Both suspects in a stabbing spree that left 10 people dead on the James Smith Cree Indian Reserve and in the nearby village of Weldon, Saskatchewan on Sunday, September 4 are now dead. Still, the pain and suffering of one of the deadliest mass killings in Canada’s history — and the deadliest ever in modern history on aboriginal land — will long live on..So apparently, will disingenuous explanations that link every Indigenous hardship to residential schools. For example, indigenous journalist Niigaan Sinclair, an associate professor of native studies at the University of Manitoba, argues, “Every single indigenous person carries trauma in this country, whether it be from poverty, bigotry, displacement or living under the Indian Act… All are residential school survivors in one shape or another, whether it be experiencing that nightmarish system first hand or intergenerationally… Too many times, this turns into violence.”.Sol Sanderson, a Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations senator from JSCFN also claimed that “Colonial Canadian policies have devastated our people and community for years…. It was integration, assimilation, and liquidation to make us like them.”.But first, a recap. Myles Sanderson, one of two suspects in the vicious attack, died shortly his arrest following a four-day chase, according to a police statement on Friday, September 9..“Shortly after his arrest, he went into medical distress,” RCMP spokesman Rhonda Blackmore told a press conference. Sanderson was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. An official cause of death was not given. Sanderson’s older brother, Damien Sanderson, also suspected in the attacks, had been found dead five days earlier. He appeared to have been murdered by Myles..Investigators have not given a motive for the bloodshed, adding even more questions to this tragedy. A relative of two of those killed said: “We’re all looking for those same answers. We don’t know what happened. Maybe we’ll never know. That’s the hardest part of this.”.There are surely more questions than answers, including the role of authorities in 30-year-old Sanderson’s parole and the two suspects’ subsequent deaths. .However, reductionistic as Sinclair's analysis is, stock explanations like it are habitually offered for every indigenous adversity or pathology by radical activists. Yet in this case, the simple fact this was an unprecedented event in modern Canadian aboriginal history shows how simplistic such explanations are..To begin with, the Indian Act carefully defines and protects indigenous status and rights and has been repeatedly amended to address aboriginal demands. Many, if not most, indigenous leaders do not want to see it repealed..As for the Indian Residential Schools (IRS), they were established to overcome the adversities on the reserves caused by the colonial experience. That included poverty, the loss of traditional livelihood practices, high disease rates, orphan-hood and child neglect, abandonment, and abuse. These tragic features continue to this day. Both the Indian Act and IRS are embedded in the overarching issue of British colonialism which brought a swift end to lethal combat between bands and tribes in which slaughters like this one had been commonplace for centuries..Though Sinclair’s pseudo-psychology has no historical support, it also denies basic human agency among indigenous people — the right to determine their fate on their own terms — a racist assertion if there ever was one. If it were true, such mass murders would be common on and off Canada’s reserves..They are certainly not. The 2016 census showed that the three categories of indigenous peoples in Canada totalled nearly 1.7 million of the national population. That same year police reported 142 aboriginal victims of homicide, or .009% of the indigenous population, representing 8.5 per 100,000 people, albeit several times higher than the overall Canadian proportion, but still among the lowest murder rates in the world. Moreover, from a global perspective, there is no connection between national homicide rates — including mass murders — and a history of colonialism..In short, aboriginals are rarely the perpetrators or victims of homicide: Myles Sanderson’s wicked rampage, like similar ones around the world, is an anomaly begging for an explanation it may never get..As for the role of Indian Residential Schools, there is not a single authenticated case of murder at any school during their 113-year government-supported history. Nor is the incomplete literature dealing with the traumatic effects of IRS attendance methodologically sound enough to either show or explain any connection to violent behaviour among former students or their descendants, as is carefully shown in a recent review by distinguished University of Calgary scholar Tom Flanagan..Dr. Flanagan’s findings parallel the absence of data showing the precise causes of homicide in Canada, except perhaps in particular cases or for particular causes. Police reported in 1996 that 38% of homicide victims consumed alcohol or drugs or both at the time of the offence. The pattern has remained consistent since 1991 when this information was first collected..Why people kill impulsively is still disputed but may have to do, in part, with a neurological inability to properly control feelings of disappointment, frustration, and anger as they interact with those around them, especially under the influence of mind-altering substances such as drugs and alcohol. .There may also be a mass-murder connection to years of personal disappointment and failure, that results in a combination of profound hopelessness and deep-seated resentment..As one expert on the subject wrote: “Socially or psychologically isolated, mass murderers lack emotional support and encouragement from confidants. Moreover, they have no one around to help provide a much needed reality check on their warped perception of constantly being the victim of injustice. Tending to externalizing blame, they seek to punish those whom they hold responsible for their miserable life.”.These potential causes, singly or combined, may produce enough hatred and sufficient motivation for a killing spree against certain groups or categories of people. Everything about Myles Sanderson points to the relevance of these precipitating factors..At the age of 12, he started drinking and smoking marijuana. At 14, he added cocaine to the mix. Sanderson was also an ex-con with 59 convictions and a long history of shocking violence, including violently assaulting his wife on many occasions. Court documents say he attacked his wife’s parents, Earl Burns and Joyce Burns, in 2015, knifing Earl Jones repeatedly and wounding Joyce Burns. He later pleaded guilty to assault and threatening Earl Burns’ life. According to court records, many of Sanderson’s crimes were committed when intoxicated. He told parole officials at one point that substance use drove him crazy..During Myles’ mass stabbing rampage, six of the 10 murdered persons were Burns family members, suggesting a twisted sense of revenge against his in-laws helped motivate the attack..Of course, most people — including indigenous people — can control their impulses most of the time, even when drunk or stoned. So hardly any of these interactions end in violence, let alone murder. Sometimes, however, cognitive control mechanisms required to guide behavior are weak, damaged, or ignored, with disastrous consequences..Mental illness and brain damage can also be aggravating factors..Myles Sanderson certainly had deep-seated problems with self-control and anger management, issues found in people around the world, but none having any evidential or logical relation to either colonialism or boarding school attendance..Ironically, Sinclair — along with his father Murray Sinclair, a former Province of Manitoba judge, ex-chief commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and a retired member of the Senate of Canada — are privileged members of Canada’s intelligentsia, testimony to the chronic but false scapegoating of Canada’s Indian Residential Schools..This habitual practice is directly challenged by the outstanding life achievements of these two luminaries and those of hundreds of thousands of other aboriginal people..Surely, Canada’s colonial past does not explain the James Smith Cree Indian Reserve murder spree..Hymie Rubenstein is editor of The REAL Indian Residential Schools Newsletter and a retired professor of anthropology at the University of Manitoba.
