James C. McCrae is former attorney general of Manitoba and Canadian citizenship judge. Parks Canada has announced the designation of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School (KIRS) a national historic site. In none of the statements accompanying the announcement is there reference to the 2021 “discovery” of 215 Indigenous children secretly buried in the school’s former apple orchard. Perhaps that’s because no children’s remains have been recovered there, despite millions given to the Kamloops band to do so. It is clear the federal government no longer accepts claims of bodies buried at the site. Perhaps one of the reasons for this change is that many of the people involved at the school over the years were indigenous teachers and other staff, people whose experiences negate any such claim. So, what is the truth? Was the KIRS really the scene of unspeakable atrocities? Perhaps a look at one of the people who taught at the school will help us find that truth. How could a First Nations chief, while also teaching indigenous children at the Kamloops Indian Residential School, not have reported that hundreds of them were being secretly buried in the school’s apple orchard? Would such a chief not be an accessory to such an atrocity? Or, more likely, is there no truth to the Kamloops “mass graves” allegation announced on May 27, 2021, the allegation that shocked the world? Joseph Stanley Michel, elected chief of the nearby Adams Lake Band in 1961, appeared in the 1962 CBC documentary The eyes of children, a film about the Kamloops school. Michel is shown teaching indigenous children there. Michel had previously attended the KIRS as a student, and became the first Indian Residential School graduate in western Canada. In 1949-50 one of his schoolmates was Len Marchand, who later became Canada’s first status Indian federal cabinet minister. Marchand’s son Leonard, Jr. is now the chief justice of British Columbia. In his autobiography Breaking Trail Marchand, Sr. wrote: “I was never abused, and I never heard of anyone else who was mistreated at the Kamloops school.” Of the priests, nuns and brothers at the school: “… they meant well by us, they genuinely cared about us, and they all did their duty by us as they saw fit.” In an interview, “Joe” Michel’s granddaughter, playwright Laura Michel, said this about him: "I would love to tell the story of Joseph Stanley Michel. He was one of the first graduates of the Kamloops Indian Residential School. He went on to be a language activist in his community and was nationally recognized with the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for his lifelong work.” Joseph Michel became chief of the Adams Lake, B.C. band while still teaching at the Kamloops school. The Vancouver Province reported his election on February 3, 1961: “Joe Stanley Michel of Chase, a teacher at the Kamloops Indian Residential School, has been elected chief of the Adams Lake band of Indians at Chase.” The obvious question ought to be, “How can a First Nations chief, teaching at an Indian residential school, not be aware of the horrors we hear about today?” Joseph Michel taught at the KIRS from 1954 until 1967. In all those years — if there is any truth to the 2021 Kamloops mass graves allegation — how could it have escaped his attention that so many children went missing? How could he not have known that 215 of them were indecently interred in the school’s apple orchard? How could a man who would become a First Nations chief, in 1961, remain silent about such an egregious allegation about the sinister deaths and secret burial of innocent Indigenous children, some of whom, without doubt, from his own First Nation? He could not have known all this, because it didn’t happen. Michel died in 2009. His obituary tells of the lifelong achievements of a KIRS graduate. “His great passion for life and generosity of spirit has inspired many generations of First Nations to reconnect with their ‘tribal heart’ through language, culture and education…. He continued his education to become one of the first Aboriginal teachers in the Kamloops School District. Throughout his 37 years of teaching and counselling he promoted the value of education to countless young people….His exemplary life history culminated in receiving a National Aboriginal Achievement Award for his work in Education in 2007.” Michel’s story is just one of many which, if repeated today, results in allegations of residential school denialism, racism, white supremacy, and hatred. Surely such talk does a terrible disservice to Michel’s memory and to the members of his loving family. It also renders “truth” into something uglier than facts justify. Surely this is not the way to bring peace and comfort to indigenous families across Canada. And surely the truth of Chief Joseph Michel’s life meant something more. Just as we ought not to deny or ignore the harms suffered by many from their IRS experiences, neither should we deny or ignore the stories of the many who benefited from theirs. It remains an inconvenient truth for “genocide” purveyors that, at the same time children were allegedly being buried under sinister circumstances at the Kamloops school, Chief Joseph Stanley Michel was teaching there and “promoting the value of education to countless young people." Chief Joseph Michel was just one of thousands — indigenous and otherwise — who dedicated their lives to the education and nurture of Indigenous children. The current public discourse completely ignores their service and sacrifice, and that is a national shame. But it is particularly noteworthy that there is no record of Joseph Michel’s reporting abuse, death and nighttime burials at the Kamloops school. This alone should serve to awaken Canadians to the truth, the same truth which finally appears to have been accepted by Parks Canada and the federal government. James C. McCrae is former attorney general of Manitoba and Canadian citizenship judge.
