A/HRC/48/74 psychological and sexual abuse. They were alienated from their communities and cultures, often lost their language and consequently experienced mental, physical and spiritual trauma. Others never returned. Between May and July 2021, the remains of hundreds of indigenous peoples, including children, were discovered on the grounds of former residential schools in Canada, including the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc and Cowessess First Nations. The impact of such assimilationist policies went beyond the individual, resulting in intergenerational trauma and a loss of traditional knowledge, by breaking cycles of transmission of information to children. 42. Two notable commissions related to the rights of indigenous children were held in North America in recent years: the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2008– 2015) and the Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2013–2015). The Canadian commission was established to work towards reconciliation for the intergenerational trauma suffered from its historical residential schools and ended in 94 calls to action to provide redress to survivors, families and communities and prevent recurrence, including concrete recommendations regarding child welfare and the legacy of residential schools. 43. The Maine-Wabanaki Commission was a collaborative commission between the State of Maine and the Wabanaki peoples that aimed to improve child welfare practices regarding indigenous children in the State and establish an accurate history of those practices. It found that between 2000 and 2013, Wabanaki children entered alternative care five times more frequently than non-indigenous children.27 44. While many children in North America were taken to residential schools, others were adopted out, including in Canada in what was known as the “Sixties Scoop”. In the United States, the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (1978) was enacted to address the large number of indigenous children who had been adopted out of their communities, often due to underlying discrimination, as opposed to neglect or abuse. While the Act recognizes the rights of indigenous children, families and tribes, it suffers from ongoing non-compliance by states and local officials.28 Efforts led by indigenous people in the United States include tribal foster care programmes, including in the Cherokee Nation, to enable indigenous children to remain in their communities.29 45. An important part of reparation lies in improving the situation. In Australia, there has been continued removal of indigenous children from their homes and communities since the Government apologized in 2008 for earlier removals, known as the “stolen generations”, and a reported increase in removals since the national inquiry and report on the subject.30 The Government has pledged to reduce the number of indigenous children in care by 5 per cent per year from 2021 onwards. 31 In 2021, the State of Victoria established the Yoo-rrook Justice Commission, becoming the first Australian state to establish a truth-telling commission for wrongs committed against its Aboriginal peoples. G. Access to justice and interactions with justice systems 46. While there is often a focus on criminal justice, children interact with all types of justice systems. In Africa, indigenous children interact more with informal justice systems, such as community- and religion-based processes. Formal justice systems are often inaccessible owing to a lack of legal aid or exclusive use of dominant languages.32 Guatemala has taken measures to support indigenous children in its justice system, including the provision of interpretation in indigenous languages and specialized bodies dealing with trafficking, which affects many indigenous children. 27 28 29 30 31 32 A/HRC/EMRIP/2019/3/Rev.1, para. 51. Intervention by Angel Smith. Information provided by member of the Expert Mechanism, Kristen Carpenter. Hannah McGlade, “My journey into ‘child protection’ and Aboriginal family led decision making”, p. 4. Intervention by the Chair of the Expert Mechanism, Megan Davis. Intervention by Nkatha Murungi, Pretoria University. 9