Every Child Matter! Today at 2:15pm Please Pause In Honour of 215 Children Who Never Made It Home

Today at 2:15 pm, please take a moment and remember and honour 215 Indigenous children who were taken from their families and never made it home. #215children #everychildmatters

A mass grave was discovered containing the remains of 215 children, some as young as 3 years old last week.

The children were found on the grounds of a residential school where Indigenous children were taken from families across the nation.

This sad part of our history happened from the 19th century until the 1970s, more than 150,000 First Nations children were required to attend state-funded Christian schools as part of a program to assimilate them into Canadian society. 

They were forced to convert to Christianity and not allowed to speak their native languages. Many were beaten and verbally abused, and up to 6,000 are said to have died.

If you are interested in teaching your kids about these residential schools, there are a couple of great books.

“Red Wolf” by Jennifer Dance

“Shi-Shi-Etko” by Nicola