IN Canada, two more Catholic churches on First Nations land have been destroyed by fire, while fire damaged an Anglican church on First Nations land in northern British Columbia.
Police are calling all the blazes “suspicious.”
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said officers were investigating fires that destroyed the century-old St. Ann’s Catholic Church on the Hedley Native Reserve of the Upper Similkameen Indian Band and Our Lady of Lourdes Church on the Chopaka Native Reserve of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band, near Osoyoos.
Also, a fire damaged the century-old St. Paul’s Anglican Church on Gitwangak First Nations land, between Terrace and New Hazelton. The blaze was extinguished before it could destroy the church.
The fires bring to five the number of churches on Indigenous land that have been destroyed or damaged by suspicious blazes within a week.
On June 21, fires reduced to rubble two historic Catholic churches on First Nations lands in the Okanagan area.
Those fires, which police consider suspicious, destroyed Sacred Heart Mission Church on Penticton Indian Band land and St. Gregory Mission Church on Osoyoos Indian Band land.
Lower Similkameen Indian Band Chief Keith Crow linked the fires to ongoing historical investigations into Canada’s residential school system, which more than 150,000 native children forced into boarding schools in order to assimilate them into Canadian culture.
In May of this year, 215 unmarked graves were discovered at the site of a formal residential school near Kamloops, British Columbia, about 200 km north of the burnt churches. Just last week, a search of another residential school in the province of Saskatchewan revealed more than 700 unmarked graves.
“We’re in for more hurt now,” Chief Crow said.
“Look at what happened in Saskatchewan, Kamloops, and Williams Lake is doing their testing right now.
“When all the rest of the residential schools start doing testing, there’s just going to be more and more pain that comes out; the 215 was just a start.”
Sgt. Jason Bayda of the Penticton South Okanagan RCMP said police are treating both of the latest fires as suspicious and “are looking to determine any possible connection to the church fires” that occured on June 21.
“The investigations into the previous fires and these two new fires are ongoing with no arrests or charges,” Sgt Bayda said.
Chief Crow told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. that many in the community were members at the church and were very upset.
“I’m angry,” he told CBC. “I don’t see any positive coming from this, and it’s going to be tough.”
