Ever since the 19th and 20th centuries, an unfathomable atrocity that defies all tenets of the regard for human life has inexcusably gone unnoticed.

It was reported that an astonishing estimate of approximately 3,000 children indigenous to Canada have been abused, mistreated, subject to deplorable conditions, and buried in unmarked graves at complete fault and responsibility of government-run Canadian boarding schools led by religious authorities.

These compulsory institutions severed hundreds of children from their homes and families, and subjected them to intolerable states of living and learning. They were prohibited from speaking in their native tongue, and were disallowed to  ever return home to their former lives.

A memorial event was held by the National Center for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) in order to give the deserved and proper remembrance to those that “never returned home”. A 164-foot banner was revealed in commemoration of the children lost to those baneful travesties.

However, only 2,800 victims were successfully identified and given their due memorial, while 1,600 still have yet to be discovered.

Church and government records from archivists concluded that 80 boarding schools were implemented and in operation for more than 120 years with approximately 150,000 children forcibly removed from their native homes.

The first Canadian schools of this kind were opened in the 1880s and the last in 1996.

Accounts of common and routine treatment in these institutions include not only the restriction of cultural practices but also sexual abuse.

The degree of loss was substantial to the point that former NCTR Commision member Dr. Marie Wilson strongly pushed for the development of a student death registry from lawmakers which was the impetus for the ceremony.

At the crux, the establishment of the caliber of these addressed Canadian boarding schools was a form of legalized crime that enabled the destruction of familial structure, the perceived fabric of the government in the eyes of the people, and most importantly the lives of innocent children left defenseless.

IMAGE COURTESY OF BRITANNICA.COM