The remains of 215 children were found in an unmarked mass grave on the grounds of a former school. It is the kind of atrocity one would expect to read about in a news story by a correspondent covering the war in Syria or the aftermath of an ISIS attack on a town in Iraq.
But it is not. It happened in Canada, a result of a systemic effort amounting to genocide that had a singular aim – to wipe out indigenous culture. And it continued to within living memory.
The discovery was announced late last week by the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation, which was investigating the site of a former residential school in British Columbia using groundbreaking radar technology – work that began around 20 years ago. More than 130 residential schools existed in Canada under a system that began in the late 1800s, with the last one closed down as recently as 1996.
The purpose of residential schools was to enforce the assimilation of indigenous and First Nations children into white western culture and to sever their links to their heritage and communities by forcibly separating them from their parents and confining them in far-off boarding schools, their fates often unknown even to their closest family members.
There, they suffered myriad abuses and cruelty. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, which was established in 2008 and aims to preserve the reality of residential schools by gathering the testimony of thousands of survivors and witnesses, estimates that around 150,000 First Nations, Metis and Inuit children went through the system and 4,100 died on their premises. As many as 6,000 children went missing, their fates unknown. It concluded that the residential school system amounted to cultural genocide.
The news of the discovery of the mass grave at the Kamloops Indian Residential School was met with a wave of sorrow, mourning and horror in Canada. Profound mass crimes are often hard for us to grasp – their horror seems remote and impersonal, and we are inoculated against their scale, their gravity and the human capacity for cruelty, with statistics telling us nothing about the lives and dreams that were destroyed.
But when these crimes are personified through the drowning of a small child on the Mediterranean shores or the discovery of a mass grave on the grounds of a school, the scale of the horror comes rushing in on us in waves that incapacitate first, then lead to grief and anger. I was shaken seeing images of some of the impromptu memorials online – little shoes that looked like something my two-year-old son would wear lined up to memorialise all those little lives that were stolen.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits the makeshift memorial erected in honour of the 215 indigenous children in Ottawa. AFP
The Canadian government has apologised in the past for the residential schools and pledged greater assistance for survivors. Efforts to uncover more suspected burial grounds will surely accelerate. I can’t imagine the pain of the families of these children nor what closure this will bring them. Whenever I try to imagine it, I am paralysed, as though my mind is shutting down in defence against contemplating such grief.
I have always thought that the path to peace in our part of the world can only come through truth and justice, followed by reconciliation. I don't otherwise know how people who have lost their homes, loved ones, communities and nations could ever live together if those who perpetrated their trauma and suffering continue to walk free. How do you reconcile and live on if some semblance of justice and closure is not served?
The path of accountability and truth-seeking is a long and winding one
It is clear from the tragedy of the residential schools, though, that the path of accountability and truth-seeking is a long and winding one, a peeling away of layers and layers of humanity’s failings, a herculean effort to build a clearer, less varnished mirror to hold up to ourselves. And even decades may not heal all the wounds. How could it? At best, it may blunt the pain.
When we look into the mirror, though, what do we see? It is not enough to see the past for what it truly was, but also to pledge not to repeat its mistakes, to recognise that underneath the civilised veneer of modern existence, of technology and art and culture and machinery and industry and ethics and human rights and enlightenment values, democracy even, only a thin line separates our better angels and our worst demons. That for all our talk of human dignity, opportunity, diversity, egalitarianism and compassion, we are never far away from tyranny, brutality and snatching children away from their parents to “civilise” them, whether we are white westerners or any other skin tone.
After all, 1996 was not so long ago.
Kareem Shaheen is a veteran Middle East correspondent in Canada and a columnist for The National
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial
Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport
Moment of the day Pakistan’s effort in the field had hints of shambles about it. The wheels were officially off when Wahab Riaz lost his run up and aborted the delivery four times in a row. He re-measured his run, jogged in for two practice goes. Then, when he was finally ready to go, he bailed out again. It was a total cringefest.
Stat of the day – 139.5 Yasir Shah has bowled 139.5 overs in three innings so far in this Test series. Judged by his returns, the workload has not withered him. He has 14 wickets so far, and became history’s first spinner to take five-wickets in an innings in five consecutive Tests. Not bad for someone whose fitness was in question before the series.
The verdict Stranger things have happened, but it is going to take something extraordinary for Pakistan to keep their undefeated record in Test series in the UAE in tact from this position. At least Shan Masood and Sami Aslam have made a positive start to the salvage effort.
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Sam Smith
Where: du Arena, Abu Dhabi
When: Saturday November 24
Rating: 4/5
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors Power: 659hp Torque: 1075Nm On sale: Available for pre-order now Price: On request
The flights Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
2021 World Triathlon Championship Series
May 15: Yokohama, Japan
June 5: Leeds, UK
June 24: Montreal, Canada
July 10: Hamburg, Germany
Aug 17-22: Edmonton, Canada (World Triathlon Championship Final)
Nov 5-6 : Abu Dhabi, UAE
Date TBC: Chengdu, China
Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal's new plant-based menu will launch at Four Seasons hotels in Dubai this November. A desire to cater to people looking for clean, healthy meals beyond green salad is what inspired Prince Khaled and American celebrity chef Matthew Kenney to create Folia. The word means "from the leaves" in Latin, and the exclusive menu offers fine plant-based cuisine across Four Seasons properties in Los Angeles, Bahrain and, soon, Dubai.
Kenney specialises in vegan cuisine and is the founder of Plant Food Wine and 20 other restaurants worldwide. "I’ve always appreciated Matthew’s work," says the Saudi royal. "He has a singular culinary talent and his approach to plant-based dining is prescient and unrivalled. I was a fan of his long before we established our professional relationship."
Folia first launched at The Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills in July 2018. It is available at the poolside Cabana Restaurant and for in-room dining across the property, as well as in its private event space. The food is vibrant and colourful, full of fresh dishes such as the hearts of palm ceviche with California fruit, vegetables and edible flowers; green hearb tacos filled with roasted squash and king oyster barbacoa; and a savoury coconut cream pie with macadamia crust.
In March 2019, the Folia menu reached Gulf shores, as it was introduced at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, where it is served at the Bay View Lounge. Next, on Tuesday, November 1 – also known as World Vegan Day – it will come to the UAE, to the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach and the Four Seasons DIFC, both properties Prince Khaled has spent "considerable time at and love".
There are also plans to take Folia to several more locations throughout the Middle East and Europe.
While health-conscious diners will be attracted to the concept, Prince Khaled is careful to stress Folia is "not meant for a specific subset of customers. It is meant for everyone who wants a culinary experience without the negative impact that eating out so often comes with."
Applicants should send their completed applications - CV, covering letter, sample(s) of your work, letter of recommendation - to Nick March, Assistant Editor in Chief at The National and UAE programme administrator for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, by 5pm on April 30, 2020.
Please send applications to nmarch@thenational.ae and please mark the subject line as “Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism (UAE programme application)”.
The local advisory board will consider all applications and will interview a short list of candidates in Abu Dhabi in June 2020. Successful candidates will be informed before July 30, 2020.
