Kahnistensera deeply concerned about McGill and SQI recent actions in the archaeological search at the New Vic site
PRESS RELEASE
---For immediate publication----
August 4th, 2023
The Kahnistensera (Mohawk Mothers) are deeply concerned about McGill and
the Société Québécoise des Infrastructures’ (SQI) recent actions in the
archaeological search for unmarked burials at the New Vic site.
Despite publicly stating their support for the process and commitment to
reconciliation, McGill and SQI have unilaterally deemed the panel’s
mandate terminated, without following through on several recommendations
which they agreed to be bound by in the Settlement Agreement signed in
April 2023 and homologated in the Quebec Superior Court.
McGill and the SQI have recently rejected recommendations from the Panel
to include a forensics expert to oversee the chain of custody of
artefacts, which is an essential aspect of a credible investigation.
The Settlement Agreement had resulted from an injunction won by the
Mohawk Mothers in October 2022 halting the New Vic construction project
to allow an “Indigenous-led” investigation of unmarked graves. The
process can no longer by any means be considered “Indigenous-led”, as
the SQI and McGill attempt to control the whole process, reducing the
role of Indigenous people to performing ceremonies on the site. One
panel member has put forth her resignation in the wake of these
troubling developments.
Mohawk Mother Kahentinetha declared the turn of events “deplorable”,
while Mohawk Mother Kwetiio stated that “it is very unfortunate that the
SQI, as a public institution from Quebec, prefers to invest the
population’s money in keeping Indigenous elders from discovering the
truth about what happened to their children by fighting them in court.
We were hoping for an amicable and open dialogue to resolve the
disagreements in implementing the Settlement Agreement, but it is not
acceptable to our people that Quebec and McGill entirely control an
investigation searching for the unmarked graves of potential victims of
those institutions in the past.”
False Narratives:
On August 3rd, 2023, McGill University and the SQI published newsletters
disclosing part of the results of a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)
survey performed by Geoscan on July 24, 2023, which we received the day
before August 2nd, 2023. The newsletters are attached to this press
release. The SQI and McGill did not consult the Kahnistensera (Mohawk
Mothers) before making it public.
The two newsletters sent to the general public and media contain
misleading information that must be corrected. The SQI’s newsletter
suggests that “to date, no burials have been found” after the manual
searches of the area where search dogs detected the scent of human
remains. This fails to mention the discovery of important evidence in
the soil excavated until now, including a young woman’s dress and an old
pair of children leather shoes. They also fail to mention the verbal
attack of Mohawk cultural monitors and elders on the site last week, who
were evicted and verbally aggressed by unidentified security guards
under the direction of the SQI, who also illegally grabbed someone’s
telephone to erase the content of a video that was taken.
Regarding the GPR report, the SQI and McGill’s newsletters mislead the
public into believing that only nine (9) anomalies were found in the
rather small zone that has been surveyed so far, the “priority zone”
where they want to start construction work. A far greater number of
“unknown” targets were detected by the GPR team, who suggest that “It is
possible that some of the unknown features may be unmarked graves,
particularly in the case of older burials without coffins and also
possibly child-size graves.” The burials currently being searched for
following the testimonies of survivors of medical experiments at the
former hospital are those of children who would likely have been
clandestinely buried without coffins.
For more information write at kahnistensera@riseup.net
Consult www.mohawkmothers.ca
Donate at https://fundrazr.com/e23JRc
ANNEXES:
McGill University's newsletter:
Dear members of the McGill community,
Following up on the last update I provided about the work being
conducted on the former Royal Victoria Hospital site, ground penetrating
radar work was performed in priority areas of the site, as established
by the Settlement Agreement, a legally binding agreement we entered into
last April with the Kanien’keha:ka Kahnistensera, also known as the
Mohawk Mothers, and the Société québécoise des infrastructures (SQI),
which is responsible for redeveloping the site.
