Common Cause:
Canada's Residential Schools

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Wednesday, September 24 2008 @ 01:27 AM CDT

Common Cause Hamilton's September Anarchist Discussion Group:

Canada's Residential Schools

Tuesday, September 23 2008 @ 05:30 PM CDT

Common Cause Hamilton's monthly anarchist discussion group continued this September 16 with a screening of Kevin Annett's documentary, "Unrepentant: Kevin Annett and Canada's Genocide." Connie, a member of Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared (FRD), one of the principal groups seeking justice for the victims of Canada's residential school system, introduced the film and also led the subsequent discussion. About a dozen people attended, several of whom took copies of the film to show it elsewhere.

Common Cause Hamilton's September Anarchist Discussion Group: Canada's Residential Schools

Common Cause Hamilton's monthly anarchist discussion group continued this
September 16 with a screening of Kevin Annett's documentary, "Unrepentant: Kevin
Annett and Canada's Genocide." Connie, a member of Friends and Relatives of the
Disappeared (FRD), one of the principal groups seeking justice for the victims
of Canada's residential school system, introduced the film and also led the
subsequent discussion. About a dozen people attended, several of whom took
copies of the film to show it elsewhere.

The film itself is about Canada's residential school system. For over 100 years the Canadian government forced
indigenous children to attend schools run by Canada's major churches. The
schools were intended to strip indigenous children of their languages and
cultures and turn them into Christian, white, workers. See "Residential School
Apology: An Anarchist View" in Linchpin 5 for more info.

The film argues that the residential school system was in fact planned genocide.
It cites evidence from the Canadian government's own files that over 50% of all
children who attended the schools died, particularly from tuberculosis. It
presents the findings of Peter Bryce, Canada's Indian Affairs chief medical
officer in the early 1900s, who after investigating, concluded that there was a
deliberate policy of keeping sick and healthy children together. According to
the film, at least 50,000 children died during the 100 years that the schools
operated.

The film presents painful first hand testimony from survivors that reveals
crimes such as torture, medical experimentation, sexual abuse and murder. The
film also documents the persecution of Kevin Annett by the United Church.
According to the film, for his activism, the United Church kicked Annett out of
the church, took away his family, blocked his doctoral candidacy at UBC and have
prevented him from finding employment for the past 15 years.

For more information and to watch the movie online see:
http://hiddenfromhistory.org

For more information on upcoming Common Cause events contact
commoncauseontario@gmail.com

Common Cause Hamilton's Anarchist Discussion Group takes place on the third
Tuesday of every month at 7pm at the Sky Dragon Centre (www.skydragon.org)
located at 27 King William St. For more info contact hamiltonac@yahoogroups.com


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