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Abo riginal Pe o ple s Eco lo gy Eco no m ic J ust ice He alt h Hum an Right s Pe ace

BACKGROUND STATEMENTS

Kevin Annett and The United Church of Canada

February 2010

Kevin Annett has made a number o f statements abo ut the United Church and its ro le in the Indian Residential Scho o l system fo r o ver 14 years. Weaving to gether half-truths, co nspiracy theo ries, misinfo rmatio n, and his o wn unreso lved issues with the church, Mr. Annett makes claims that mislead the public and do a disservice to survivo rs. In additio n to making these claims in public presentatio ns and o n the Internet, Mr. Annett has gathered aro und himself a gro up o f fo llo wers under the name The Friends and Relatives o f the Disappeared (FRD). The gro up includes so me fo rmer students o f residential scho o ls and family members as well as no n-Abo riginal suppo rters. The gro up claims the endo rsement o f several hereditary tribal chiefs. Mo st are no t named and o ne, Gerald Jo hnsto n, has been fo und by the British Co lumbia Supreme Co urt as no t entitled to represent the Squamish Natio n. In a 20 0 8 press release, the Squamish Natio n stated that Mr. Jo hnsto n is no t a hereditary chief and suffers fro m delusio ns and appears to be under the influence o f disgruntled no n-Abo riginal peo ple fro m the do wnto wn East Side.
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The United Church is no t aware o f any residential scho o l survivo r o rganizatio n o r natio nal Abo riginal gro up o r leader who suppo rts o r identifies with the FRD. The United Church wo rks clo sely with the B.C. Indian Residential Scho o l Survivo rs So ciety (IRSSS) and the Natio nal Residential Scho o l Survivo rs So ciety (NRRSS) bo th o f which represent many tho usands o f fo rmer students o f residential scho o ls, and with the Assembly o f First Natio ns, the Abo riginal Healing Fo undatio n, the Assembly o f Manito ba Chiefs, and o ther reco gnized Abo riginal o rganizatio ns. The FRD identifies its go als as the identificatio n, unearthing, and repatriatio n o f the bo dies o f children who died at the scho o ls and the criminal pro secutio n o f fo rmer staff o r church and go vernment o fficials who they claim are respo nsible fo r the deaths. Willie Blackwater, a survivo r o f the Alberni Residential Scho o l and currently President o f the Natio nal Residential Scho o l Survivo rs So ciety, said that he resents the idea that Annett, a white man who has never attended residential scho o l, has so meho w beco me the public face o f the dead children. He believes Annett has "disgraced" Native peo ple with his public demands fo r the dead to be repatriated. The United Church has always urged tho se who are in po ssessio n o f info rmatio n abo ut criminal activity at the scho o ls to go to the po lice. On Tuesday, February 9 , 20 10 , Mr. Annett arrived unanno unced at the To ro nto o ffices o f The United Church o f Canada to deliver a Public No tice o f Intent, signed by a Jeremiah Jo urdain. He was acco mpanied by three peo ple who were neither intro duced no r identified. Two o f them were filming the event which is no w available o n Mr. Annetts website. When invited to speak to church o fficials, Mr. Annett hurried away, saying, We have had eno ugh o f talking to church o fficials. This is co nsistent with Mr. Annetts unwillingness to meet with church o fficials o n a number o f o ccasio ns o ver the past years while at the same time claiming that church o fficials refuse to meet with him. The Public No tice o f Intent was issued, it claims, because a Letter o f Demand delivered to the United Church o ffices in February 20 0 8 went unanswered. This is no t true. A reply fro m the General Secretary was sent o n February 29 , 20 0 8 and po sted o n o ur
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website. Similarly a reply by the General Secretary to the Public No tice o f Intent was sent o n February 10 , 20 10 [PDF: 1 p/60 KB] to the e-mail address included with Mr. Jo urdains signature. That reply is also po sted o n the church website. The Public No tice o f Intent threatens that the FRD will co mmence an indefinite public campaign against the church and its o fficers which will include systematically disrupting the no rmal o peratio ns o f the church including wo rship services and fundraising. Belo w is additio nal info rmatio n o n Mr. Annetts claims: Mr. Annett claims that the United Church has co nspired with the go vernment, the RCMP, and o thers to co ver up murders at church-run scho o ls, including Alberni Residential Scho o l in British Co lumbia. In a February 20 0 9 Red To wn Radio interview in the United States, Mr. Annett alleges that, fearing expo sure, the go vernment and po lice are no w trying to hide the evidence, digging up graves in the night. In f act , the United Church has no kno wledge o f such criminal behavio ur and has co nsistently urged Mr. Annett and anyo ne else to present any evidence they may have to the po lice. Mr. Annett claims that the demo litio n in May 20 0 9 o f the fo rmer senio r student residence (Peake Hall) o n the site o f the Alberni Scho o l was an attempt by the church to hide evidence o f student deaths at the scho o l (his website). In f act , the scho o l site has been in the hands o f the Nuu-Chal-Nulth peo ple fo r decades and is no w the ho me o f band o ffices and o ther Native o rganizatio ns and services. The band decided to demo lish the building. Survivo rs who attended the ceremo ny at the demo litio n indicate it was a healing event. Mr. Annett claims that the United Church clo sed its archives in December 20 0 7in o rder to co nceal its guilt abo ut the deaths o f children at the scho o ls fro m the Truth and Reco nciliatio n Co mmissio n (his website). In f act , the archives were tempo rarily clo sed to the public fo r six mo nths to facilitate a mo ve to a new lo catio n. Special pro visio n was made to keep the reco rds related to residential scho o ls o pen and accessible
