MORGAN: The Kamloops Residential School grave story is a hoax

Last week, Joseph Quesnel wrote a column in the Western Standard asking folks to stop referring to the alleged burial of children at the Kamloops Residential School site as a hoax. I have nothing but respect for Joseph. He has been an excellent voice on indigenous policies in Canada and I don’t doubt he will continue to be so. In this case though, I can’t disagree more strongly with him. Perpetuating a hoax is far more damaging to indigenous Canadians than appearing insensitive in calling it out is.Canada was turned upside down by the revelation that as many as 215 children had been killed and secretly buried in an apple orchard at the site of the Kamloops Residential School. Flags were put at half mast for nearly six months, churches were burned to the ground, and apologies flew along with cheques.Now, more than three years later, nothing has been done to verify the claims. The Kamloops band was given nearly $8 million tax dollars to follow up on the issue yet they appear to have done little to nothing with it. They won’t disclose where the money went and the myth of hundreds of graves at the site continues along with the associated pain and social damage caused with people who really believe hundreds of children were murdered and buried at that site.The RCMP clearly don’t believe any bodies are on the site. While there has been no end to the misinformation and excuses made as to why there have been no excavations, the reality is that the RCMP has full authority to dig if they really believe it’s a crime scene. The allegations made are that children were forced to bury their compatriots in the orchard as recently as the 1960s. That means the perpetrators could still be out there if indeed these incidents really happened. The site isn’t a separate nation and the band doesn’t have the ability to stop a murder investigation. If that was the case, native reserves could start quite the little cottage industry as a site for murderers to bury their victims with the knowledge the investigation would stop there. The reason the RCMP won’t follow up is that there is no real evidence that a crime took place, much less than there are bodies.Some folks are claiming the burials are sacred and must not be disturbed. To be blunt, that’s a load of crap. Those same folks are insisting that tens of millions of dollars should be spent in Winnipeg to try and locate the bodies of a couple of murdered indigenous women suspected to be buried there. They then say it’s integral that the remains be returned to the family and properly buried. Are the burial sites of murdered indigenous people sacred or not?The issue of returning the remains to families causes a conundrum to the folks perpetuating the hoax as well. Not only have there been no bodies found, but there are no children reported as missing at that school. While hundreds of children allegedly were buried in the orchard, apparently every one of them was an orphan. No parents, siblings or cousins have reported kids missing. Even if a body was found, who would the remains be returned to?More effort has been made to deter the investigation of these alleged burials than has been made to get to the truth. These are the hallmarks of a hoax.Instead of proving people who question the narrative wrong through forensic investigation of the supposed burial site, efforts have been made to illegalize questions. People asking for the truth are labeled as deniers and the government has been considering illegalizing “denialism”. Nobody is denying that residential schools existed and most people agree the schools were not pleasant places. It’s not unreasonable to ask for evidence when the claim is made that hundreds of children were secretly killed and buried, however.Finding the truth at the Kamloops residential school site wouldn’t be expensive or complicated. It would take nothing more than a day with some people using shovels. If indeed bodies were found, then work could begin to find out who they are, to hold people responsible, and to return the remains to where they belong.Let’s face it and let’s say it out loud. The reason the Kamloops band won’t dig is that they know there aren’t bodies there. The gravy train would dry up. While no children disappeared at the site, $8 million tax dollars did. In this case, things may be moving beyond calling the affair a hoax and moving into fraud territory.I don’t care if people think it’s insensitive to call the alleged Kamloops child burials a hoax. More people should be calling it a hoax. In fact, they should be shouting it from the rooftops until a real investigation happens.Canada’s indigenous population is socially challenged and angry enough as it is. Allowing myths of murdered children to continue is only fostering more division and making things worse for everybody. The truth needs to be exposed.Don’t like it?Dig a hole and prove me wrong.Until then, I will continue to call it a hoax and with every day investigations are delayed, I am more confident I am correct.