Common Misconceptions of the Indian Residential School System

A Response to Terry Glavin

Confirmation at the falsely vilified former Kamloops Indian Residential School.

A bombshell essay written by one of the National Post’s leading journalists, Terry Glavin, exploded among the mainstream indigenous establishment when it appeared on May 26, 2022.

Titled “The year of the graves: How the world’s media got it wrong on residential school graves,” Glavin meticulously dissected what was know and not known about the alleged discovery of the unmarked graves of Indian Residential School (IRS) children on several reserves across Canada, especially the IRS students said to be buried adjacent to the long shuttered boarding school on the Kamloops reserve, a discovery announced in a press release on May 27, 2021 as follows:

It is with a heavy heart that Tk’emlúps te Secwé pemc Kukpi7 (Chief) Rosanne
Casimir confirms an unthinkable loss that was spoken about but never documented by the Kamloops Indian Residential School. This past weekend, with the help of a ground penetrating radar specialist, the stark truth of the preliminary findings came to light – the confirmation of the remains of 215 children who were students of the Kamloops Indian Residential School.

Though a lifelong friend and supporter of indigenous people, Glavin’s exposé was met by an explosion of anger: he was widely denounced as a “residential schools denialist” and racist who supports and defends child rapists.

His true crime? Revealing what actually was found in these reputed unmarked burial sites, namely evidence of soil disturbances of unknown origin or contents.

Still, Glavin got lots of things wrong both in his National Post article and one he wrote years earlier on related issues.

It is these “common misconceptions” about the IRS system that form the basis of a brilliantly compelling December 11, 2022 essay posted in its entirety below with the permission of its author, Brian Giesbrecht, a retired Manitoba provincial court judge, and highly productive essayist.

Of all the work posted on this site since its inception in January 2022, the one on the other side of the paywall is surely the most important. Giesbrecht uses sound logic and scientific evidence to carefully dispel many of the myths, misconceptions, exaggerations, and omissions about these schools, many unfortunately accepted as truths by otherwise seasoned and respected journalist Terry Glavin.

If you read no other IRS essay, ensure you read this one. Also take the time to copy and send it to as many people you can.