made all of those mistakes around the women's movement. One lives, one learns. Holly is absolutely right that, if there is to be an independent investigation, the First Nations need to be in the centre of it.
But there is another facet of this as well. Alliance doesn't entail blind loyalty either. One has to find the right balance, but one shouldn't have to ditch one's critical faculties as the price of offering support. I am concerned that the character of one of the main players here (and I will admit that I am uncomfortable with pretensions like "Eagle Strong Voice") is becoming the central issue. This is driven, at least in part, by mainstream AFN politics--or so it seems to me. The AFN has a stake in the outcome of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, they have an image to protect, and they don't want mavericks upsetting the apple cart. You are familiar with the way institutions work, and know what I'm talking about.
I return to two points, my only two, in fact:
1) The media has fallen down badly on this one, as they have traditionally; and
2) The claims are now so specific that it should be possible to examine a few of them, at least, and see if Annett is having us on, or, rather is onto something.
Yes, indeed. I'm never comfortable with bandying around charges of racism willy-nilly, but from the perspective of ethnocentric arrogance, it is important to realize there are two sources and both sides should do more listening than speaking. The right is forever coming up with compelling arguments on why assimilation is the ultimate answer, conveniently ignoring the fact that there isn't one aboriginal person in the country who agrees. But the left can be very prone to romanticizing and trying to freeze them in the 18th century. I've met more than a few people who have convinced themselves of their total ideological solidarity with the cause, only to recoil in horror when they see them buy Pampers.
Article by Judith Lavoie:
http://www.canada.com/victoriati...333d8a1&
k=10593
Hat tip to In the House and Senate, although I disagree with her interpretation of the article. Judge for yourselves.
http://inthehouseandsenate.blogs...-shaken-
up.html
Larry Gambone, I may have know Kevin just slightly longer than you have - since back in the Vancouver Students' Association (a highschool student's union Annett was instrumental in destroying) days. I have found him an entirely untrustworthy, self aggrandizing person willing to roll over virtually anyone or anything to make whatever lunatic point has captured his attention.
As Terry Glavin points out in the Tyee to believe Annett you have to swallow an awful lot of wildly implausible stuff.
At the moment, true to form, Annett is of on a self-promotion tour occupying churches.
But watch out if you are thinking of suggesting that Annett is a paranoid lunatic, he fights nasty as Glavin points out:
"Annett and his followers have alleged there are skeletons "between the walls" and under the foundations of buildings at Alert Bay, on Cormorant Island. Namgis tribal administrator George Speck says "no one has a clue" what would make Annett say these things. At Meares Island, Annett says corpses of schoolchildren were stored in the basement of a residential school building, and the bodies of other children are buried in an unmarked grave nearby. Ahousat Coun. Angus Campbell says it's nonsense: "People would know if it was there."
It goes on and on like this, but if you persist in pointing out the spectacular unlikelihood that any of Annett's stories are true, you will almost certainly find yourself accused of "smearing" him. That's what happens if you're white, anyway. If you're aboriginal, you may find yourself called a "police informant" or a "provocateur," or you'll be accused of having been a "collaborator and abuser" during your time in residential school. Annett has leveled just these accusations against his detractors." the tyee
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