Commemoration held for Indigenous children who disappeared in Quebec hospitals

MONTREAL — Members of the Atikamekw nation are holding four days of commemorations for Indigenous children who disappeared after being admitted to Quebec hospitals. 

A ceremony on the traditional territory of the Manawan community, about 250 kilometres north of Montreal, is taking place today, and members of the provincial legislature, including Indigenous Affairs Minister Ian Lafrenière, are scheduled to attend an event Tuesday.

Sipi Flamand, vice-chief of the Atikamekw community of Manawan, says about 50 Atikamekw children disappeared after being admitted to Quebec hospitals between the 1930s and 1980s.

He said today in an interview children from Anishinaabe and Innu communities also weren’t heard from again after they were sent to health-care facilities in the province.

Quebec passed a law in June to help family members access records of their children who may have disappeared or died after being admitted to provincial institutions before December 1992.

Former journalist Anne Panasuk has been appointed to act as a liaison between the government and Indigenous families looking for information about missing loved ones. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2021.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

The Canadian Press