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Call for criminal investigation into deaths of children at the Mohawk Institute DONNA DURIC
donna@tworowtimes.com
TWO ROW TIMES
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BRANTFORD - Survivors of the former Mohawk Institute Residential School in Brantford called for a criminal investigation today, saying over 50 children went missing while attending the school. Flanked by Brantford Police and Six Nations Police, Mohawk Institute survivor Dawn Hill told a press conference gathered in front of the building that the disappearance of the children was a crime, calling for an investigation and search of the grounds at the former residential school for potential hidden graves. “We request the police to investigate the deaths of these children and where they are buried,” she said, reading from a letter addressed to Six Nations Police Chief Darren Montour. “We need answers and we need to find the children.” About 15,000 Six Nations children attended the Mohawk Institute, also
known as The Mush Hole due to the bland, sticky porridge the kids were forced to eat for breakfast every day. Hill said many of those children never came home. “We were told they ran away,” said Hill. “We never saw them again and neither did their families. Many children died at the Institute. We don’t know what happened to them or where they are buried. We believe many are buried at the grounds of the former Mohawk Institute, now the Woodland Cultural Centre, as well as the adjacent grounds and fields.” She said students were subject to physical, mental and sexual abuse at the institute. “Some children died as a result of this abuse,” said Hill. “Staff members and those running the school were never held to account for their actions. When children died, we were never told. We believe some of them died as a result of the actions of the staff and these deaths are highly suspicious. Children’s deaths were covered up and not reported properly.”
The call comes after the remains of more than 1,300 children have been discovered in previously unknown graves at residential schools across Canada since May. The Mohawk Institute was Canada’s longest-running residential school and closed down in 1970. The federal government, in partnership with religious institutions, kidnapped and forced Indigenous children to attend residential schools since the mid-1800s in an attempt to assimilate them as colonial Canadians. “Many families never saw their children again,” said Hill. In 1983, bones were found buried near the building, she said. The bones were identified as human or hip bones belonging to a child. The bones were re-buried on the grounds. “It does not appear that the matter was fully investigated,” said Hill. “Where they are buried is unmarked.” Two fires at the school over the past century will
make the search for possible remains even more difficult, said Six Nations Elected Chief Mark Hill. “We have just witnessed survivors making an official request to our police,” he said. “We know that this is enough to trigger a criminal investigation.” Death records uncovered during the years 2008 to 2015, while the federal Truth and Reconciliation Commission investigated the horrors behind residential schools, revealed 54 children died while attending the Mohawk Institute. “What we don’t know, is where those little bodies are buried,” said Chief Hill. “We know that throughout the institute’s history, there was upwards of close to 500 acres that formed the school property. Every last acre needs to be searched.” On June 11, Six Nations of the Grand River Elected Council sent a letter to the premier, solicitor general, the attorney general, the chief coroner’s office, as well as the Ontario Provincial Police, telling them that this is a criminal death investigation.
“The reason we are commencing in this way is because we have witnessed what other communities have done. Proceeding in this way, we want to ensure that there is justice and accountability right from the beginning. We support our survivors and it is time to do this work. If we do not do it this way, evidence may be compromised in the investigation process. There is much work to do.” Chief Hill said they support the creation of a multi-jurisdictional major case management police task force to investigate the matter. “We are asking various police services to work with us in collaboration to do this investigation with the Six Nations Police Service, the Brantford Police Service, as well as the Ontario Provincial Police.” Chief Hill said the recommendations for how the investigation will unfold came from numerous meetings with survivors. “This process must be survivor-led, trau-
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