For generations, many Indigenous groups have celebrated their culture and heritage on or around June 21. National Indigenous Peoples Day is now annually marked by numerous nationwide activities on June 21, showcasing the richness and diversity of Aboriginal cultural expressions and stories.
As well as celebrating this richness and diversity, there was good reason this past June 21 to celebrate the discovery that Indigenous people, especially Indian Residential School (IRS) children, are not missing, were never subjected to genocide, and are not buried in individual and mass graves as claimed in recent years.
No doubt, countless unnamed Aboriginals have accepted this outcome with happy relief, even personal rejoicing. However, few are willing to do so publicly, fearing recrimination and retribution from the many others, including Indigenous leaders and activists, who have received these glad tidings with denial, remorse, or anger.
That Indigenous leaders, paid activists, and ordinary Indigenous people, supported by a mainstream media eager to peddle sensational stories in their quest for more readers, continue to expound the prevailing genocide and mass grave narrative even after it has been debunked by hard evidence should not be surprising given that doing so continues to protect their status, power, and economic well-being.
Download the complete report in PDF here. (14 pages)
Read media release here.
Hymie Rubenstein is editor of REAL Indigenous Report. A retired professor of anthropology, he was a board member of, and taught for many years at St. Paul’s College, University of Manitoba, the only Roman Catholic higher education institution in Manitoba. He is a Senior Fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
