The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council condemns the human biomedical experimentation that took place at Indian Residential Schools, including the Alberni Indian Residential School, and calls upon the Government of Canada to address this issue and engage with First Nations to undo the wrongs of the past.
A research paper recently released by Ian Mosley entitled “Administering Colonial Communities,” details nutritional experimentation in Aboriginal communities and Residential Schools between 1942-1952.It took an independent researcher to uncover this dark chapter of Canada’s treatment of our people. We thank Mr. Mosley for shining a light on this dark and horrific story of our people’s past.
The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council supports the Tseshaht First Nation and Chief Councillor Hugh Braker in the following statement:
Tseshaht calls on the Federal Government to do the following:
- Apologize to the victims of the experimentation
- Completely disclose ALL the facts in respect of any experimentation on children at Indian Residential Schools
- Provide compensation to those who suffered the experimentation
- Provide funding for further research into the effects of the experimentation on former students
NTC President Cliff Atleo and Vice-President Ken Watts believe that the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement, both the Common Experience Payment(CEP) and Independent Assessment Process (IAP), did not include compensation for these experiments, which took place on First Nations children.
The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council would like residential school survivors, and those who suffer from the intergenerational effects of residential schools, to know that we stand with them during this difficult time. Over the past few days wounds have been reopened, scars have been re-exposed and we want our people to know our hearts and prayers are with them.
If you are a Nuu-chah-nulth residential school survivor or a Nuu-chah-nulth citizen who suffers from the intergenerational effects of residential school, and this recent news has been difficult for you, please feel free to call 250-724-3939 or visit our Quu-asa offices in Port Alberni at 5120 Argyle Street.
Both the NTC President and Vice-President are currently in Whitehorse, Yukon at the Assembly of First Nations Annual General Assembly where a national resolution will be brought forward to address this major issue on a national level.
We want the Federal Government to be aware that this current news makes people sick to their stomachs, and using our children as guinea pigs is completely unacceptable and is, quite frankly, disgusting. All information needs to be released about these horrific acts and their impact on people needs to be reviewed.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the current Federal Government not only need to apologize to our people who are affected by this, but they also need to do much more to recognize and reconcile what happened to our children at the Alberni Indian Residential School.
In closing, we would like to reiterate that we need to continue to educate Canadians and the world about what occurred in Indian Residential Schools in our communities. More importantly, we need to remind people that we are talking about children.