The company conducting the work stated in a report summarizing its
findings that no “likely” grave type features was identified across the
site. However, “[i]n total, nine (9) geophysical signatures were
identified across the site that display attributes allowing us to
categorize them as “potential” grave type features.” These nine
signatures are all outside the McGill project zone, which accounts for
about 15 per cent of the entire site.
The SQI indicated it will follow the recommendation of the Panel of
expert archeologists, agreed to by all three parties, to investigate the
nine areas manually. This technique will verify the results of the
ground penetrating radar, which cannot, on its own, confirm the presence
of graves. All archeological work is being conducted in the presence of
Cultural Monitors named by the Kanien’keha:ka Kahnistensera to ensure
appropriate Indigenous protocols and ceremonies are respected.
Meanwhile, discussions continue between the SQI, the Kanien’keha:ka
Kahnistensera and the Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing
Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites, with respect to security
on the site. This follows a reprehensible act last week, in which
offensive remarks were directed at the Cultural Monitors as they were
inappropriately asked to leave the site by a security guard. The SQI,
which is responsible for security on the site, immediately condemned the
action and dealt with the incident. Since then, discussions have been
taking place to reach an agreement among the parties to put on
additional security measures so that the archeological work at the site
may resume as soon as possible.
We have been and will continue to work in a spirit of collaboration and
mutual respect with the SQI and the Kanien’keha:ka Kahnistensera that
adheres to and respects the Settlement Agreement we all entered into.
We will continue to keep you updated of significant events as they
occur.
Sincerely,
Christopher Manfredi
Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic)
SQI's newsletter:
Requalification du site de l’ancien
Hôpital Royal Victoria
Ce bulletin de la Société québécoise des infrastructures (SQI) a pour
objectif de partager, avec la communauté montréalaise et les parties
prenantes intéressées, de l’information sur l’avancement du projet de
requalification du site de l’ancien Hôpital Royal Victoria.
Réalisation en cours des vérifications archéologiques
À la suite de l’entente de collaboration conclue avec les Kanien'kehá:ka
kahnistensera ci-après Mères mohawks (cf. bulletin du 20 avril), la SQI
poursuit ses vérifications archéologiques sur le site de l'ancien
Hôpital Royal Victoria. Ces fouilles dont les techniques
d’investigations sont recommandées par un panel de trois archéologues
indépendants, ont pour objectif de faire la lumière sur les allégations
de sépulture non-marquées sur le site avant le début des travaux.
La première étape de vérification, amorcée en juin, a impliqué la
présence de chiens renifleurs qui ont identifié une zone d’intérêt. Des
recherches manuelles par les archéologues ont ensuite débuté dans la
zone identifiée. Pour le moment, ces recherches n’ont donné lieu à
aucune découverte de sépulture.
Une deuxième étape de vérification a impliqué des scans du sol par
géoradar (GPR) : une forme de télédétection par ondes électromagnétiques
permettant d’étudier la composition et la structure du sol. Dans le
cadre de la recherche par géoradar, aucune zone de probabilité élevée
n’a été identifiée. Toutefois, neuf (9) zones de probabilité modérée ont
été identifiées dans le sol. Ces zones seront manuellement vérifiées par
les archéologues.
L’ensemble des interventions se déroule en présence des moniteurs
culturels autochtones nommés par les Mères mohawks afin de s’assurer que
les protocoles appropriés concernant les cérémonies sont respectés.
Conformément à l’entente, les Mères mohawks sont régulièrement informées
de la mise en œuvre des techniques archéologiques et peuvent assister
aux recherches si elles le souhaitent.
Afin de protéger le site, des mesures de sécurité ont été mises en place
en accordant une importance particulière aux zones d’intérêt. Par
ailleurs, si une découverte de restes humains venait à être faite, et
suivant sa nature, le SPVM, le coroner et le ministère de la Culture et
des Communications établiraient les protocoles et les prochaines étapes
à respecter.
La SQI réitère ainsi sa volonté de faire la lumière, dans un esprit de
collaboration, sur les allégations de présence de sépultures. En ce
sens, les communautés autochtones seront avisées de toute découverte.