Thread by @crystalfraser

1.Drin gwįįzii, shoorzri’ Crystal Gail Fraser vàazhii, History & Native Studies, University of Alberta, Treaty 6 Homeland of the Métis Nation. I am pleased to talk about “Residential Schooling Histories.” #PandemicMethodologies

Supports: Indian Residential School Crisis Line 1-866-925-4416. Text 686868, 24/7. Cdn Mental Health Assoc. 1-833-456-4566 (in QC 1-866-277-3553). Please take care of yourself. Take a walk, call a friend, nourish your body with food, show your emotions. #pandemicmethodologies

Approx. 1000+ unknown, unmarked graves at Indian Residential School sites announced this week in Canada, #cowessness #kamloops. There will be many, many more. Indigenous Elders, Nations, and communities have been pointing towards these for decades. #pandemicmethodologies

One Indian Residential School is not representative of the entire genocidal system built by the Canadian settler state. But let's look at the AB Dunbow Industrial School in 1896. In this year, the school 'discharged' 10 pupils, who were 8-19 years old. #PandemicMethodologies

70% were 'discharged' b/c they died or missionaries predicted their deaths. SEVENTY PERCENT. Schools sent ill children away if they suspected a death so it would not be in school records. Ill children brought disease into communities, causing more death. #pandemicmethodologies

Deaths FAR exceed the TRC's official count of ~4100. We do not have an accurate picture of Canadian IRSs. During my PhD, a handful of senior scholars told me to “move on, we know all there is to know.” #historians #edscholars #anthropologists #pandemicmethodologies

Nearly all IRS had an official graveyard, but many had ‘unofficial’ graveyards too. This was reflective of the point of the system - to kill our ancestors, our cultures, our sovereignty, and steal land + resources. Did your school have a graveyard? #pandemicmethodolgies

So what to do? First, support your Indigenous colleagues, friends, family. Donate $$ to the @NCTR_UM & local Indigenous organizations. Read. Tweet. Become uncomfortable. Think about your whiteness. #pandemicmethodologies

There is persisting trauma porn about IRS + suffering but NEVER any dialogue about how settler Cdns benefitted and continue to profit from the work of IRSs. Think about that for a minute. #pandemicmethodologies

Would your family have been able to 'settle' + purchase property if Lands hadn't been dispossessed? What if Indigenous peoples had the same level of education? Would you or your ancestors have been able to find jobs of your choice + prosper? #pandemicmethodologies