Content warning: reader discretion is advised as the following story contains distressful details
215 unmarked graves were discovered on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School with the help of a ground-penetrating radar specialist. Verification of the remains of the Indigenous children buried beneath the school’s premises were announced by the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc in late May 2021. The Canadian government and population were forced to confront the historical and ongoing injustices faced by Indigenous communities after the Kamloops discovery attracted attention.
Residential schools’ ill intended goal of having complete dominance over Indigenous children through erasing any relations to their family, identity, and culture is reflected in the lack of documentations regarding their passing. This is due to certain Catholic entities not perceiving these children with any respect nor dignity. Verbal accounts of survivors and community members mention this cultural erasure, raging physical and sexual abuse of innocent children, which is consistent with the investigation’s devastating outcome.
Prior to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) launch in 2008, the Catholic church denied accusations of any awareness about an unmarked burial site at Tk’emlúps. The Catholic church was comfortable to leave the 200+ children labelled as ‘disappeared’ until their corpses were uncovered in 2021. Due to this tragedy being overlooked initially when the TRC commenced, families of the survivors and Indigenous communities suffered an unparalled, prolonged, and delayed grief without proper closure. Commemoration and custodianship of the deceased Indigenous children have been initiated by the surviving relatives, Nations, and communities after the report’s release. Any support, services and resources should be provided to these families as they cope with their losses and memorialize their dearly departed.
The lasting trauma of the residential school system, the mistreatment of Indigenous peoples in Canada, the amplifying cries for justice and reconciliation have all been illuminated by this tragedy. The harsh truth serves as a wake-up call for the country as it instigates national reflections.
Author Anecdote: The Kamloops Indian Residential School prohibits photography of the sacred site where the unmarked graves are located. Therefore, no visual of it is featured in this blog post. Please remember to respect their wishes when visiting.
Works Consulted:
Coburn, V. (2021, June 10). No longer the disappeared: Mourning the 215 children found in graves at Kamloops Indian Residential School. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/no-longer-the-disappeared-mourning-the-215-children-found-in-graves-at-kamloops-indian-residential-school-161782
Dickinson, C., & Watson, B. (2021, May 27). Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc say remains of 215 children found at former Kamloops Indian Residential School. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tk-emlúps-te-secwépemc-215-children-former-kamloops-indian-residential-school-1.6043778