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thro ugho ut the mo ve. Further, Mr. Annett claims that fo rmer Mo derato r Rev. Bill Phipps is o ne o f the o fficials respo nsible fo r hiding these reco rds. In f act , the Rev. Phipps is no t invo lved with any decisio ns regarding the archives. Mr. Annett alleges that o ver 50 ,0 0 0 Native children died in the scho o ls (o ver 30 percent o f tho se who attended) and that the the residential scho o ls were mo re intentio nally murdero us than Auschwitz (Feb 20 0 9 radio interview). In f act , there is no research to establish such high o verall number o f deaths acco rding to residential scho o l histo rian, Jo hn Millo y. Indeed, while there were perio ds o f tragically high death rates due to epidemics o f tuberculo sis o r influenza in the early 20 th century, existing reco rds sho w a much lo wer o verall death rate. No netheless, there is no do ubt that the chro nic underfunding, the cro wded institutio nal setting, and po licies based o n the generally prevailing racist so cietal attitudes exacerbated the death rates. Mr. Annett claims that there are 21 mass graves o n the gro unds o f fo rmer residential scho o ls, including the United Church-asso ciated Alberni and Edmo nto n scho o ls (his website). In f act , explo rato ry excavatio n at the Alberni site, based o n such allegatio ns, turned up no graves. Children who died at the scho o ls were no rmally buried in the cemetery o f the neighbo uring co mmunity. The United Church is aware o f cemeteries o n scho o l pro perties o f the Red Deer, Regina, Brando n, Edmo nto n, and Po rtage La Prairie residential scho o ls. The cemetery o n the gro unds o f the Edmo nto n scho o l was principally used fo r burials o f Native perso ns who died at the Charles Camsell Ho spital. At the present time, the United Church is actively participating alo ng with the federal go vernment, o ther churches, the Assembly o f First Natio ns, and Library and Archives Canada in the Missing Children Wo rking Gro up, which is co o rdinating research in go vernment and church archives into the deaths and burials o f students at the scho o ls. Mr. Annett claims the suppo rt o f a Chief Kiapilano o f the Squamish Natio n, a man named Gerald Jo hnsto n (press
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statements). In f act , in a press release o f May 23, 20 0 8 , the Squamish Natio n stated that Mr. Jo hnsto n is no t reco gnized as a hereditary chief o f the Squamish Natio n. He ran fo r electio n to the Squamish Natio n Co uncil in 20 0 5, placing 6 4th o ut o f 6 8 candidates, receiving o nly 55 vo tes fro m 2247 eligible vo ters. In January this year, the British Co lumbia Supreme Co urt held that Mr. Jo hnsto n was no t entitled to represent the Squamish Natio n. The Squamish Natio n believes Mr. Jo hnsto n suffers fro m delusio ns and appears to be under the influence o f disgruntled no n-Abo riginal peo ple fro m the do wnto wn East Side. Mr. Annett claims that he wo rks o n behalf o f survivo rs (his website). In f act , fo rmer students have to ld the church that the disto rtio n and misrepresentatio n o f facts by Mr. Annett do es no t serve the interests o f the survivo rs o f the residential scho o l system no r their families. It undermines the effo rts made by all parties to face the ugly realities o f the residential scho o l system and to wo rk to ward understanding, healing, and reco nciliatio n. One survivo r wro te the fo llo wing in a widely circulated email: Whoever it may concern, my name is Charlie Thompson. I am a survivor of the Alberni Indian Residential SchoolI disagreed with Kevin Annett's methods of 'using' survivors of IRS's and as a result of this he defames and lies about me on his website Almost all of the survivors in 'his' film did not give him permission to use their stories. He got their stories by lying to them that he was gathering information with agreement with the United Nations, the world organization. Turns out they never heard of him or his 'work.' Mr. Annett claims that his tribunal in 19 9 8 was affiliated with the United Natio ns (his bo o k). In f act , the self-o rganized tribunal was no t a United Natio ns initiative no r was it affiliated with the United Natio ns. The Internatio nal Human Rights Asso ciatio n o f American Mino rities (IHRAAM) was present so lely as an o bserver gro up. (See a 19 9 8 press release Mr. Annett claims that he was fired by the United Church fo r raising the residential scho o l issue (his film, bo o k, website). In f act , Mr. Annett resigned his po sitio n as minister o f St.
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.)