James C. McCrae is former attorney general of Manitoba and Canadian citizenship judge. Parks Canada has announced the designation of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School (KIRS) a national historic site. In none of the statements accompanying the announcement is there reference to the 2021 “discovery” of 215 Indigenous children secretly buried in the school’s former apple orchard. Perhaps that’s because no children’s remains have been recovered there, despite millions given to the Kamloops band to do so. It is clear the federal government no longer accepts claims of bodies buried at the site. Perhaps one of the reasons for this change is that many of the people involved at the school over the years were indigenous teachers and other staff, people whose experiences negate any such claim. So, what is the truth? Was the KIRS really the scene of unspeakable atrocities? Perhaps a look at one of the people who taught at the school will help us find that truth. How could a First Nations chief, while also teaching indigenous children at the Kamloops Indian Residential School, not have reported that hundreds of them were being secretly buried in the school’s apple orchard? Would such a chief not be an accessory to such an atrocity? Or, more likely, is there no truth to the Kamloops “mass graves” allegation announced on May 27, 2021, the allegation that shocked the world? Joseph Stanley Michel, elected chief of the nearby Adams Lake Band in 1961, appeared in the 1962 CBC documentary The eyes of children, a film about the Kamloops school. Michel is shown teaching indigenous children there. Michel had previously attended the KIRS as a student, and became the first Indian Residential School graduate in western Canada. In 1949-50 one of his schoolmates was Len Marchand, who later became Canada’s first status Indian federal cabinet minister. Marchand’s son Leonard, Jr. is now the chief justice of British Columbia. In his autobiography Breaking Trail Marchand, Sr. wrote: “I was never abused, and I never heard of anyone else who was mistreated at the Kamloops school.” Of the priests, nuns and brothers at the school: “… they meant well by us, they genuinely cared about us, and they all did their duty by us as they saw fit.” In an interview, “Joe” Michel’s granddaughter, playwright Laura Michel, said this about him: "I would love to tell the story of Joseph Stanley Michel. He was one of the first graduates of the Kamloops Indian Residential School. He went on to be a language activist in his community and was nationally recognized with the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for his lifelong work.” Joseph Michel became chief of the Adams Lake, B.C. band while still teaching at the Kamloops school. The Vancouver Province reported his election on February 3, 1961: “Joe Stanley Michel of Chase, a teacher at the Kamloops Indian Residential School, has been elected chief of the Adams Lake band of Indians at Chase.” The obvious question ought to be, “How can a First Nations chief, teaching at an Indian residential school, not be aware of the horrors we hear about today?” Joseph Michel taught at the KIRS from 1954 until 1967. In all those years — if there is any truth to the 2021 Kamloops mass graves allegation — how could it have escaped his attention that so many children went missing? How could he not have known that 215 of them were indecently interred in the school’s apple orchard? How could a man who would become a First Nations chief, in 1961, remain silent about such an egregious allegation about the sinister deaths and secret burial of innocent Indigenous children, some of whom, without doubt, from his own First Nation? He could not have known all this, because it didn’t happen. Michel died in 2009. His obituary tells of the lifelong achievements of a KIRS graduate. “His great passion for life and generosity of spirit has inspired many generations of First Nations to reconnect with their ‘tribal heart’ through language, culture and education…. He continued his education to become one of the first Aboriginal teachers in the Kamloops School District. Throughout his 37 years of teaching and counselling he promoted the value of education to countless young people….His exemplary life history culminated in receiving a National Aboriginal Achievement Award for his work in Education in 2007.” Michel’s story is just one of many which, if repeated today, results in allegations of residential school denialism, racism, white supremacy, and hatred. Surely such talk does a terrible disservice to Michel’s memory and to the members of his loving family. It also renders “truth” into something uglier than facts justify. Surely this is not the way to bring peace and comfort to indigenous families across Canada. And surely the truth of Chief Joseph Michel’s life meant something more. Just as we ought not to deny or ignore the harms suffered by many from their IRS experiences, neither should we deny or ignore the stories of the many who benefited from theirs. It remains an inconvenient truth for “genocide” purveyors that, at the same time children were allegedly being buried under sinister circumstances at the Kamloops school, Chief Joseph Stanley Michel was teaching there and “promoting the value of education to countless young people." Chief Joseph Michel was just one of thousands — indigenous and otherwise — who dedicated their lives to the education and nurture of Indigenous children. The current public discourse completely ignores their service and sacrifice, and that is a national shame. But it is particularly noteworthy that there is no record of Joseph Michel’s reporting abuse, death and nighttime burials at the Kamloops school. This alone should serve to awaken Canadians to the truth, the same truth which finally appears to have been accepted by Parks Canada and the federal government. James C. McCrae is former attorney general of Manitoba and Canadian citizenship judge.
