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Former residential school student debunks 'genocide' claims, recalls positive experience

By Clare Marie MerkowskyApril 10, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Former residential school student debunks 'genocide' claims, recalls positive experience
Chris Allan/Shutterstock | Kamloops Residential School

An Indigenous whistleblower condemned the media-driven narrative about 'mass' graves at residential schools that led to church burnings across Canada.

(LifeSiteNews) -- An Indigenous whistleblower shared his positive experience at a Residential school, debunking the claim that the schools abused and murdered their students.

In an April 5 interview with Rebel News reporter Drea Humphrey, a Kamloops Band member and former Kamloops Indian Residential School student revealed that there was no "genocide" at the schools and many students benefited from the institution.

"A lot of the students were happy to be there," the Band member, whose identity was kept anonymous, said. "They were away from abusive families, dysfunctional families, alcoholism. So, they were happy to be there."

The former student revealed that he was treated well during his time at the residential schools in the 1970s. He also described the priests and nuns who ran the school as good people, referring to Father Noonan, the principal at the time, as "a real nice guy."

Residential schools, while run by both the Catholic Church and other Christian churches, were mandated and set up by the federal government and ran from the late 19th century until the last school closed in 1996.

While some children did tragically die at the once-mandatory boarding schools, evidence has revealed that many of the children passed away as a result of unsanitary conditions due to underfunding by the federal government, not the Catholic Church.

As a consequence, since 2021, when the mainstream media ran with inflammatory and dubious claims that hundreds of children were buried and disregarded by Catholic priests and nuns who ran some of the schools, over 100 churches have been burned or vandalized across Canada in seeming retribution.

However, to date, there have been no mass graves discovered at any residential schools across Canada.

The Band member revealed that the Kamloops Band knows they "made a mistake" in labeling the ground anomalies as "unmarked graves."

In fact, according to the Band member, in the 1990s, the Band used the supposed location of the 215 child graves for their new Powwow Arbour and Heritage Park. The project was only allowed to continue after studies concluded that there were no artifacts or archaeological remains at the site.

Therefore, if there were mass graves at that location, they would have been discovered in the 1990s, not in 2021.

The Band member revealed that he does not believe a "genocide" took place at residential schools, while condemning the church burnings across Canada.

"When I was growing up religion and church meant community and family," he explained. "It seems like the Liberals want to destroy family so the way to do that is to attack religion."

"Attacking religion was a good excuse to burn the churches," he said.

Regardless of his testimony and the lack of evidence to support the claim, mainstream media outlets perpetuate the "mass graves" narrative and even threaten to punish those who oppose it. In November, CBC subtly suggested that “residential school denialism” should be criminalized.

World
April 10, 2025 at 7:08 PM
CM

Clare Marie Merkowsky

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  • An Indigenous whistleblower condemned the media-driven narrative about 'mass' graves at residential schools that led to church burnings across Canada.

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Former residential school student debunks 'genocide' claims, recalls positive experience