First Nation thankful for support, calls on Canada for accountability after remains found in Kamloops

KAMLOOPS (NEWS 1130) – The Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Nation says Canada must face ownership and accountability, after the remains of 215 Indigenous children were found at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops in May.

The discovery, which has gripped the country, is taking centre stage in Ottawa Tuesday, when the House of Commons is set to hold a “take note” debate. MPs will be given the opportunity to speak and say what they think should happen next.

This comes after the chief of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Nation expressed gratitude on Monday for the outpouring of support her community has received since announcing the finding on Thursday.

“As the last logs go on our sacred fire, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude for the outpouring of support to our community,” Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir says in a statement.

“Thank you for helping us bring to light such hard truths that came from the preliminary findings regarding the unmarked burial sites of Kamloops Indian Residential School students so that we may begin the process of honouring the lost loved ones who are in our caretaking. We love, honour, and respect these children, their families, and communities.”

People have been laying out shoes and other items in recent days to represent the children lost to the residential school system. Flags have been lowered to half-mast across the country, while educators and families have opened conversations with students and children around Canada’s grim history.

Casimir says many survivors from communities across the country are “finally being heard after so many years of silence and disbelief about the deaths of children in the residential schools.”

The deaths of the 215 children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School are believed to be undocumented.


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Casimir says she and others know there are more children who are unaccounted for.

“We have heard that the same knowing of unmarked burial sites exists at other former residential school grounds,” she says, adding it’s something that was raised by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the early days of its inception.

“However, it was not part of their original mandate. The TRC sought for it to be included and were turned down twice by the federal government. That said, the TRC was nonetheless able to do some important work on the topic and we encourage you to revisit Canada’s Residential Schools: Missing Children and Unmarked Burials: The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume 4,” Casimir continues.

She asks all Canadians to “reacquaint themselves with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Final Report and Calls to Action.”

To the prime minister and all federal parties, Casimir acknowledges their recent gestures.

“But as a community who is burdened with the legacy of a federally mandated Indian Residential School, Canada must face ownership and accountability to Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc as well as all communities and families,” Chief Casimir adds. 

There have been calls for searches to be conducted at sites of other former residential schools across Canada. The discovery of the 215 children’s remains was announced in late May, and was done with the help of a ground-penetrating radar specialist.

The prime minister said on Monday that he was horrified after hearing about the discovery in the B.C. Interior. Justin Trudeau said Canadians cannot hide from the blight of residential schools, and promised to support searches at other sites.

Asked if his government would pay for a widespread search, Trudeau said money has been put aside for “initiatives around residential school cemeteries.”

Meanwhile, there are renewed calls for the Pope to apologize for the trauma residential schools have caused. Catholic bishops in Canada have issued statements expressing sorrow and shock, and offered prayers to the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc.

An apology from the Pope for the role of the church in the residential school system is also one of the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The residential school system saw 150,000 First Nations, Inuit, and Metis children taken from their families and confined in conditions that constituted cultural genocide. The Kamloops Indian Residential School opened under Roman Catholic administration in 1890 and operated until 1969.

The federal government took over the operation of the Kamloops residential school from the church to operate as a day school until it closed in 1978.

The last residential school in Canada closed in 1996.

Emotional support or assistance for those who are affected by the residential school system can be found through the Indian Residential School Survivors Society toll-free at 1 (800) 721-0066 or 24-hour Crisis Line 1 (866) 925-4419.

With files from Lisa Steacy, Denise Wong, and The Canadian Press

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