Andrews United Church in Alberni, British Co lumbia, in writing when faced with questio ns abo ut his co mpetence fo r ministry. Mr. Annetts de-listing as a United Church minister was the result o f two Fo rmal Hearings co nducted acco rding to the rules o f evidence o f the Pro vince o f British Co lumbia. The repo rt o f the Fo rmal Hearing is fo und o n the British Co lumbia Co nference website . Fo r mo re than a decade, Mr. Annett has repeatedly made disparaging public statements which verge o n defamatio n abo ut a number o f the United Church o fficials and members who were invo lved in the pro cess that led to his name being placed o n the churchs disco ntinued service list. Mr. Annett and his suppo rters demand immediate repatriatio n o f the bo dies o f the buried children back to their ho me co mmunities (his website, rallies, letters o f demand, press statements). In f act , many Native elders, survivo rs, and families o f fo rmer students do no t want the graves o f buried children to be disturbed. They prefer that burial sites be co nsecrated thro ugh ceremo ny. Willie Blackwater is a survivo r o f the Alberni Residential Scho o l and currently President o f the Natio nal Residential Scho o l Survivo rs So ciety. He is wellkno wn fo r his landmark lawsuit that established the liability o f the go vernment and the United Church fo r the individual abuses that o ccurred in the scho o ls. In a recent interview with the B.B.C., Mr. Blackwater said he resents the idea that Annett, a white man who has never attended residential scho o l, has so meho w beco me the public face o f the dead children. He believes Annett has "disgraced" Native peo ple with his public demands fo r the dead to be repatriated. On his website, Mr. Annett claims No am Cho msky said, Kevin is mo re deserving o f the No bel Prize than many who have received it in the past. In f act , in an e-mail o f March 11, 20 0 9 , Mr. Cho msky recalls no such endo rsement o f Mr. Annett. In an April 6 , 20 0 9 media adviso ry, Mr. Annett says, "Last mo nth, Canada and its churches were co ndemned in the United Natio ns' human rights co uncils fo r its geno cide o f Native peo ple." In fact, in February 20 0 9 , Canada's human
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rights reco rd was reviewed by the United Natio ns Human Rights Co uncil as part o f the Universal Perio dic Review (UPR) pro cess. Of the 45 states that spo ke during the three-ho ur sessio n, 30 raised co ncerns abo ut the rights o f Indigeno us peo ples. No reference to "geno cide o f Native peo ple" appears in the highlights do cument po sted o n the Human Rights Co uncil's website .

In a Media Adviso ry and Press Statement o f February 1, 20 0 9 o n his website, Mr. Annett anno unced that he is currently pro mo ting a new po litical initiative kno wn as the Republican Mo vement o f Kanata, established to sever ties with the British Cro wn and legally disestablish the Ro man Catho lic, Anglican and United Church o f Canada. His statement says that he plans to establish lo cal branches o f the Republican Party o f Kanata. Mr. Annett has been active under the identities o f Friends and Families o f the Disappeared, the Tribunal into Canadian Residential Scho o ls, and the Truth Co mmissio n into Geno cide in Canada as well as the name Eagle Stro ng Vo ice. Independent jo urnalists have lo o ked into the claims and allegatio ns made by Mr. Annett: Truth and Native Abuse 20 0 8 Lonely Crusade 28 , 20 0 8 The respo nse o f the United Church to the legacy o f the residential scho o l system is shaped and co o rdinated by the Residential Scho o ls Steering Co mmittee, which includes Abo riginal members fro m acro ss the co untry, so me o f who m are residential scho o l survivo rs. The United Church is also being guided by co nsultatio ns with Abo riginal po litical, healing, and survivo r o rganizatio ns. The United Church accepts witho ut questio n its co mplicity in the residential scho o l system and the tragic impact that the system had
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, by Terry Glavin, The Tyee, April 30 ,

, by Luke Bro cki, Vanco uver Co urier, May

o n Abo riginal children, families, co mmunities, and natio ns. (Appro ximately 10 percent o f residential scho o ls were affiliated with the United Church.) In 19 8 6 , The United Church o f Canada o ffered its first apo lo gy to First Natio ns peo ples. The church extended a seco nd apo lo gy specifically to fo rmer students and their families in 19 9 8 , accepting respo nsibility fo r its invo lvement in the federal system o f Indian Residential Scho o ls. Since that time, the United Church has actively so ught paths o f justice, healing, and reco nciliatio n. The church ackno wledges its part in the co lo nial enterprise which resulted in a so ciety that has been unjust, abusive, and racist. We co nsider that the treatment o f Abo riginal peo ples, including the impo sitio n o f the residential scho o l system, co nstitutes a shameful chapter in Canadas natio nal histo ry. The United Church deeply respects the co urage o f fo rmer students who are making kno wn painful sto ries o f suffering and abuse experienced at the scho o ls, and in no way seeks to suppress these sto ries o r to evade its respo nsibility. The United Church is co mmitted to facing the ugly realities o f the residential scho o l system and to actively living o ut its apo lo gies. Fo r mo re info rmatio n o n the churchs respo nse, see Indian Residential Scho o ls.
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