An unprecedented agreement between six Mohawk citizens, McGill University and seven other government agencies paves the way for archaeological digs to determine if children were buried on the site of the former Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal.
This agreement approved Thursday morning by the Superior Court was hailed as a “significant” step in the reconciliation efforts between the Aboriginal peoples and the governments of Quebec and Canada.
This legal process is likely to frame future archaeological excavations carried out across the country with the aim of locating anonymous burials of children, particularly of Aboriginal origin.
The “Mohawk Mothers”, a group of six people who are fighting this battle in their personal capacity – without a mandate from their band council – consider this agreement as a milestone likely to restore confidence between the Aboriginal peoples and the governments, whether they consider colonialists.
The excavations aim to find burials of Aboriginal children or children of Quebec origin. The site has housed Mohawk children and orphans from Duplessis who claim to have been abused by medical authorities. These patients would have been victims of experiments carried out by Dr.r Donald Ewen Cameron in the 1950s and 1960s.
This psychiatrist received funding from Ottawa and the US Central Intelligence Agency to conduct sordid experiments at the Allan Memorial Institute, affiliated with the former Royal Victoria Hospital. Patients have been unknowingly subjected to electroshock or injected with psychedelic drugs as part of experimental treatments.
Seventy-seven people were compensated in 1992 by the Canadian government for these experiments carried out on vulnerable patients. The Mohawk Mothers believe that the actual number of victims is much higher.
The Aboriginal group also suspects the presence of artefacts prior to the construction of the old hospital at this location, considered by the Mohawks as an ancestral place, on the slopes of Mount Royal.
Towards reconciliation
“This is the first time in Canada that traditional Aboriginal methods have been recognized in a situation like this. It is hoped that this process will inspire other excavations near hospitals or boarding schools,” said Kwetiio, one of the six mothers behind this legal battle.
The traditionalist group, which acts without the support of a band council — and without a lawyer — won the first round in its quest for the truth last fall: Superior Court Judge Gregory Moore suspended the work worth over $800 million to convert the former Royal Victoria Hospital into a McGill University research centre. He agreed with the Mohawk Mothers, who first demanded excavations that would confirm the presence (or not) of anonymous graves of abused children.
Judge Moore had ordered a mediation to determine a search method approved by both Indigenous and majority white institutions. The same judge gave force of law, Thursday, to an agreement signed on April 6 by the Mohawk Mothers, by the attorneys general of Quebec and Canada, by McGill University and by a series of other government organizations.
“We want to help everyone, including the Duplessis orphans, who have also suffered. We want to establish a new relationship with the people around us. We do it for all of our children,” Kwetiio explained.
Three archaeologists will conduct research in the coming months. A student of Aboriginal origin will also be on site. The team will have access to the archives of McGill University and its university hospital center, as well as those of Library and Archives Canada, for the research of patient files.
An “independent interlocutor”, appointed in June 2022 by Ottawa to support the search for anonymous burials of Indigenous children, took part in the Mohawk women’s process. Julian N. Falconer, counsel for the Office of the Special Interlocutor, believes that the Superior Court’s decision vindicates the Mohawk Mothers “completely”.
“This is an important day, a first in Canada, that shows how Indigenous people can work with the oppressor to uphold their culture,” said Ms.e Falconer at the Montreal courthouse.
painful memories
The survivors who stayed at the Allan Memorial Institute at the time of the Dr Cameron are starting to get scarce. Lana Ponting, an 81-year-old (non-Indigenous) resident of Winnipeg, says she was drugged at this psychiatric hospital in the 1950s. She traveled to Montreal to testify before Judge Moore on Thursday.
“I had made an Aboriginal friend. I remember she had nice braids. One day she disappeared,” she said. The judge agreed to hear the lady even though her testimony is not admissible in evidence.
Lana Ponting claims to have seen, at the same time, people digging holes with shovels in the courtyard of the establishment, one evening. “I was terrified when I saw this. I went to cry in my room. I will never forget my time at the Allan Memorial Institute. I relive it every day,” she said.
Hans Dybka was moved to hear the testimony of Lana Ponting. This Montrealer (also a non-Aboriginal) is trying to obtain the medical records of his late mother, who was hospitalized at the Allan Memorial Institute. “My mother’s records that I was given were heavily redacted. I want to know what happened. I am also extremely grateful to the Mohawk Mothers. »
