[Fwd: Fw: Breaking News - Media Advisory - BC Olympics to Face Disruption by Indian residential school survivors - government given deadline to return bodies - please circulate]

[Rolland Nadjiwon]

Please circulate as you see fitting....

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Fw: Breaking News - Media Advisory - BC Olympics to Face 
Disruption by Indian residential school survivors - government given 
deadline to return bodies - please circulate
Date: 	Thu, 07 Jan 2010 12:02:52 +0000
From: 	Chris McCormick <cmccormick at aiai.on.ca>


    International Media Advisory
    Tuesday January 5, 2010 1:00 am PST

    British Columbia Olympics to Face Civil Disruptions by Survivors of
    Canadian Indian Residential schools -
    Government Given Deadline for Return of Bodies

    Vancouver - The group representing survivors of Indian residential
    schools on Canada's west coast announced today that it will hold
    civil disobedience actions and disruptions during the February 2010
    Olympics near Vancouver if the Canadian government and mainline
    churches have not announced a timetable for the repatriation of the
    remains of the thousands of children who died in these schools.

    The Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared (FRD), which held
    high-profile protests and occupations of churches in Vancouver and
    Toronto during 2007 and 2008 and compelled the Canadian government
    to issue an apology for the residential schools in July, 2008, has
    given Canada and the Roman Catholic, Anglican and United Church of
    Canada until February 15, 2010 to announce when and how they will
    return for a proper burial the remains of Indian children who died
    under their care.

    As part of this deadline, the FRD has also demanded that the
    government and churches make public the names of those responsible
    for the deaths of these children, and indicate by what judicial
    mechanism the guilty or the responsible institutions will face trial.

    Nearly half of the 150,000 children who attended Canadian Indian
    residential schools died as a result of conditions in the schools.
    (Globe and Mail, April 24, 2007) In April, 2008, the FRD released to
    the media and police a list of twenty eight mass graves near former
    Indian residential schools where many of the children are alleged to
    be buried.

    "We will halt church and government operations during the Olympics
    if that's what it takes to get the bodies of our relatives back"
    said Carol Martin, a Nishga native woman and FRD spokesperson.

    "The world has to know that our people are still dying from the
    genocide Canada and the churches inflicted on us. We've waited long
    enough for justice."

    For more information contact the FRD at:
    hiddenfromhistory@ yahoo.ca or 250-753-3345 (Canada)
    And see the website: www.hiddenfromhistory.org
    <http://www.hiddenfromhistory.org/>

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wahjeh
rolland nadjiwon

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