Nuu-chah-nulth mom calls for policy to help cultivate First Nations culture vicnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from vicnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
VICTORIA The bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Victoria apologized Tuesday, one day after revelations came to light that more than 160 unmarked graves had been discovered near a former Indigenous residential school once run by the church. The Penelakut Tribe confirmed the discovery of more than 160 undocumented and unmarked graves” on Penelakut Island, formerly Kuper Island, near Chemainus, B.C., in a notice circulated Monday. The small island was home to the Kuper Island School from 1890 until 1975. The Catholic diocese in Victoria operated the school, along with the Sisters of St. Ann, from 1891 until 1907, according to Bishop Gary Gordon.
Operating Dates: 1900 -1973 30 LISTED DEATHS In 1893, the Presbyterian Church built the Alberni Girls Home on Vancouver Island a few miles outside Port Alberni. It was taken over by the United Church in 1925. The school was destroyed by fire in 1917, 1937, and 1941 and rebuilt following each fire. The West Coast Council of Indian Chiefs campaigned for the school’s closing in the 1960s, charging that children in need of care were being dumped into the school. The school was eventually closed in 1973. In 1995 a former supervisor at the school from 1948 to 1968 was convicted of 18 counts of indecent assault against Aboriginal students and sentenced to 11 years in jail.
Information about the Vancouver Island residential schools compiled by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba. For more information, see memorial.nctr.ca.. . .