STILL ON THE RUN.
A LOT OF PEOPLE JUST GOT DONE
CELEBRATING THE INDEPENDENCE OF
THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA.
THE WEEK PRIOR.
FOR MANY INDIGENOUS AND FIRST
NATION PEOPLE, THE WEEKEND HAS
BEEN A RAW, OPEN WOUND.
THE DISCOVERY OF MORE UNMARKED
GRAVES OF CHILDREN, VICTIMS OF
SO-CALLED RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS,
FORCING A NEW NATIONAL
RECOGNITION THAT STRETCHES ALL
THE WAY TO MICHIGAN.
LET’S GET TO PAULA TUTMAN LIVE WITH THE SURVIVOR’S STORY AND
WITH THE SURVIVOR’S STORY AND
MORE ON WHY CANADA’S STORY MAY
WELL BECOME A U.S. STORY.
PAULA?
>> Paula: YEAH, HIGH, DEVIN,
FOR SURE, BECAUSE THINK ABOUT
THIS: MORE THAN 1,000 REMAINS OF
CHILDREN HAVE BEEN FOUND IN
CANADA.
THESE ARE CHILDREN WHO WERE
RIPPED FROM THEIR FAMILIES AND
THEIR CULTURE.
KEEP IN MIND, THE UNITED STATES
HAD THESE SAME KINDS OF
RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS OR BOARDING
SCHOOLS.
THE INDIGENOUS I HAVE BEEN
TALKING TO ALL DAY SAY THEY HAVE
BEEN TRYING TO GET THIS OUT
THERE FOR YEARS, BECAUSE THEY
BELIEVE, AGAIN, THEIR BELIEF,
THAT THE ONLY REASON THE U.S.
HASN’T FOUND THE REMAINS OF
CHILDREN ON THE GROUNDS OF SOME
OF THESE SCHOOLS IS BECAUSE THE
U.S. SIMPLY ISN’T LOOKING FOR
THEM.
>> THAT PRACTICE STARTED NEAR
THE UNITED STATES.
TO KILL THE INDIANS AND SAVE THE
MAN.
>> Paula: IN THE UNITED
STATES, THE PRACTICE OF PUTTING
CHILDREN IN SO-CALLED RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS CONTINUED AS
RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS CONTINUED AS
LATE AS 1996, SO FOR THIS WOMAN,
WHO GOES BY THE NAME SUE, THIS
IS NOT ANCIENT HISTORY TO HER.
>> NOBODY WANTS TO BELIEVE THEIR GOVERNMENT IN COLLUSION WITH
GOVERNMENT IN COLLUSION WITH
RELIGIOUS INSTITUTION, TOOK
THESE CHILDREN AND PUT THEM IN
THESE INSTITUTIONS WHERE THEY
WERE RAPED AND BEATEN AND
TORTURED AND MURDERED.
>> Paula: FOR YEARS SHE’S
TRIED TO GET PEOPLE TO LISTEN TO
WHAT HAPPENED TO HER
GRANDPARENTS WHEN THEY WERE
CHILDREN IN MICHIGAN’S NUMEROUS
RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS ACROSS THE
STATE, FROM HARBOR SPRINGS TO
MOUNT PLEASANT.
>> BODIES ARE IN THE WALLS.
SOME OF THE WOMEN WHO WERE
TEACHERS THERE BECAME PREGNANT
BY THESE YOUNG BOYS WHERE THEY
HAD SEX WITH THEM WHEN THEY WERE 11 AND 12 YEARS OLD, AND THEY
11 AND 12 YEARS OLD, AND THEY
KILLED THE CHILDREN WHEN THEY
WERE BORN.
>> Paula: FOR SUE, THE
DISCOVERY OF EVEN MORE CHILDREN
IN CANADA ADDS TO THE
GENERATIONAL TRAUMA SHE SUFFERS.
>> I HAVE NOT COME ACROSS ONE,
NOT ONE NATIVE PERSON WHO DID
NOT HAVE AN ANCESTOR WHO WAS SENT TO BORDER SCHOOL EITHER
SENT TO BORDER SCHOOL EITHER
HERE IN THE UNITED STATES OR IN
CANADA.
>> Paula: TAKING AWAY FOR A
WHITEWASHING OF THEIR IDENTITY
AND THEIR CULTURE, AND TODAY
CHRIS FRANKLIN STILL HEARS THE
VOICES THROUGH HIS MOTHER AND AUNT’S RECOLLECTION.
AUNT’S RECOLLECTION.
>> SHE CAN REMEMBER THEM DRAGGING KIDS OUT AT NIGHT AND
DRAGGING KIDS OUT AT NIGHT AND HEAR THEM SCREAMING.
HEAR THEM SCREAMING.
AND SHE SAID... SOMETIMES THOSE
KIDS NEVER CAME BACK.
>> I AM A SURVIVOR OF A RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL.
RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL.
>>>> Paula: 83-YEAR-OLD SHIRLEY
ROCHE WAS STOLEN FROM HER FAMILY
AT AGE EIGHT. SHE SPOKE TO ME FROM HER HOME IN
SHE SPOKE TO ME FROM HER HOME IN
SAULT STE. MARIE.
>> THEY STRIPPED US OF OUR
LANGUAGE.
THEY STRIPPED US OF OUR CULTURE.
THEY STRIPPED US OF EVERYTHING
BUT OUR IDENTITY.
THAT’S WHY I THINK SO MANY OF
US, IT STILL HAS AN IMPACT ON SO
MANY OF OUR PEOPLE TODAY.
>> SO IT’S NOT JUST FINDING THE
BODIES...
>> THE DOORS ARE OPENING, AND
WE’RE FINDING KIDS NOW, AND WE
NEED TO NOT STOP. WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT
WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT
SOMEBODY IS HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR
ALL OF THIS.
>> SO THERE WAS A PRAYER VIGIL IN HARBOR SPRINGS THIS WEEKEND,
IN HARBOR SPRINGS THIS WEEKEND,
BUT WHAT’S BEING CALLED FOR BY
FIRST NATIONS ON BOTH SIDES, BY
THE WAY, BOTH SIDES OF THE
BORDER, THE LAKE, THE RIVER, AND
THE BRIDGES, IS THAT THERE BE AN ACCOUNTING.
FIRST OF ALL, THAT THERE BE AN
ACKNOWLEDGE.
THAT THIS HAPPENED, BECAUSE
CHILDREN WERE EXCHANGED ACROSS
THE BORDER, BUT ALSO A REAL SEARCH FOR REMAINS ON BOTH SIDES
SEARCH FOR REMAINS ON BOTH SIDES
OF THE BORDER AND ALSO A REAL
SEARCH FOR ACCOUNTABILITY BY
BOTH NATIONS.
DEVIN?
MINDBOGGLING, BY THE WAY,
MINDBOGGLING. >> Devin: ABSOLUTELY GERT